Azamra - Know Your Bible

Book of Joshua Chapter 1 "MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD" The Book of Joshua is the direct continuation from the end of Deuteronomy which narrates the death of Moses. Prior to his death, Moses had already said to Israel: "For I know that after my death you will surely go to ruin and depart from the path that I have commanded you, and evil will befall you at the end of days because you have done evil in the eyes of HaShem to anger Him with the work of your hands" (Deut. 31:29). The entire NaCh will narrate the story and draw out the moral of this departure from the path with its terrible consequences, tracing the history of Israel in their time of glory (the conquest of the land and the building of Solomon's Temple) and their time of decline (destruction of the Temple and exile). Our rabbis taught that "the face of Moses was like the face of the sun, while the face of Joshua was like the face of the moon" (Bava Basra 75a). Now that the sun had gone down with the death of Moses, it was time for the moon to shine. As long as the moon is aligned with the sun, the entire face of the moon is lit up and perfectly reflects the light of the sun. As long as Joshua reflected Moses' Torah, the people succeeded. Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim (son of Joseph, son of Rachel, Jacob's beloved). The task of Ephraim is to actualize the keeping of the Torah in this real, material world (and thus Rachel signifies the Shechinah, the Indwelling Presence in this world). Keeping the Torah to perfection in this world had to be accomplished in God's chosen land, the Land of Israel , and thus Joshua's task was to lead the people in and conquer the land. But when the moon is not aligned with the sun, its face becomes successively darkened. Thus it was Ephraim under the leadership of Jeraboam – Yeravam ben Nevat – who led the people away from the path, which brought about the exile, as we will see later. The people of Israel today must study and ponder the story of the NaCh and its moral in order to gain possession of the Land of Israel forever and shine its light to the whole world. Joshua ch. 1 vv. 3-4 reiterates the boundaries of the Promised Land as already laid down in Numbers 34, 1-15. Here in verse 4 we simply have a brief depiction of the "breadth" of the land (from the Wilderness of Zin up to the Euphrates ), and it's "length" (from those two points until the Great Sea , the Mediterranean ). From verse 3 we learn that AFTER Israel have conquered the entire Promised Land, then "any place where the sole of your foot steps I will give to you", thereby incorporating other territories (see Rashi on vv.3-4). The condition upon which Israel is able to conquer and retain the Land is made completely clear here at the beginning of the Prophets: "Be strong and very firm to guard and practice according to all the Torah that Moses my servant commanded you…" (v. 7). "And the book of this Torah shall not depart from your mouth…" (v. 8). Everything depends on KEEPING THE TORAH, and this depends upon

CONSTANT STUDY OF THE TORAH BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. For then HaShem your God will be with you. CHRONOLOGY OF THE ENTRY INTO THE LAND Rashi proves from the text that it was on 7 Nissan that Joshua gave orders to prepare the people to cross the Jordan "in another three days". 7 Nissan was the conclusion of the 30 day period of mourning for Moses, who died on 7 Adar (just as he had been born on that day, 3 months exactly before 7 Sivan, the day he was cast into the river and the date of the giving of the Torah 80 years later.) 10 Nissan would be an appropriate day for the supernatural miracle of the parting of the Jordan, as it was the anniversary of the day when the Children of Israel took the Paschal Lamb in Egypt just prior to the Exodus. Taking the lamb for sacrifice indicates submitting the power of nature, symbolized in the constellation of Aries, the "Ram", to the higher power of God. God controls nature and can bend it at will. God has the power to give a tiny nation dominion. If the people of Israel would keep to God's covenant they would always be above nature. Joshua reminds the tribes of Reuven, Gad and the half of Menashe who had taken their territories east of the Jordan of their commitment to help their brothers conquer the land of Canaan . Today this can be taken as a message to the Jews living in the Diaspora of their responsibility to identify with and help their brothers and sisters living in Israel in their struggle to settle the land in the proper way.

Chapter 2 Rashi proves from the text that Joshua sent the two spies to Jericho two days before he commanded the people to prepare to cross the Jordan . According to tradition the spies were Caleb (Joshua's only faithful companion among the 12 Spies sent by Moses) and Pinchas. Thus Joshua (Ephraim) works together with Caleb (the royal tribe of Judah ) and Pinchas (the Priest). Why were they sent to Jericho specifically? Because Jericho "was as hard as all the rest of the country put together because it was on the border" (Rashi v. 1) – it was the "lock" of the land of Israel (which was why in the days of Oslo the slogan was " Jericho first"). RAHAV– A GREAT HEROINE Rahav is celebrated as one of the outstanding converts of all time (together with Hagar, Osnath, Tzipora, Shifra, Puah, Pharaoh's daughter Batya, Ruth and Yael). This is because Rahav acknowledged that "Hashem your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below" – she alone among the Canaanites was willing to join Israel instead of fighting them, because she recognized the divine hand in their Exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea and their complete victory over the kings of the Emorites (vv.9-11). Her above-quoted declaration of faith is incorporated in the first paragraph of the Oleinu prayer recited at the end of each of the 3 daily prayer services. Why did Rahav alone draw the right concluson? Was it because she was lowly and therefore humble? According to Targum Yonasan, Rahav was an innkeeper, but the Midrash Mechilta is less delicate. "She was 10 when the Children of Israel went out of Egypt and practiced prostitution for all of the forty years that they were in the wilderness… There was not a minister or dignitary that had not been with Rahab." That was how she knew so intimately that "no more spirit stands up in any man in face of you".

Rahav was obviously a woman of profound understanding as she drew the right conclusion. More than that, she showed the trait that is the hallmark of Israel : CHESSED, kindness. She did not HAVE to save the two spies – she could quite easily have handed them over to the authorities. It was because she showed them pure CHESSED by saving them without expecting a reward that she felt able to ask them for pure CHESSED when the children of Israel would conquer Jericho : that they should save her life and that of her family. There was a great TIKKUN (repair) in her letting the spies out through her window in the city wall and later using the sign of the scarlet thread: her clients used to use a rope to climb in and out of her window unseen. According to the rabbis, Rahav prayed that the three elements of the wall, the window and the thread should atone for her neglect of the 3 commandments incumbent upon an Israelite woman: lighting the Shabbat lights, separating Challah and observing the laws of Niddah (family purity). The rabbis said that no less than eight prophets and priests were descended from Rahav, including Jeremiah and Hilkiah and the prophetess Hulda. In their later history, Israel were frequently compared to a whore. Rahav is the outstanding example of such a woman who repented with all her heart and attained the greatest heights.

Chapters 3-4 THE CROSSING OF THE JORDAN "The sea saw and fled, the Jordan turned backwards…" (Psalm 114:3) Psalm 114 compares the greatness of the miracle of the splitting of the Jordan , enabling the Children of Israel to cross easily on dry land into their homeland, to the greatness of the splitting of the Red Sea , whereby they had been saved from their Egyptian enslavers. Likewise Joshua, who presided over the splitting of the Jordan , is specifically compared in today's text to Moses, who raised his staff to split the sea (Joshua 4:14). However it was not his staff that Joshua raised. Instead he instructed the Children of Israel to follow the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the Earth. The Midrash on Psalms 114 asks what it was that the sea saw to make it flee. It answers that the sea "saw" the Ark (coffin) of Joseph being carried up from Egypt . Through the merit of Joseph, who bent and controlled his physical passions in order to serve his Maker, God bent nature and caused the sea to part for the Children of Israel. Now Joseph's descendant, Joshua, who had learned the Torah from Moses, sent the Ark of the Covenant ahead of his people to teach that God is stronger than nature and can bend it to his will. In the Ark were the Tablets of Stone and Moses' Sefer Torah. It was necessary for the people to purify themselves to experience this miracle (ch 3 v 5) because they were about to enter a new path through which their observance of God's Covenant -- His Torah -- would enable them to transcend natural law. This was one of only three occasions when the Ark was carried not by the Levites but by the Cohanim (priests) – the other two occasions were in the siege of Jericho and when the Ark was returned from the Philistines. To impress the lesson of this great day upon everyone, in verse 9 Joshua says to the people: "Draw close to me over here!" Our rabbis taught that "Joshua assembled the entire nation BETWEEN THE TWO POLES OF THE ARK, and this was one of the places where the little held the great".

Skeptics will wonder how this was possible. Even those who sincerely want to believe often find it hard if not impossible to understand and accept the sometimes apparently quite outlandish and rationality-defying statements found in rabbinic Midrash ("exposition, searching out"). Since this series of study notes on NaCh will rely heavily on teachings of the Talmud and Midrash illumining our biblical texts, let me say at the very outset of the series that the Bible is the Word of the Living God, revealed to us through His prophets and sages. As soon as you scratch beneath the surface of the biblical words, you see that they are far from what they appear – "deep, deep, who can find it?" The Bible teaches about the spiritual dimension of this material world in which we live. Since this spiritual dimension is often quite unapparent to those sunk in materialism, the sages of the Midrash and Talmud – who lovingly counted every single word and letter of the Hebrew text and who were alert to its every subtle nuance and allusion – developed a unique poetry of allegories and riddles in order to encourage us to jump out of our pre-existing misconceptions about the nature and purpose of the world and rethink everything we thought we knew. Johsua's bringing the entire nation "between the poles of the Ark" may be understood as his having succeeded in bringing everyone within the bounds of a totally new level of consciousness emanating out of the Ark and what it represented, in which they all perceived that God alone rules over everything. "The Living God" (v. 10) alludes kabbalistically to the Sefirah of Yesod, the Covenant. It is precisely this quality of moral purity, embodied in Joseph the Tzaddik, that would drive out the Seven Canaanite Nations, who were the physical, mental and ideological KELIPAH (husk) over the Covenant (corresponding to the 7 days prior to circumcision, during which the Orlah-foreskin still hides the holy crown). The greatness of the miracle of the splitting of the Jordan was enhanced because it was Nissan, springtime, when the melting snows of winter made the river so full that it was bursting its banks. It was in the merit of the Israelites having taken and slaughtered the Paschal Lamb (alluding to Aries, head of the constellations) on the 10 th of Nissan 40 years earlier, bending the constellations under the will of God, that the new generation witnessed this new, unheard of miracle of the splitting of a flowing river. The Talmudic discussion of the splitting of the Jordan is contained in Sotah 35a ff. Just to further irritate the skeptics, the Talmud states that according to Rabbi Yehuda, when the river split and the flow from the north backed up, it caused a huge cubic pillar of water 12 by 12 miles large corresponding to the size of the Israelite camp. Rabbi Elazar ben Shimon (bar Yochai) objected, saying that the pillar was more than 300 miles high so that all the kings of the east and the west saw it, as it says, "When the kings of the Emorites heard…" Just to increase the mystery, the rabbis said of the city of "Adam" mentioned in verse 16, "Did you ever in your life hear of a city called Adam? No, this alludes to Abraham, 'the great man (Adam) among giants' (Joshua 14:15)… It was in Abraham's merit that this miracle took place" – because he was the first to bend nature to his will when he circumcised himself.

Chapter 4 WRITING THE TORAH ON STONE According to the Talmudic account in Sotah, the essential gist of which is quoted with characteristic brevity in Rashi's commentary on our text, the day of the crossing of the Jordan was one of superhuman activity by the twelve representatives of the tribes who took up stones from the Jordan to set up in Gilgal,

and indeed superhuman activity by the entire people. This was a day to remember for ever. Altogether there were three sets of 12 stones. The first had been set up by Moses in the land of Moab (Deut 1:5 and 27:8), and on them he wrote the entire Torah. Then Joshua set up a second set of stones in the Jordan itself (Joshua 4, verse 9), while a third set of stones was taken from the Jordan and set up in Gilgal (v. 8). The Torah was likewise written on these stones. However the third set of stones was not merely taken directly from the Jordan to Gilgal. According to the Talmud, on the very day of the crossing of the Jordan the entire people journeyed to Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival, built an altar, coated it with lime and wrote the entire Torah on it, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, ate and drank, recited the blessings and the curses, all in accordance with Moses' instructions (Deuteronomy ch. 27). It was only after this that they took the stones THAT SAME DAY and carried them to Gilgal, where they were set up to educate the future generations. Thus on the very day of their entry into the Land, the Children of Israel wrote the Torah not merely on parchment but onto the very rocks and boulders of their new Land. The whole purpose of this was to teach their children and descendants in all the generations to come a profound lesson about how God works through history (ch 4 vv. 6-7). It was through the power of God's Covenant, inscribed in His holy Torah, that the Children of Israel entered their land. Using the stones to stimulate the children's curiosity and give them a lesson in history is reminiscent of the annual Seder Night recalling the Exodus. (The ancient idolaters, including the Canaanites, were wont to set up stone circles as part of their highly sophisticated systems of worship of the stars. The twelve stones of the twelve tribes, corresponding to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, were the ultimate TIKUN (repair) for this idolatry. MORE MIRACLES Ch 4 vv. 10 & 15-19 go back to narrate further miracles relating to the splitting of the Jordan . It was only when the priests carrying the Ark first dipped their feet into in the water by the east bank of the river that the main miracle – the splitting of the river -- occurred, enabling the entire people to cross on dry land. Rashi, reflecting the Talmudic discussion, which is based on hints in our text, explains that after the people crossed the river to the west bank of the Jordan , the priests returned with the Ark to the EAST bank. The moment the priests stepped out of the water, the river returned to its normal flow, after which the priests crossed the river OVER THE FLOWING WATER, CARRIED BY THE ARK – thus graphically showing the entire nation that THE ARK CARRIES THOSE WHO CARRY IT and not vice versa (see Rashi on vv. 16 and 18.).The Torah may seem like a heavy yoke, but in fact it carries those who practice it – it carries them above and beyond nature!!! The lesson of this unforgettable day in the history of the Children of Israel is summed up in the concluding verse of our text (ch 4 v 24): "In order for all the peoples of the land to know that the hand of HaShem is mighty, in order that you should fear HaShem your God all your days."

Chapter 5 THE CIRCUMCISION It was through the power of the Ark of the Covenant that the River Jordan had split to enable the Children of Israel to walk into their home country on dry land. Immediately after their entry into the Land, it was necessary to inscribe the mark of the Covenant on the very flesh of all the males as laid down in the Torah (Genesis 17:1-14, Leviticus 12:3) as a sign that observance of the Covenant is the absolute condition for possession of the Land. The circumcision was urgent as they had entered the Land on 10 Nissan and four days later everyone would have to offer and eat of the Pesach lamb, which was only permitted to the circumcised since partaking of the Paschal lamb is an intrinsic part of the Covenant. Our rabbis teach that immediately following their entry into the Land, during those four days before Pesach the people also went through purification from defilement from the dead using the ashes of the Red Heiffer so as to be able to bring the Pesach sacrifice in a state of complete purity. At the time of the Exodus from Egypt all the Israelite males had been circumcised as part of their "conversion" to the faith of Israel . But according to the simple meaning of our text (PSHAT), the new generation that had been born during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness had not been circumcised. The rabbis explain that since the people were journeying in the wilderness by the word of God and might at any time be called upon to break camp and travel, it was impossible to circumcise the baby boys. Furthermore, they teach that the north wind, which has curative powers, did not blow throughout the forty years in the wilderness so as not to disperse the Cloud that led the people (see RaDaK on Joshua 5:2). [That beneficial north wind is the same wind of divine power that would blow through the strings of King David's harp and awaken him at midnight, Berachos 3b.] On the other hand, Tanna deVei Eliahu (the Midrash of Elijah the prophet) states that it is not possible that the people who received the Torah at Sinai could have neglected the mitzvah of circumcision in the wilderness. Rather, they had only performed the first part of it – the actual MILAH, cutting off the foreskin – but had failed to perform the second part, PERIYAH, the peeling back of the membrane, which is an intrinsic part of the mitzvah ("if one cuts off the foreskin but does not perform PERIYAH, it is as if he has not circumcised"). This was why God told Joshua to circumcise them "a second time" (v. 2) – i.e. to complete the mitzvah. The circumcision was performed in the location of the Israelites' first encampment in their land, which to mark this mass demonstration of recommitment to the Covenant was named GILGAL for the reason explained in our text (v. 9): "I have ROLLED OFF (GALosi) the shame of Egypt from upon you" -- for the Egyptian astrologers saw blood on the Israelites and thought it was a sign they would be defeated, not knowing that it was the blood of the circumcision, through which they would be victorious (Rashi). GILGAL is also related to the Hebrew word GILGUL which has the connotation of recycling – reincarnation. Each and every generation must rededicate itself to the Covenant because history goes in cycles. Eating of the "produce of the land" from the day after Pesach (v 11) brought the Children of Israel to a new mode of being. For 40 years in the Wilderness their food had been the miraculous, spiritual Manna. It was because they were now going to be living in a real, actual country making a living using natural methods, agriculture etc. that they first had to rededicate themselves to the Covenant, through which we cut the flesh to indicate that our task is to bring this material world under the law of

God. The Covenant enables the material world (MALCHUT) to receive spiritual blessing, and thus ARI (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, outstanding 16 th century Kabbalist) points out that in our verse (v. 11) the Hebrew word for produce, EEBUR, is made up of BOR (a "pit", signifying the inherently "empty" receiving Sefira of Malchut) together with the letter AYIN (=70), signifying the flow of all the seven Sefirot of Building, each of them containing all 10 Sefirot – 7 x 10 – into Malchut. The 16 th of Nissan, when they started to eat the produce of the Land, is the day of the Omer offering in the Temple : it is only after this offering that it is permitted to eat from the new harvest (Leviticus 23:14). THE ANGEL Now that the people were purified, God's Angel – a being so fearsome that even Joshua was uncertain if he was for us or against – appeared to protect the people. "NOW I have come" (v. 14) – in the time of Joshua, but not before! For Moses had insisted that God Himself lead the people into the Land and not through a mere angel (Exodus 33:15). But now that Moses had departed, only a trace or residue of the exalted providence of his time remained in the form of this angel – Michael , Israel 's protective angel (see Likutey Moharan II, 5). The angel impresses on Joshua that the Land of Israel is not like any other: "Take off your shoe from your foot, for the place upon which you are standing is holy". Similarly, the priests went barefoot in the Temple . (Zohar Chadash 59a indicates that the removal of the shoe alludes to Joshua's having to separate from his wife in order to be ready to receive prophecy at any time just as Moses had been.)

Chapter 6 JERICHO "And Jericho was closed up" (Ch 6 v 2). The Hebrew word for "closed up" is doubled, indicating that they wouldn't let anyone in or anyone out. Targum Yonasan says they had gates of iron with bars of bronze. ARI explains that Jericho (YEREICHO) alludes to the moon (YAREIACH) which signifies MALCHUS, the receiver – this world, which must receive the spiritual flow from above. But under the Canaanites, Jericho was completely closed up – i.e. surrounded by walls and barriers – KELIPAH, the evil husk – preventing the divine flow from entering and manifesting in this world. Now that the Children of Israel were in the Land, they could not expect that all their affairs would be run miraculously by God as in the wilderness without their having to take any action here on earth. They had to act in some way in the material world in order to conquer Jericho (Radak). While their daily encirclement of the city can be seen as an exercise to demoralize the enemy, its significance goes far deeper. Our rabbis teach that the seven days of encirclement started on a Sunday, culminating with seven circuits on the Shabbat. This was not coincidental: the entire exercise came to prove that Israel's conquest and possession of the Land depend upon observance of Shabbat – the weekly Shabbat, the seven year Sabbatical cycle of six years of agricultural work and then rest -- Shemittah – in the seventh year, and then the seven cycles of seven years culminating in the 50 th "Jubilee" year, called after the YOVEL – the ram's horn of freedom sounded in that year. Sounding the Shofar – signifying man's wordless cry to God from the very depths of the heart – was an integral part of the ritual that led to the capture of Jericho . The

entire ritual was built around sevens. It came to undermine the idolatrous Canaanites, whose religions were built around the worship of the 7 planets. The Israelite processions must have been a most awesome spectacle, with the men of the tribes of Reuven and Gad leading, followed by the Shofar-blasting priests and the Ark, followed by Dan at the rear gathering up any stragglers (Rashi on v. 9). The entire camp of Israel was involved in this Shabbos demonstration! The Talmud Yerushalmi in Shabbos explains why Joshua declared Jericho and all its plunder CHEREM -- completely dedicated to God. This was because the city fell on Shabbos and it is forbidden to benefit from labor performed on Shabbos. The first conquest in the Land of Israel came about not through the agency of man but essentially through God's miracle. Nobody was allowed to have material benefit from God's miracle as this would detract from His glory. Joshua gave the city the status of IR HANIDACHAS – an idolatrous city, all of whose property must be destroyed (Deut. 13:3-19). The ethics of the commandment to destroy the Canaanites completely will be addressed in a future installment. Suffice it to say here that had they been willing to accept the One God they could have saved themselves, as Rahav did. The rabbis taught that Joshua himself took Rahav as his wife and their descendants included prophets and priests. Joshua's grim oath (v 26) that anyone who tried to rebuild Jericho would pay with the lives of all his sons was actually fulfilled many generations later in the time of King Achav, as we will learn in a few months time when we reach the Book of Kings I ch 16. The TaNaCh is first and foremost a moral teaching on a grand scale. God is very patient with His creatures but He always fulfils His word in the end.

Chapter 7 AYAYAY!!! The heady mood of self-confidence engendered among the Israelites by the spectacular collapse of the walls of Jericho was quickly punctured by the disaster at the city of Ai , caused by the sin of Achan ben Karmi in embezzling from the treasures of Jericho that Joshua had dedicated to God. "And Israel sinned with the devoted treasure…" A single individual's sin is the sin of the whole people, for we are all responsible for one another! The Hebrew root of the word sin in v. 1 is MA'AL. While referring generically to sin, this word specifically indicates stealing from HEKDESH, property dedicated to God, such as Temple property, for one's own personal benefit. This sin leads to the corruption of religion when people use what belongs to God for their own personal pleasure and enrichment. "Pride comes before a fall": heady after the capture of Jericho, the spies sent by Joshua to check out Ai (mentioned in Genesis 12:8 as one of Abraham's first stopping places in the Land and site of his second altar there) returned and advised that only a small force was needed to take the city "for they are few" (v. 3). In saying this they showed that they did not yet understand that for God, victory in the Land of Israel depends not on numerical advantage but only upon our loyalty to Him. It was the fatal flaw in loyalty expressed in Achan's embezzlement that caused the reverse at Ai. "And they smote ABOUT thirty-six men" (v 5). Rabbi Yehuda said literally 36 men were lost, but Rabbi Nehemiah pointed out that the verse says "LIKE thirty-six men " (the KAF of KISHLOSHIM is comparative). The one man who was lost in the battle was LIKE (the equivalent of) thirty-six men (36 = a majority of the 71-member Sanhedrin): this was Yair ben Menashe (Numbers 32:41; Bava Basra 121b) – it was a national disaster for even a single Israelite to be lost.

Our text shows the proper reaction of a true Israelite leader when even a single man looses his life in war. "And Joshua tore his garments and fell on his face on the ground…" (v.6). Unlike contemporary leaders, who appoint commissions of enquiry into their failures in order to blame someone else, Joshua took personal responsibility. Indeed God told him that it was his own fault because he had stayed back in the camp instead of going out to battle against Ai in front of his men. Moreover it was he who declared Jericho CHEREM (dedicated/destroyed) on his own initiative without being so commanded by God. Therefore Israel would be CHEREM until the sinner was punished (Rashi on v. 10). THE LOTTERY God could have simply TOLD Joshua directly who the guilty man was, but instead He revealed his identity indirectly through a series of lotteries that were held publicly to establish from which tribe the sinner was, from which clan of that tribe and from which family… There was an ulterior purpose in turning the exposure of Achan into a national spectacle using the lottery (GORAL): this was because the Land was destined to be divided up among the tribes and families using the very same method of LOTTERY, as Moses had been commanded (Numbers 33:54). Having seen how the holy spirit governed the lottery in a capital case like Achan's, the people would accept its validity in matters of property (Rashi on v. 19; Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 86). Rashi (on v. 20) explains that before Achan's confession the situation was explosive. Achan was in denial and the members of his tribe (Judah) were getting ready to make war against Joshua (Ephraim) for accusing their leader of a crime. It was only when Achan realized his continuing silence would cause the death of many Israelites that he confessed. Joshua's messengers RAN to Achan's tent to find the booty (v. 22) in order to prevent men from the tribe of Judah getting there first to hide it. "And I saw in the booty a robe of Shin'ar…" (v.21). Shin'ar is Babylon (Genesis 10:10). Explaining what a Babylonian robe was doing in Jericho , Rashi (v. 21) says that every foreign power wanted a foothold in Israel and no king felt content until he established his influence there. Thus the king of Babylon had a palace in Jericho , and left special robes there for him to wear when he visited. The presence of foreign kings explains why the tiny country of Israel had no less than THIRTY-ONE of them, as we will see in the continuation of the book of Joshua. Likewise today every self-respecting nation demands a say in what happens in Israel ! It was through his confession that Achan redeemed himself, becoming the archetype of the sinner that confesses (following in the footsteps of his tribal ancestor, Judah, who was the first to confess – Genesis 38:26). "Everyone who confesses has a share in the world to come" (Sanhedrin 43b). The law that a condemned man confesses before his execution and that this brings him atonement is derived from our text. Thus Joshua said to Achan, "As for your having sullied us, God will sully you ON THIS DAY" – i.e. in THIS WORLD but not in the World to Come, because confession brings atonement. Achan's atonement before Joshua is one of the main foundations of Rabbi Nachman's teaching on confession of one's sins before a Torah sage (see Likutey Moharan Vol. 1 Discourse 4).

CHAPTER 8 Achan's confession and punishment cleansed the Israelites of the flaw that led to their defeat at Ai. At God's command they now used a brilliant military ruse against Ai, engaging the men of the city in battle and then feigning retreat in order to lure

them out of the city so that a waiting ambush could enter unopposed and set the whole place on fire (Joshua 8:1-29). Sometimes the best way to advance and make gains is by first retreating a little. After the capture of Ai, the text gives an account of the ceremonies that took place at Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eival after the entry of the Children of Israel into the Land. Rashi (chapter 8 v 30) comments that the narrative is not written in order, because Joshua's building of the Altar on Mount Eival, the writing of the Torah on the stones and the solemn ceremony of reciting the Blessings and Curses before the entire nation in fact all took place on the very same day that they crossed the Jordan (see KNOW YOUR BIBLE on Joshua ch 3). The description of the sacrifices and the ceremony in today's text relates back to the commandment given by Moses in Deuteronomy ch 27, where he says all this was to be done "on the day that you cross the Jordan" (v. 2). Since the ensuing chapters of Joshua will recount the conquest of the Land in detail, the positioning of the account of the recital of the Blessings and Curses right here underlines yet again that Israel 's conquest and possession of the Land are conditional upon our observance of God's Torah.

CHAPTER 9 All the Canaanite kings throughout the land " gathered together to fight with Yoshua and with Israel WITH ONE MOUTH" (ch 9 v 2). This was all out war not only against Israel but against the One God who had promised them the Land. "In three places we find the people of the world rebelling against the Holy One blessed be He: at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1), in the war of Gog and Magog (Psalms 2:2) and in the days of Joshua. Why does it say 'with ONE mouth'? Because they went against God, of whom it is said, 'Hear, O Israel, HaShem is ONE!'" (Tanchuma). Since many today are convinced that the world is in the throes of the war of Gog and Magog, this Midrash underlines the connection between many aspects of our present text about the war in the days of Joshua and the times we are living in now. For Israel in the time of Joshua, the war for the conquest of the Land was a holy war. The decadent Canaanite star-worshippers, suddenly threatened with being driven out of their lovely homeland, doubtless saw the Israelites as a new breed of religious fanatics waging a dangerous Jihad that had to be thwarted at all costs. Yet after witnessing God's miracles on behalf of the Israelites, many of the Canaanites were already demoralized and fearful, and felt that "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". However, in the Torah God had strictly forbidden the Israelites to make any covenant with the Cananites and their gods or permit them to dwell in their Land "lest they make you sin against Me when you serve their gods, for they will be a snare for you" (Exodus 23:32-3). The classic biblical commentator RaDaK (Rabbi David Kimche 1160-1235) in a lengthy comment on our text v. 7 explains exactly what the Israelite warriors were demanding of the Canaanites. They were not intending to kill them no matter what. The commandment to destroy the Canaanites applied only if "they make you sin". However, if they would agree to uproot idolatry from among them and accept the 7 Universal Commandments of the Children of Noah, they would be allowed to remain in the Land on condition that they agreed to serve and pay taxes to the Israelites – i.e. subordinate themselves to the Israelite national agenda of building God's

Temple and spreading His light to the nations. Only if they refused these conditions and refused to evacuate would they be killed. The one difference between the Canaanites and any other nations against whom Israel made war was that if other nations refused to make peace and insisted on waging war, the Israelites would on defeating them kill only their males but keep their wives and children as slaves. However, if the Canaanites made war, the Israelites were commanded by God to kill them all, men, women and children. For some this may raise agonizing ethical issues, which I cannot address except by saying that the biblical commandment to exterminate these nations is evidently founded on the premise that they were a thoroughly evil influence that had to be nullified completely for the sake of God's plan to reveal Himself to the entire world by replacing ancient idolatry with faith in the one God. It must be emphasized that nowhere in Judaism is there any justification whatever for the wholesale extermination of any nation excepting the Amalekites and the Canaanites, both of whom have now completely disappeared. If today some evil criminals and terrorists BEHAVE like Canaanites and Amalekites, then the individuals or gangs exhibiting such behavior should be brought to justice by the legitimate forces of law and order in order to neutralize their destructive influence. Yerushalmi Shavuos 6:5 states that on entry to the Land, Joshua sent three written proclamations to the Canaanites. "Whoever wants to make peace can make peace; whoever wants to make war may make war, and whoever wants to evacuate may leave." Some of the Canaanites departed voluntarily and went to N. Africa ( Carthage ) where they received a land as prosperous as the one they left. Some sources state that some of the Canaanites went to Europe ( Germany ). Since the Gibeonites knew that they could save themselves without leaving if they agreed to the Israelite conditions, RaDaK (ibid.) asks why they resorted to the ruse described in our chapter, and answers that having seen how the Israelites had destroyed Jericho and Ai, they were afraid that the Israelites might not adhere to their conditions. THE BITE OF THE SERPENT The Gibeonites were actually Hivites (v. 7). Their deception of Joshua and the Children of Israel was a deep historical irony, as the Hivites had tried to "convert" and intermarry with Israel in the time of Jacob (Genesis ch 34) when Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite raped Dinah. Jacob's sons tricked the men of Shechem into circumcising, but "on the third day" when they were in great pain, Shimon and Levi entered the town and killed them all (for having failed to protest the rape of Dinah, which flouted the Noahide code.) Thus in our chapter, we read that "they ALSO acted with cunning" (v. 4). This was the cunning of the serpent – in Aramaic, a serpent is HIVIA, from the same root as the Hivites. Students of Kabbalah will note that the fake old provisions, clothes and shoes the Gibeonites used included "crumbs" (NEKUDIM) alluding to the Kabbalistic World of Chaos, Nekudim, the root of evil (see 138 Openings of Wisdom, Opening 36ff). RaDaK, noting that moldy bread is covered in red, green and black spots, also relates NEKUDIM to Laban's SPOTTED flock (Genesis 30:32ff), likewise bound up with the mystery of the world of Nekudim. Midrash Tanchuma shows the parallel between how the serpent tricked Adam and Eve into sinning in the hope of killing Adam and marrying Eve, and how the

Gibeonites tricked the Israelites into making a forbidden covenant with them: "If they kill us they will violate their oath, while if they keep us alive they will violate God's commandment: either way they will be punished and will not inherit the land." The Gibeonites were not true converts since they converted not because they wanted to serve the One God but out of fear (verse 24). It was "at the end of THREE DAYS" that the Israelites found out that they had been deceived: this is a hark-back to Shimon and Levi's deception of the men of Shechem "on the third day".. Despite the Gibeonites' deception, the Israelites, having publicly sworn to protect them, could not violate their oath as this would have been a HILUL HASHEM, desecration of God's Name (Gittin 46a). Joshua therefore gave the Gibeonites the status of a caste of Temple laborers who were not permitted to intermarry with Israelites (in this respect they were similar to a MAMZER, a child born of an incestuous union). They appear on the stage of history again in the time of King Saul and King David, and after the destruction of the First Temple they went into exile to Babylon with the tribe of Judah , returning to Israel with Ezra. The Gibeonites are unknown today.

Chapter 10 "And when Adoni-Tzedek king of Jerusalem heard…." (ch 10 v 1). The Midrash comments on his name: "This place ( Jerusalem ) makes its inhabitants righteous – Malki-Tzedek (Genesis 14:18), Adoni-Tzedek… 'Righteousness (TZEDEK) will dwell in it' (Isaiah 1:21; Bereishis Rabba 23). Since Jerusalem was to be the place of God's Temple , it is significant that the main war of the Canaanites against the Israelites was initiated by the king of that city. However, Adoni-Tzedek's "righteousness" was for the sake of appearances. Instead of confronting the Israelites directly, he devised a roundabout way to provoke them by following the classic Middle East method of staging an attack on the pro-Israeli "collaborators", the Gibeonites. The Israelites were honor-bound to come to their aid, and God fought for Israel , raining down from heaven stones of ALGAVISH on the backs of their fleeing enemies (AL GAV ISH -- "on a man's back"). The giant stones littering the area of Beit Choron (ch 10 v 11) were visible in Talmudic times and are mentioned in Berachos 54b as a spectacle over which one should make a blessing for the miracles performed for our ancestors. The truly outstanding miracle in our chapter is how Joshua caused the sun and the moon to stop in their tracks in order to give the Israelites more time to chase after and destroy their enemies (verses 12-14). "Then Joshua SPOKE" – his words were a prayer and a song (see RaDaK ad loc.). The Talmud states that the battle took place on a Friday, the eve of Shabbat, and Joshua was afraid lest the Israelites would come to violate the Shabbat (Avoda Zara 25a). Midrash Tanchuma states that from the time the sun rises until the time it sets, it sings a song of praise to God. Joshua commanded the sun to "BE SILENT in Giv'on" – for if the sun were to cease to sing, it would immediately stop in its tracks. The sun asked Joshua why it should stop singing since it was created on the fourth day while Joshua, a man, was created only on the sixth. Joshua replied that God had given Abraham possession of the heavens (Genesis 14:19), and moreover, the sun had bowed down to Joseph, Joshua's ancestor (Genesis 37:9). The sun said, 'If I don't sing to God, who will?' "THEN JOSHUA SPOKE", as if to say, "I WILL!!!" The "Book of Righteousness" (Joshua 10:13) in which this was already prophesied is the Torah, in which it is

written that Jacob promised Joseph that the fame of the seed of Ephraim would "fill the nations" (Genesis 48:19; see Rashi on Joshua 10 v. 13). No human can explain or understand how exactly Joshua succeeded in "bending time" to his will and extending the day by as much as 36 hours according to some rabbinic opinions. Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer states that Joshua saw that the Canaanite astrologers were planning an attack on the Israelites on the rapidly approaching Shabbat and this was why he prayed to extend the Friday. That God "listened to the voice of a man" (v. 14) indicates that the power of holy prayer is greater even than the influence of the stars and planets, which govern time, while prayer can elevate us beyond time.

Chapter 11 The book of Joshua recounts the conquest of the Land in six not particularly lengthy chapters (6-11), yet at the end of the account it says "Joshua made war with all these kings for MANY DAYS" (ch 11 v 18). Thus we see that our text presents only the highlights and main contours of what was in fact a lengthy process: the NaCh is in essence God's moral teaching, not a detailed military history. Nevertheless, the strategy of the conquest is clear. It began with Jericho , which our sages call the "lock" of Eretz Israel . Jericho is the only good gateway between the south west of the Land of Israel and the territories east of the Jordan , which had been conquered in the days of Moses and had been given to the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menasheh. The conquest of Jericho thus ensured the link between the Israelite populations on both sides of the Jordan as well as cutting off the Canaanite nations from possible help from elements east of the Jordan hostile to the Israelites. We may understand the significance of the conquest of Ai (ch 7-8) and the subjugation of Givon (chs 9-10), both in the hills of Shomron north of Jerusalem, when we take into account that in the times of Joshua much of the center of the Land was covered by extensive forests (see Joshua ch 17 vv 14-18). The conquest of these two cities thus brought the entire central region of the country, which was relatively uninhabited, under Israelite control. (Shechem, the largest city in the area, was inhabited by Hivites, and evidently submitted to Israelite dominion at the same time as their clansmen the Hivite Giveonites.) Israelite control of the center of the country cut off the Canaanite city states of the north (Hatzor etc.) from those of the south, and they were thus unable to unite to fight all together against the Israelites. After the defeat of the five Emorite kings in the south, as described in the previous chapter (10 vv 1-11) Joshua did not immediately destroy their cities but instead turned against Makedah, Livnah, Lachish and Eglon (ibid 28-35), these being the key cities guarding the approach to the mountains of Judea dominating the south of the country. The mountain region was thus cut off from the coastal plain, thereby isolating Mount Hevron from all possible assistance from the west, north and south. Joshua then went up to conquer Mount Hevron and the rest of the southern regions of the country, which meant that the entire south and center of the Land were now under Israelite control. The hardest part of the conquest was that of the north, as described in our present text, Chapter 11, because the city-state of Hatzor, under King Yavin, was the most powerful influence in the region, possessing great wealth as well as "a very great number of horses and chariots" (11, 4), of which the Israelites had none.

Kabbalistically, we must look at the Land of Israel not through the spectacles of modern geography, where every map is aligned along the north-south axis. Instead, we must bear in mind that, Kabbalistically, the all important axis is the center column, corresponding to the daily journey of the sun from east (Tiferet) to west (Malchus). When you face east, the south is to your right, corresponding to Chessed, Kindness, while the north is to your left, corresponding to Gevurah, Strength. South and north are thus the two arms. The Israelites entered the Land from the east (Tiferet) and first conquered the center (Ai, Giveon), then the south (Chessed) and then the north (Gevurah). Thus the king of Hatzor, the major power of the north, was Yavin,(Heb. = "he will understand"), alluding to the left column root sefirah of Binah. God commanded Joshua to break the ankles of all their enemies' horses and burn all their chariots (v 6) even though the prohibition of BAL TASHCHIS ("do not destroy" Deut. 20:19) forbids wanton destruction. RaDaK (v 9) explains that the Canaanites had put their trust in the power of their horses and chariots, and God did not want the Israelites to plunder them in order to ensure that they would not also come to put their faith in military might. It was not necessary to kill the horses. All that was needed was to cut their hooves so that they would not be of any use in battle. "MANY DAYS" As we have seen, our text gives a brief account of what was in fact a long process of conquest and subjugation. Joshua was criticized for taking "many days" to conquer all the kings of Canaan . God had promised him that "as I was with Moses, so shall I be with you" (ch 1 v 5), which indicates that Joshua should have lived to the age of 120 like Moses. However, the Midrash tells us that Joshua feared he would be taken from the world as soon as he completed the conquest, and was therefore inclined to tarry. God said to him: "Moses your teacher did not act like that when I told him to exact vengeance from the Midianites and then die (Numbers 31:1) – he made war on them immediately. Since you think this way, I shall SUBTRACT from your years (Joshua – like his ancestor Joseph – died at the age of 110.) 'Many are the thoughts in a man's heart but it is God's counsel that will stand'" (Bamidbar Rabbah 22:7). Sometimes the stratagems we devise to stave off perceived dangers actually bring those very dangers nearer. "IT WAS FROM GOD TO HARDEN THEIR HEARTS" The Canaanites themselves caused their own destruction by refusing to submit to the Israelite conditions for remaining in the Land – giving up their idolatry. As v 20 states, their recalcitrance was sent by heaven. RaDaK explains that God hardened their hearts similarly to the way He hardened the heart of Pharaoh, in order to punish them for their sins, and secondly, in order to enable the Israelites to destroy them as God had commanded Moses so that they would not cause the Israelites to sin. The recalcitrance of the Canaanites has been mirrored in modern times by that of the Arabs who have systematically resisted the return of the people of Israel to resettle their ancestral lands. Many Jews find it impossible to understand the unrelenting opposition of the Arabs to Jewish settlement of the Land – and indeed, it is impossible to understand it in rational terms. It might appear that the Arabs would have a lot to gain from peaceful cooperation with a people who have time and time again manifested their God-given blessing of being able to turn a tiny strip of land in the dry, backward Middle East into a flourishing, prosperous jewel of a country. Those Arabs who agree to help the people of Israel in our national mission

as laid down in God's road map in the Bible will indeed have a place and a role in the future order as foretold by the prophets. But those who refuse will one day discover that their trust in bombs, missiles and machine guns is entirely misplaced. "AND THE LAND RESTED FROM WAR" "This means that the Canaanites did not rise up again and gather to make war against the Israelites because they saw they had been defeated in all the wars. Likewise the Israelites remained in the territories they had conquered but did not conquer more land. When Joshua was old, God told him to urge on Israel to conquer the remaining territories and He ordered him to divide up the Land in his life time. Joshua began with the tribes of Judah and Joseph, because he was told prophetically that they were the heads of Israel and would stand on the boundaries of Israel , Judah to the south [Chessed] and Ephraim to the north [Gevurah], with the other seven tribes between them. Once the territories were allotted to each tribe by the lottery, they considered the whole land to have been conquered as all the boundaries were in their hands and any remaining Canaanites were locked in between… (RaDaK on v 23).

Chapter 12 THE THIRTY ONE KINGS OF CANAAN In Hebrew the number 31 is written with the letters Lamed (=30) and Aleph (=1). The two possible permutations of these two letters make up two Hebrew words. The first is EL (literally, "power" but also "God" – as such it is pronounced KEL except in prayer since this is one of the seven names of God that may not be erased). The second is LO (= "no"). The 31 kings all said "No" to Israel , and paid for their intransigence with their very lives in order to show that "it is God's counsel that will stand". When the Five Books of Moses are written on a parchment scroll for the public reading of the Torah in the Synagogue, the scribe must observe detailed rules and conventions in writing the text. In the same way, there are specific rules governing the writing of the Prophets and Holy Writings on a parchment scroll (some communities read the weekly Haftara and the Megillot from valid scrolls). Yerushalmi Megillah ch 4 tells us that in the parchment scroll of Joshua, the names of the 31 kings of Canaan must be written similarly to way the names of the 10 Sons of Haman hanged on the tree are written in Megillas Esther. The 31 kings are written each on a separate line with the name at the beginning of the line and the repeated word "ONE" (vv. 9-23) at the end. Perhaps the repetition of the word ONE comes to emphasize that although Israel were faced with a multiplicity of enemies, they were all sent by the One God who ultimately destroyed them all. With the completion of the summary of the conquest of the Land in Chapter 12, we are ready for the account of its allocation by lottery to the Tribes of Israel as narrated in the coming chapters.

Chapter 13 SOME HISTORY "And Joshua was old, advanced in days" (Joshua 13:1). The deeper meaning of this verse is illumined by Rabbi Nachman's teaching that the true elder constantly advances in holiness and wisdom with every single day and every hour and minute.

In terms of the literal chronology of our text, God's command to Joshua to divide the land even though it was not yet fully subdued came after seven years of conquest following the Children of Israel's entry. This is learned out from today's text Chapter 14 v 10 where Calev ben Yefuneh – Joshua's fellow spy among the twelve sent by Moses from the wilderness at the start of what became 40 years of wandering – says, "God has given me life this FORTY-FIVE years" (i.e. it was 45 years since God's promise to give Calev the land he trod upon in his visit to Israel, since he was the only faithful spy out of the twelve besides Joshua). Rashi on this verse says that it is from here that we learn that the conquest took seven years, because Moses sent the spies in the second year in the wilderness, and the remaining 38 years of wandering with another seven for the conquest make a total of 45. According to the dating system of the rabbinic historical Midrash SEDER OLAM ("Order of the World") followed in this series (which puts the Destruction of the Second Temple in the year 3828 = 68 of the Common Era), the Exodus from Egypt took place in 2448 (1312 B.C.E.), with the death of Moses and Joshua's subsequent entry into the Land in 2488 (1272 B.C.E.). Joshua had been 44 at the time of the sending of the spies, and was 82 when he entered the Land. Thereafter he ruled over Israel for 28 years until his death at the age of 110, and was thus 89 at the time of the commencement of the division of the Land. SOME GEOGRAPHY Today's text and the texts of the coming days are filled with the names of various peoples and tribes and very many place-names. These are chapters filled with the love of God's holy Promised Land and its every mountain, hill, plain and river… Many profound secrets are woven into these subtle texts. By way of introduction to the coming chapters of the book of Joshua, let us establish some basic principles relating to the Land God has given to Israel . In the "Covenant between the Parts" God promised Abraham "this Land from the river of Egypt until the great river, the River Euphrates. The Keinite, the Kenizzite and the Kadmoni. And the Hitite, the Perrizite and the Refa'im. And the Emorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite". (Genesis 15:18-20). This is the "Promised Land". As noted by Rashi (ad loc.), ten peoples are listed here – whereas in the time of the conquest of Joshua, the Israelites were commanded only to take possession of the lands of the seven Canaanite nations. The three other peoples listed in God's promise to Abraham, the Keinite, Kenizzite and Kadmoni, refer to Edom , Moab and Ammon, which are destined to come under the rule of Israel in time to come. The geographical definition of the Holy Land promised to Abraham is "from the river to the river" – the entire Mediterranean arm of the "Fertile Crescent" from the western point of the Euphrates all the way to the eastern arm of the Nile delta (this is the usual interpretation of "the River of Egypt" though some identify it with with Wadi Arish). A similar definition of the Promised Land is in God's Covenant with Israel at Sinai, where the territory is "from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines (Mediterranean) and from the wilderness until the River ( Euphrates )" (Exodus 23:31).

King David conquered most of this area, and under King Solomon the entire area was indeed under the sway of Israel: "And Solomon waas the ruler over all the principalities from the River (Euphrates) to the land oaf the Philistines and the border of Egypt" (Kings 1, 5:1-5). After Solomon, the Israelite influence waned but in the later history of the kingdom of Israel , King Jeraboam ben Joash restored most of the lands over which Solomon had held sway. Thereafter, however, the Israelite grip on the land was lost when first the Ten Tribes went into exile and subsequently Judah . The period from the conquest of the Land by Joshua until the destruction of the First Temple in 3338 (422 B.C.E.) is one of 850 years, in which the people of Israel practiced the laws and customs of their fathers with varying levels of fidelity, following the agricultural and other laws of the Torah. After Ezra's return from exile in Babylon, with the rebuilding of the Second Temple, there followed another period of more than 700 years of continuous Jewish residence in the Land of Israel until several centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple. Knowledge of the exact boundaries and divisions of the to know how the various agricultural laws of the Torah (For example, in Temple times the Omer barley offering east of the Jordan ; certain details of the laws of tithing Ammon and Moab from Israel west of the Jordan , etc.)

Land is important in order apply in different regions. could not be brought from of produce are different in

THE EAST AND WEST BANKS OF THE JORDAN Most of Chapter 13 of our text today deals not with the allocation of the lands of the Seven Canaanite nations but with the territories EAST of the River Jordan which had been taken in the time of Moses and given by him to the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menashh, as related in the Torah in the later chapters of Numbers (chs 21 ff) and again in the early chapters of Deuteronomy. The conquest and division of these territories are recounted in detail in our present chapter, Joshua 13. Their topography is given in detail – from the territories to the south taken from the Emorite (Canaanite) king Sichon comprising areas of Moab and Ammon (current day Jordan) through the fertile Gil'ad (also in Jordan) up to the Bashan taken from King Og, a remnant of the (Canaanite) Refa'im (Bashan includes parts of the present day Golan heights and other parts of Syria and Jordan). From Biblical times until after well after the destruction of the Second Temple , the Israelite population thus spread both in the " Land of Israel " WEST of the Jordan and also in the ancestral territories given to them by Moses EAST of the Jordan (MEY-EYVER LA-YARDEN). Their respective populations were in constant communication (thus Mishneh Rosh HaShanah describes how the news of the Sanctification of the New Moon was signaled by torches from mountain to mountain across vast swathes of territory until everyone knew it.) The political geography of the Middle East since 1948 has concealed the intimate bond that exists for Israel between the east and west banks of the Jordan . Prior to 1948, Palestine was a generic term for territories that are now divided up between present day Egypt , Jordan , Syria , Lebanon and Israel . The name Palestine was given by the Romans after the destruction of Jewish sovereignty in the Land, and was originally intended as an insult to the Jews by calling their ancestral homeland by the Latinized name of their traditional national enemies, the Philistines. [The Philistines were not a clan of the Canaanites but a powerful sea-faring invader people who came in waves from earlier habitations in the Mediterranean area from the times of Abraham and thereafter.] When in 1917 Britain assumed the mandate over "Palestine" and made the "Balfour Declaration" stating that its government

"viewed with favour the establishment in PALESTINE of a national home for the Jewish people", the term Palestine still referred to territories stretching from east of the Nile through present day Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It was only in the years after 1917 that sprawling " Palestine " was successively trimmed, cut down and redefined until the State of Israel was left with territory that is only a small part of the Promised Land given by God to Abraham. It is deeply significant that the extensive areas that did not come under Israelite possession in the times of Joshua are still beyond the borders of the State of Israel.

Chapter 14 The allocation of the Land amongst the Children of Israel in the time of Joshua was determined by the GORAL or "lottery" involving the High Priest (Elazar son of Aharon) and the "King" (Joshua student of Moses) using the Urim VeTumim – holy spirit channeled through the High Priest's breastplate inscribed with the luminescent Hebrew letters of the names of the Tribes, which would flash one after another to reveal divine messages. The main narrative of Chapter 14 concerns the request of Calev to receive the territory where he alone had trod as a Spy 45 years earlier. Numbers 13:21 hints through the use of the Hebrew singular "and HE came to Hebron" that Calev alone out of the spies had the courage to risk the perilous journey to Hebron, the burial place of Adam and the three Patriarchs, in order to pray (see Rashi ad loc.). Here at the very beginning of the chapters dealing with the allocation of the Land of Israel among the tribes, the prominent positioning of Calev's request to receive Mount Hebron as the very heart of the royal tribe of Judah 's portion shows the supreme importance of Hebron to Israel and the Jewish people. King David ( Judah ) reigned in Hebron for seven years before he reigned in Jerusalem – he had to bind himself to the Three Fathers in Hebron before taking his position as the "fourth leg of the Throne". Joshua Chapter 14 shows the antiquity of Judah 's bond with Hebron , which will never be broken.

Chapter 15 "AND THE LOT FOR THE TRIBE OF JUDAH …" (Joshua 15:1) The royal tribe of Judah took their share in the Land first. We learn in Talmud Bava Kama 122a: "Rabbi Yehuda said, One measure of land in Judah is worth five in the Galilee , and the Land was divided by the GORAL (="lottery", "destiny"), as it says (Numbers 26:55) 'Through the GORAL shall the Land be divided'. It was divided through the Urim Ve-Tumim. How? Eliezer would wear the Urim Ve-Tumim (the High Priest's breastplate) and Joshua and all Israel stood before him. Placed in front of him was the urn of the lots with details of the boundaries of each of the different portions of the land lying in it. He would concentrate with holy spirit and say, If Zevulun comes up, the region of Acco will come up for him. He would shake the urn containing the names of the tribes and Zevulun would come up. Then he would shake the urn with the boundaries and up in his hand would come Acco. And so with Naftali, and so on." [i.e. Everyone saw that the Land was divided through Holy Spirit and this way everyone knew it was the Will of God and accepted their portions joyously.] The Talmud continues: "Not like the division in this world (i.e. in the time of Joshua) shall be the division in time to come. In this world a man who has a fruit

grove doesn't have a field, or if he has a field he doesn't have a fruit grove. But in the division of the world to come, there is not a single Israelite who does not have a share in the lowlands, the mountains and the south, and the Holy One blessed be He will divides it among them Himself, as it says (in the account of the future division, Ezekiel 48:29): 'And these are their allotments says HaShem'". NAMES, NAMES, NAMES Today's texts and those of the coming days are full of many names and topographical details. It can be taxing to try to focus on so many details, but we can fortify ourselves with Rabbi Nachman's teaching that in Torah study, it is sufficient simply to read the words one by one, even without understanding. For these chapters about the boundaries, towns and villages of the Land of Israel are the national treasures of our nation, proving the antiquity of our link with that contested strip of land on the eastern Mediterranean seaboard. The Canaanites and Philistines of old have disappeared without trace together with their cultures and languages, and the Jewish people's link with the Land is far older than that of any of the other peoples who have laid claim to the land. Those who preserve and study the Torah and this book of Joshua possess the true deed of title to the Land. Difficult though they may be to read and study, these chapters are far more than mere lists of names. Those familiar with present-day Israel will recognize many of the names of the towns and locations in the text. The names have their own poetry, whose beauty is particularly discernible to those with a broad acquaintance with the Hebrew of the Bible and the connotations of different words and roots. Some towns were called after their founder-builders or conquerors, some after an associated event, some after some striking and important environmental feature, a hill, valley, plain, rock, well, spring, a tree or trees, animals etc. Some names relate to the occupations of the original inhabitants, notably in the fields of agriculture, vine culture, and the like. Besides their simple PSHAT meaning, these lists of the boundaries and towns and villages of the Land are woven of holy names and letters containing a wealth of wisdom for those who would dig amidst these treasures. Rabbi Nathan of Breslov writes in his introduction to SEFER HAMIDDOT ("The Aleph Beit Book") by his master, Rabbi Nachman, that the Rebbe said he learned ALL THE REMEDIES IN THE WORLD from these chapters in the book of Joshua detailing the boundaries of the Land of Israel (ch's 15-19). He explained that the names of all the cities in each tribe's portion are ciphers denoting the names of all the remedies in the world in all languages. The reason is that the Land of Israel corresponds to the human form and the division of the land corresponds to the divisions of the body. One tribe's portion is the "head", another's the "right arm" etc., and the biblical passage describing each tribe's portion contains the remedies relating to the corresponding body part. It is noteworthy that Jerusalem appears both directly and indirectly several times in Chapter 15, even though Jerusalem itself was not part of Judah's tribal inheritance but in Benjamin's. Nevertheless, Jerusalem is alluded to in the account of Judah 's boundaries, because, as Rashi (v. 3) notes, "Wherever the text speaks about the boundary "going up" (OLEH) from the south, it means going up to Jerusalem, and where it speaks about from Jerusalem and beyond it speaks of how it goes down. From here we learn that Jerusalem is higher than all of Eretz Israel ". Verse 8 (see Rashi) explicitly teaches that while Judah 's northern boundary touched the southern tip of Jerusalem , it did not include the city, which Jacob had

promised to Benjamin, the youngest of his twelve sons, and son of his beloved Rachel. In fact Judah's boundary came right inside the Temple, touching the south east corner of the Altar, which for this reason had no YESOD (foundation) in that corner, so that no part of the Altar should stand anywhere except in the territory of Benjamin. KIRYAT SEFER & OSNIEL BEN KNAZ An intriguing part of Chapter 15 is Calev's challenge for someone to capture D'virKiryat Sefer in return for marrying his daughter Achsa. His half-brother Osniel son of Knaz stepped forward and took the town, after which Achsa asked her father for "springs of water… the upper springs and the lower springs" (vv 15-19). This is one of thOse deep, deep sections that can only begin to be grasped with the help of rabbinic Midrash. Here we have the first appearance of he who was to become the first of the Judges after Joshua. "'And the sun rises and the sun goes down' Ecclesiastes 1:5): Said R. Abba bar Kahana, Don't we know that the sun rises and the sun sets? What this verse means is that before the Holy One blessed be He causes the sun of one Tzaddik to set, He already causes the sun of another one to rise… Even before Joshua's sun set, the sun of Osniel ben Knaz rose, as it says, 'And Osniel ben Knaz captured [Dvir]" (Bereshis Rabba, Noah). The mystery of the capture of D'vir whose name was formerly Kiryat Sefer (City of the Book) is, as the Talmud (Temurah 16a) states, that during the thirty days of mourning for Moses, one thousand seven hundred detailed laws were forgotten, but even so, Osniel ben Knaz was able to bring them back through the power of his PILPUL (Talmudic logical reasoning). It is his recovery of all this lost Torah that is alluded to in v. 17: "And he captured". Of Achsa (relating to the Hebrew root KA'AS, anger) the rabbis said cryptically that "any man who saw her got angry with his wife" (ibid.) – presumably because she showed other women up badly??? Not that her head was only in the clouds. Rashi v. 19 notes that her complaint that the portion she received with her new husband was "dry" means "dried up from all good, a man who has nothing in him except Torah". "And Calev gave her the upper springs and the lower springs" (v. 19). The Hebrew for "springs" is GOOLOS, from the root GALAH, to "reveal". Osniel was one "to whom the secrets of the upper realms and the lower realms were revealed". Osniel is also identified with Yaabetz, an archetypal Torah teacher in Israel . We should derive encouragement from the example of Osniel, because it means that even if some of the Torah has been forgotten, it can be recovered through the power of logic. AND THE SONS OF JUDAH COULD NOT DRIVE OUT THE JEBUSITES DWELLERS OF JERUSALEM (v. 63). Rashi on this verse notes that these Jebusites dwelling in Jerusalem were not from the Canaanite tribe of the Jebusites but Philistines descended from Avimelech, to whom Abraham, in return for purchasing the burial cave in Hebron , had to swear that he would not harm his grandson or great grandson. While the KRI (pronunciation of the text as handed down by the Rabbis). means "they could not", the KTIV (the word as written by tradition in the parchment manuscript) means "they will not be able to". Many DRASHOT come out of such divergences between the KRI and the KTIV. Here it indicates that Judah did not drive out the Jebusites not because they were not physically able to but because they were not allowed to. This was because Abraham's oath still stood because Avimelech's great grandson was still alive. It was only King David who took

Jerusalem after the elapse of the oath, when the appointed time came, and thus it was called David's city as destined by God. David purchased the site of the Temple from Aravna, the last king of the Jebusite Philistines. Everything comes at its proper time, especially when it comes to the possession of the Holy Land .

Chapter 16 THE PORTION OF EPHRAIM Second among the tribes to receive their portion was the tribe of Ephraim, blessed by Jacob to be the more prominent, although the younger, of Joseph's two sons. While Judah's share of the Land was south of Jerusalem and much of it arid, Ephraim's share included the rich, fertile territories to the north of Jerusalem (Shomron), with Benjamin nestling in between the two, and a number of other tribes having certain portions within those of Judah and Ephraim. The concluding verse of Chapter 16 does not say that the children of Ephraim "could not" drive out the Canaanites from certain parts of their territory as in the case of Judah (ch 15:63). Rather it says that they DID NOT drive them out, indicating that they could and should have done so. It is not until we reach the book of Judges that we begin to feel the increasingly heavy REPROOF that the Prophets who wrote the Bible directed at the Children of Israel for their sins and failures in the Land. There we shall see that was precisely their failure to drive out the Canaanites as they had been commanded in the Torah that caused all of their subsequent problems in the land, leading eventually to the destruction of the Temple and exile. Here in Joshua the text simply notes that they did not drive out the Canaanites. Each one of us has the task of driving out the Canaanite from within ourselves – that "merchant" who is constantly trying to sell us the fake goods of This World. Today the conquest of the Land must be first and foremost on the spiritual plane: we must reclaim the Land for God by spreading His Torah among all the people and spreading His word to the whole world. By keeping firm in this mission we will welcome Melech HaMashiach quickly in our times.

Chapter 17 Following the delineation of Ephraim's inheritance in the previous chapter (16), our text continues with the account of the division of the Land of Israel among the other Tribes, giving the boundaries of Menashe, Joseph's firstborn, in chapter 17. While part of the tribe of Menashe had already taken their inheritance in the territories captured in the time of Moses east of the Jordan (see Joshua ch 13:2931), the majority of this populous tribe took their share in the Land of Israel proper, to the north of the portion of Ephraim. THE DAUGHTERS OF TZELAFHAD When God commanded Moses to divide the Land among the tribes (Numbers 26:52-56), the daughters of Tzelafhad (from the tribe of Menasheh) immediately stepped forward to press their claim for their share since their father had no sons (Numbers 27:1-11; see also Numbers 36:1-13). Under Torah law, daughters inherit their father's estate only when there is no surviving son: if there is a son or sons, the males inherit the entire estate and from it they have to pay to support and marry off their sisters.

Now that Joshua was actually dividing the Land, the irrepressible daughters of Tzelafhad again stand up before Elazar the High Priest and Joshua the king to demand their share. Not only are the daughters of Tzelafhad archetypes of the Israelite women that show even greater love and yearning for the Land than the men. They were also very wise (see Rashi on Numbers 27:4) and their insistence on their rights to the Land brought about the revelation of several portions relating to the Torah laws of inheritance. An interesting, if somewhat subtle, point relating to these laws comes out of our text today, ch 17 v 5: "TEN shares fell to Menasheh besides the territories of the land of Gil'ad and Bashan east of the Jordan ". Rashi (ad loc.) explains that out of these ten, the daughters of Tzelafhad took FOUR: (1) Tzelafhad's own share as one of those who went out of Egypt, because the Land was divided among those who left Egypt; (2) The share that Tzelafhad took with his brothers in the possessions of his father Heifer, who was also one of those who went out of Egypt; (3) Tzelafhad's "double" share in his father's estate as a firstborn; (4) The share belonging to Tzelafhad's brother, who had died in the wilderness without children. Rashi concludes: "The verse did not need to tell us about the shares of the daughters except to teach us that they took the share of the firstborn and also to inform us that their share in the Land of Israel was already under their ownership [MUCHZEKES] from the time of their fathers, for if not, there is a legal principle that the first-born does not take a share in property that is not yet part of the estate and merely DUE (RO-OUIY) to come later. The firstborn takes his double share only from property that has already come into the estate (MUCHZAK)." [E.g. the first born would NOT take a share of a debt owing the estate that was uncollected at the time of death of the deceased but only of lands and goods that were already part of the estate.] To those unfamiliar with the intricacies of Torah law, the above may be somewhat confusing, but what it means is that even before the Land of Israel was actually conquered and occupied by the generation of Joshua, it was already in the POSSESSION (MUCHZAK – under the HAZAKAH, "ownership") of the Children of Israel as an ancestral inheritance from those to whom its ownership had been given by God – the generation that actually left Egypt in the Exodus. The same would apply today. Even though the Children of Israel do not as yet control by any means all of the Promised Land, it is all still their property and belongs to them as an ancestral inheritance. AND THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH SPOKE TO JOSHUA (v. 14) They were asking for more land because of their numbers. The commentators tell us that these were the Children of Menasheh, who were particularly populous (see Rashi on 17:4), as we learn from the substantial increase in their numbers – by TWENTY THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED -- between the first count of the Children of Israel in the wilderness and the second (Numbers chs 1:35 and 26:34). This was in fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham "Thus – KoH – shall be your seed" (Gen. 15:5). KoH is made up of Kaf (= 20) and Heh (=5) alluding to the TWENTY THOUSAND and the FIVE HUNDRED (Midrash). Ephraim was less populous. One reason is that according to the Midrash, many of the Bnay Ephraim were killed prior to the Exodus from Egypt when they tried to calculate the time of the redemption but erred. They went up to Israel before the proper time and when they came to Gath to take possession of the Land, the Philistine inhabitants, who had been born there and were therefore familiar with it, overwhelmed and killed them. It was their bones that Ezekiel saw in his vision of

the Valley of the Dry Bones. The sources for this fascinating and very suggestive Midrash are Chronicles 1, 7:21: "The sons of Gath who were born in the land killed them (the sons of Ephraim), for they went down to take their possessions, and Ephraim their father mourned them many days and his brothers came to comfort him" (see Metzudos commentary on this verse). See also Sanhedrin 92b and see RaDaK on Ezekiel 37:1.

Chapter 18 SHILO "And all the assembly of the Children of Israel gathered to Shilo and set up there the Tent of Meeting" (Joshua 18:1). This was fourteen years after their entry into the Land (RaDaK). The fourteen years consisted of seven years of conquest and seven more dividing up the Land. All this time the Tent of Meeting made by Moses in the wilderness had stood in Gilgal, their first encampment after crossing the Jordan . Establishing the Sanctuary in Shilo signified more settled times: "…and the Land was conquered before them" (ch 18 v 1): Comments Rashi: "From the time the Sanctuary was established, the Land became easy for them to conquer". The Sanctuary remained in Shilo for a total of 369 years – until the time of Eli the High Priest, when the Philistines sacked it and took the Ark. Shilo was in the territory of Joseph . It was predestined that the Sanctuary and the Two Temples should stand only in the territories of Rachel's two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. (This is why in Genesis 45:14 it says that on their reconciliation in Egypt , Joseph fell on the NECKS of Benjamin – the Hebrew plural signifies the TWO Temples – while Benjamin wept on Joseph's NECK – the singular alludes to the Sanctuary in Shilo.) With the conquest of the Land still in progress, the enterprise of turning the Land of Israel into the light of the Nations was still incomplete, and this was signified in the structure of the Sanctuary in Shilo. Our text here calls it a TENT – because the "roof" was made of skins, as in the case of the wilderness Sanctuary. However the walls of Shilo were stone, unlike those of the wilderness Sanctuary, which were made of gold-coated wood. It would only be in Jerusalem – the place of the Temple forever – that the roof of the Temple would also be of stone. The Sanctuary in Shilo will figure in several important passages in the Book of Judges and particularly in the early part of Samuel dealing with Eli and Hannah. The reference in our text today to Shilo makes a fitting start to the chapter delineating the tribal inheritance of Benjamin, youngest son of Jacob's beloved wife Rachel, nestling as it did between the two great tribes of Judah to the south and Ephraim to the north. We see from today's text and subsequent chapters that the territories of the different tribes sometimes entered into one another. Similarly, in the human body, the different limbs and organs are closely interconnected and enter into one another.

Chapter 19 "AND THE SECOND PORTION WENT TO SHIMON…" (Joshua 19:1) As Rashi notes on this verse, the tribe of Shimon was "second" after Benjamin, the first of the SEVEN tribes that only received their portions AFTER Reuven, Gad and half Menasheh took theirs the east of the Jordan and AFTER the royal tribe of Judah and the first-born Joseph (Ephraim and Menasheh) took theirs to the west of the Jordan. Only after these leading tribes had already taken their portions did Joshua command the remaining seven tribes to send a team of three envoys each to make a survey of the rest of the Land in order to receive their portions (see ch 18 v 7). After Benjamin (son of Jacob's beloved Rachel), the remaining tribes out of these seven were – in the order given in our present chapter – Shimon, Zebulun and Issachar (the three other sons of Leah besides Reuven, Levi – who did not receive a portion, and the royal tribe of Judah) followed by Asher (son of Leah's handmaiden Zilpah, as was Gad, who had already taken his portion E. of the Jordan), then Naftali and finally Dan (these last two being the sons of Rachel's handmaiden Bilhah). The kabbalistic Sefirot corresponding to the tribes are: Judah-Malchus; IssacharNetzach of Malchus; Zevulun-Hod of Malchus; Reuven-Chessed of Malchus; Shimon-Gevurah of Malchus; Gad-Hod of Malchus; Ephraim-Ateres-Yesod of Zeir Anpin; Menashe-Yesod; Binyamin-Nekudas Tzion; Dan-lowest limb of Hod of Malchus; Asher-heel of Netzach of Malchus; Naftali-lowest limb of Netzach of Malchus. SHIMON The tribe of Shimon received their portion from part of Judah 's territory (verse 9) since Judah had taken more territory than required for their population (Rashi ad loc.) This is bound up with the fact that Shimon was something of a maverick tribe – Shimon had gone with Levi to kill the men of Shechem (Genesis 34:25) and while both were criticized by Jacob when he blessed his sons ("accursed is their anger… I shall divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel" Genesis 49:7), Levi was "divided" and "scattered" in an honorable way in the Levitical cities, while Shimon was "divided" and "scattered" amidst the territory of Judah. (This is also bound up with the fact that Zimri ben Saloo Prince of the Tribe of Shimon had flouted Moses in taking the Midianite woman – Numbers 25:6 & 14 -- as a result of which Moses did not give Shimon a blessing.) Nevertheless Shimon did receive Beer Sheva, one of the outstanding features of the land since the time of Abraham and now one of present-day Israel 's most important cities. ZEVULUN, ISSACHAR, ASHER AND NAFTALI These four tribes took their portions in some of the most fertile and beautiful territories of northern Israel . Although many of the locations mentioned in our text cannot be identified conclusively today, there are many that can be identified (including some whose names survive in the present-day Arab names of the associated villages), and the general areas in which each tribe took their portions can be discerned until today. Yissachar and Zevulun took their portions around the Valley of Yizre'el and the Lower Galilee respectively, while Asher and Naftali took theirs in the Upper Galilee, with Asher to the west alongside the Mediterranean coast and Naftali to the east

running all the way to the upper Jordan valley. After the time of Joshua, a contingent from the tribe of Dan took a portion in between Asher and Naftali around the sources of the River Jordan (Tel Dan, Banyas), although Dan's main portion was in the center of Israel (Tel Aviv-Jaffo etc. – see below). Dan's joining Asher and Naftali in the Galilee is bound up with their having been neighbors in the Israelite camp in the Wilderness (Numbers 2:25-31). The locations in which the tribes were to take their portions had already been indicated allusively in Jacob's blessings to his sons and in Moses' blessings to the tribes. Zevulun's portion was around Yokne'am (mentioned explicitly in today's text) including present-day Zichron Yaakov. Although the coastal region from Mt. Carmel and northwards was in the territory of Asher, Zevulun also jutted into Asher's portion in order to take a share in the coastal region in fulfillment of Jacob's blessing that "he shall be by the coast and his flank shall reach to Sidon" (Genesis 49:13). Our text indicates that the territories of the three tribes of Zevulun, Issachar and Naftali all met at Mt. Tabor . In the light of Rabbi Nachman's teaching that all of the names in our chapters allude to parts of the human body (as discussed in the commentary on Joshua ch 15) it is interesting to examine Rashi's comment on our text, Joshua 19:12, speaking about where Zevulun's portion touched Mt. Tabor . " And it turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrising unto the border of CHISLOTH-TABOR ". In the words of Rashi, "I say that CHISLOTH has the connotation of CHESALIM, the flanks – it was not on the peak of the mountain or at its foot but on the slope near the middle towards the back and away from the front in the same way as the flanks stand in an animal. And where it says AZNOTHTABOR [in verse 34, speaking of where Naftali's portion touched Mt. Tabor ] it means near the head in the place of the ears – OZNAYIM." Note how many anatomical terms Rashi introduces here in speaking about the topography of the Holy Land !!! Yissachar's territory, as mentioned, included the fertile region of the Yizre'el Valley. Asher's territory was in the western part of the Upper Galilee including the coastal strip, and extended way up into present-day Lebanon up to Sidon . The portion of Naftali (the letters of whose name, when rearranged, spell out TEFILIN) was in the eastern Upper Galilee in one of the areas of Israel that is most conducive to spiritual ascent, including the beautiful mountain region around Safed and Meiron, the Kinneret (v. 35) and the lush valley of the upper Jordan (v. 34). THE TRIBE OF DAN The well-known phrase "from Dan to Be'er Sheva" seems to indicate that Dan's portion was located in the NORTH of Israel at the opposite end from Be'er Sheva in the south. However, in fact our text indicates that Dan's main portion was in the CENTER of present-day Israel including the locations of present-day Tel Aviv and Bney Brak – still known as the Dan Region – as well as areas further into the interior as far east as Beit Shemesh, Eshta'ol and Zor'ah, near which the grave of Dan ben Yaakov can be visited until today. (Some may wonder whether Dan's role in the wilderness as the tribe marching at the very rear, gathering in the stragglers, has some relationship to the presence of latter-day Tel Aviv is his portion???) Dan's additional territory located in the north of Israel around the sources of the River Jordan is mentioned briefly in our text in verse 47. Dan's capture of this

territory actually took place after the death of Joshua in the time of Osniel ben Knaz and is described in more detail in Judges ch 18.

Chapter 20 With the division of the Land among the tribes complete, it was now left to Joshua to establish the foundations of a society governed by the Torah that he had received from his teacher Moses. The first foundation of a civilized society is the protection of its citizens from violence and particularly from murder. Human beings all have their own interests, which often conflict with those of others, and strife is inevitable in human society. A successful society is one that can keep this inevitable strife under control without its being allowed to get out of hand. This is why the first institution that Joshua laid down after the division of the land was that of the Cities of Refuge for unwitting killers. This was in fulfillment of God's commandment to Moses that three cities of refuge were to be established in Israel proper – the territories west of the Jordan -- and another three in the territories east of the Jordan (Exodus 21:12; Numbers 35:13f; Deuteronomy 4:41-3 & 19:2). Accidents do occur, and in any society where people are active and busy it can always happen that one person may cause another person's death quite unintentionally. The purpose of the Cities of Refuge is to ensure that the accidental killing of one person does not escalate into a bloody cycle in which that person's relatives seek to avenge the death by killing the killer… Torah law provides that intentional murder must be punished with the death penalty, but the unintentional killer can take refuge in one of the Cities of Refuge in order to live securely while repenting for the unintended tragedy that came about because of what may have been some element of negligence on his part. In the words of Rambam (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Murder 4:9) "While there are sins that are more serious than bloodshed, they do not destroy civilization in the same way that bloodshed destroys it." It is profoundly ironic that of the three cities of refuge mentioned in today's text in the Land of Israel proper east of the Jordan , two – Hebron and Shechem (" Nablus ") – have been turned into cities of refuge not for unwitting killers but for willful killers and terrorists. Whether the third of the cities of refuge – Kedesh in the north – can be identified with present-day Safed is a moot point, though it was certainly in the near vicinity. Let us pray that the tranquil spirit of Safed will spread to all the inhabitants of the Holy Land , and that sanity will return so that willful killers and terrorists are duly punished and unwitting killers sent into exile in order that ordinary law-abiding citizens may once again live securely without fear in a state of true peace.

Chapter 21 CITIES OF THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES Following the establishment of the cities of refuge for unwitting killers (Joshua ch 20), the next step in laying the foundations for a truly Godly society in the Holy Land was to set aside special cities up and down the country for the Levites and the Priests, as God had commanded Moses (Numbers 35:1-8). Under Torah law, those who had a special responsibility for maintaining the spiritual bond of the people as a whole with God were not a group of democratically-elected or self-selecting religious leaders. Rather they were a hereditary caste consisting of

the entire tribe of the Levites, of whom one family in particular – the descendants of Aaron – were set aside as Cohanim, the priests. The Torah had provided a unique system of tithes of produce and other vital necessities to be given by all the people in order to provide the Cohanim and Levites with their livelihood so as to leave them free from the need to earn a living in order not only to serve in the Temple but also to be able to teach the people Torah and minister to their spiritual needs. The Cohanim were to receive Terumah (about 2% of a farmer's crops) together with the first-fruits and first of the dough (CHALLAH), gifts of wool for their clothing, choice parts of animals slaughtered for regular consumption, portions of sacrificial animals and certain other gifts. The Levites were to receive Maaser (10% of the crops) for their livelihood, out of which they were to contribute one tenth as their own TERUMAS MAASER to the priests. Our present chapter (Joshua 21) gives an account of the cities set aside from the territorial portions of the other tribes in order to provide the Levites and Priests places for their residence and for their livestock and other needs. (It was not forbidden for the Levites and Priests to work the land, but their main task was to serve in the Temple and to teach and minister to the people.) The account in our chapter parallels the account of the cities of the Priests and Levites given with their genealogies in Chronicles I, 6:39:66. Altogether the Priests and Levites received 42 cities of their own together with the 6 cities of refuge for unwitting killers (who needed the presence of spiritual ministers to help them in their repentance) making a total of 48 cities, corresponding to the 48 ways in which the Torah is acquired (Avot 6:6). Of these 13 were for the Cohanim-Priests and the remaining 35 for the Levites. From the accounts here in Joshua and in Chronicles it emerges that the different tribes did not contribute equal numbers of cities. Judah contributed the most – 8 cities – while Shimon gave only one. Naftali gave 3 and all the other tribes gave four, "each according to his inheritance" (Numbers 35:8). The Cohanim were all concentrated in the territories of Judah (9 cities including that given by Shimon, who lived in Judah ) and Benjamin (4). This made sense since the Cohanim were required to serve regularly in the Sanctuary / Temple -- in Shilo, Nob, Giv'on and finally Yerushalayim – all of which were in or adjacent to the territories of Benjamin and Judah. The giving of Hebron – the outstanding jewel in the crown of Judah – to Aaron and his sons – signifies the close alliance between the tribe of Judah and the priesthood ever since Aaron the Priest had taken for his wife Bat Sheva, sister of Nachshon, Prince of the Tribe of Judah (Exodus 6:23). The royal tribe of Judah took particular responsibility for the establishment of the Temple , which was built through the efforts of David – from the tribe of Judah -- and his son Solomon. It would be David's songs that were sung by the Levites in the Temple as the Cohanim offered the sacrifices. The dispersal of the Priests and Levites in cities up and down the Land served a vital function in bringing the Torah and its spiritual message to the people. The Torah's unique method of giving the Priests and Levites their livelihood ensured that they were in constant contact with the Israelite population of independent farmers, who could never separate their business affairs from their religious obligations because the Priests and Levites would come to their very barns and threshing floors in order to collect their tithes and gifts. This was how the Torah to

which the Priests and Levites were particularly devoted percolated to the entire nation. Today the majority of Jews do not live in agricultural societies and in any case cannot give TERUMAH to the Priests, since it may only be eaten in a state of ritual purity which today's Cohanim are unable to attain in the absence of the ashes of the Red Heiffer to purify them from defilement from the dead. Unless a Levite can PROVE his pedigree, there is no obligation to give him MAASER. Thus although there is still today an obligation to separate TERUMAH and MAASROS from the produce of Eretz Yisrael, the separation is largely symbolic as we cannot give the gifts to their intended recipients. The contemporary equivalent of tithes for the Priests and Levites is the charity money given to TORAH SCHOLARS to enable them to pursue their profession of studying and teaching the Torah. Rambam (Maimonides) was strongly opposed to the scholars' relying on charity rather than working to make their living and supporting themselves to study Torah (Laws of Torah Study 3:10-11). However in Rambam's time it was possible to earn sufficient to live off in about three hours work a day (ibid. 1:12). This would probably still be possible today were it not for the extravagances of contemporary "civilization", whose obscene military budgets and many other excesses result in heavy taxation and all kinds of other expenses that eat away at people's income, leaving the majority enslaved to their work for many hours every day. Without the generosity of the brave few who provide financial support for Torah scholars, the Torah would be in danger of being entirely forgotten by the people. Charity support for Torah scholarship is intended not to allow lazy layabouts to smoke and drink coffee all day in front of an open SEFER. It is intended to enable truly sincere and devout seekers to discover and internalize God's Torah and prepare themselves to practice it and teach it to others. In our times of spiritual darkness and confusion there is no worthier charitable cause than that of the Torah institutions that are genuinely and seriously pursuing the study of the Torah as it applies practically in our time and spreading that knowledge among the wider population. Let us pray that as more and more BAALEY BATIM (working householders) make their way to the true Torah scholars to study, the overall level of Torah knowledge among the people will increase to the point where we will be ready to return to the Temple system with its Priests and Levites speedily in our time. Amen.

Chapter 22 With the Cities of Refuge and those of the Priests and Levites established, the people were ready to settle down to their intended life of Torah, Mitzvos and devotion to God in the Holy Land , "each under his vine and each under his fig tree". The Canaanites had been largely subdued, though not completely defeated, and with the entire Land apportioned to the Tribes, the period of conquest had come to an end. Thus the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menasheh that had taken their territories east of the Jordan were ready to return to their homes, having fulfilled their undertaking to Moses not to do so until they had fought with their brothers for the conquest of the Land west of the Jordan (Numbers ch 32). The building of an Altar by the tribes of Reuven, Gad and Menasheh close to the Jordan river near the boundary between the Land of Israel west of the Jordan and their territories to the east set off a confrontation with the other tribes of Israel that was an ominous precursor of what was to come in the times of the Judges and almost led to a terrible internecine war.

With the building of the Sanctuary at Shilo, it was strictly forbidden to offer sacrifices anywhere else (see Rashi on Joshua 22:12). Torah law explicitly prohibited offering sacrifices on a "private" altar (BAMAH, "high place") once the Sanctuary was at rest in the Holy Land (Deuteronomy 12:6; 12:11). The penalty for violating the prohibition is KARET (spiritual excision), the most severe punishment in the Torah (Leviticus 17:4). The unity of God was to be affirmed through the choice of one and only one place in the whole world for the offering of animal sacrifices by the Cohanim. It was forbidden for each individual to set up his own personal Temple ritual, which could lead to the development of weird and alien cults that would quickly turn into the very opposite of what the Torah intended. This was why the 10 Tribes in Israel proper sent Pinchas the Priest with a delegation of tribal representatives ready to make war against Reuven, Gad and half Menasheh. (Pinchas had shown himself the nation's outstanding "zealot" in the time of Moses, thereby earning the priesthood for himself, Numbers 25:7-13.) When the three tribes answered and defended themselves against all misconceptions, they invoked three names of God twice over: KEIL ELOKIM HASHEM… (v. 22). The Midrash (Shochar Tov 3) comments: "What did the children of Gad and Reuven see to invoke these three names twice over? For through them He created the world (see Psalms 50:1) and through them He gave Israel the Torah ("for I am the Lord – HASHEM – your God – ELOKIM – a jealous God – KEL"). These three names correspond to the three attributes through which the world was created, with Wisdom (KEL, column of CHESSED, kindness), Understanding (ELOKIM, column of GEVURAH, might) and Knowledge (HASHEM, center column, TIFERET, beauty and harmony) – (see Proverbs 3:19). The reason why they built the Altar was not to sacrifice on it but as a sign that they too were Israelites like their brothers east of the Jordan , so that nobody should come along in the future and say they had nothing to do with the people of Israel . They were appealing to their brothers not to drive them away. This is a message that could today be addressed to those who consider themselves to be the "mainstream" of Jewry: Do not push away those who are earnestly and sincerely seeking God's true Torah, even if at times they do things that are not comprehensible to you and even seem like verging on the forbidden. A similar message could be addressed to those in Israel to keep their arms open to their brothers and sisters in the Diaspora. Before you jump to conclusions, first ask, enquire and listen carefully. Pinchas' mission was a successful exercise in conflict resolution and the Talmud comments, "And Pinchas THE PRIEST heard…" (ch 22 v 30) – "Pinchas was not inaugurated as a Cohen until he made peace among the tribes" (Zevachim 101b). May Pinchas in his incarnation as Eliahu HaNavi come soon to make peace among us all! Amen.

Chapters 23-24 THE SUMMATION Joshua's address to the nation and its elders, heads, judges and officers points to the lessons that were to be drawn from the conquest of the Land of Israel, one of the most decisive events in the people's history. Having witnessed how God had miraculously defeated the Canaanite nations on their own territory, the people of Israel were to internalize the message that their entire future in the Land depended on keeping God's Torah as a whole, and specifically upon not intermarrying or in

any way becoming culturally integrated with the remaining Canaanites, whose pluralistic religions and cultures were the very antithesis of the monotheism of the Torah. Joshua warns of the existential danger of Israelite intermarriage with the Canaanites, which would result in God's not driving the latter from the Land, leaving them as "a trap and a stumbling block, whips at your sides and thorns in your eyes until you are destroyed from upon the good land that the Lord your God has given you" (ch 23 v 13). This would occur if the Children of Israel made any compromise with the idolatry of the surrounding nations: just as God had showed His faithfulness in bestowing all His promised good upon the Israelites, so He would show His faith in wreaking vengeance upon them if they betrayed His Covenant. THE FINAL ASSEMBLY IN SHECHEM Rashi (ch 24 v 26) notes that Joshua had the Ark of the Covenant brought to Shechem to add to the great solemnity of his final reproof to the nation before his death. Our Rabbis cite numerous examples of the outstanding Tzaddikim of the Bible (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David) who only delivered their reproofs immediately prior to their deaths so as not to have to repeat them over and over, causing the recipients embarrassment and bad feelings (Sifri on Deut. 1:1; see Likutey Moharan II:8). In his address, Joshua reviews the key events in the formation of the nation and its identity, tracing their roots back to their idolatrous forefathers who dwelled "on the other side of the river (Euphrates)", i.e. in Babylon. The opening words of this passage (vv. 2-4) will be familiar to many since our sages quoted them at the beginning of the Seder night Haggadah, when every Israelite father is commanded to relate our national history starting with shame and ending in glory. Joshua emphasizes that the victory of Israel over their enemies was "not through your sword and not through your bow" (v. 12) but only through God, Who controls the entire universe and every tiny detail in it (see Rashi on v. 7). Israel's mission is to serve the One God and Him alone, and to shine the light of His unity to the entire world. This is why their national mission in the Land of Israel was to eliminate completely all trace of the idolatrous Canaanites – representing the antithesis of God's unity. The commentary Metzudas David (on verse 14) points out that in essence the task of removing idolatry is internal to each person: "Remove the gods that your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt" – "entirely remove any thought of idolatry from your HEART". Rashi (on v. 22) comments that Joshua's reason for needling the people until they reaffirmed their staunch commitment not to mingle and assimilate with the nations was that he saw (through holy spirit) that in time to come they would rebel and say "Let us be like the nations" (Ezekiel 20:32). Reflecting on the ravages caused to the Jewish people by the mass assimilations of the past few hundred years should also needle us into mentally and spiritually separating ourselves from contemporary alien influences that can weaken our devotion to the Torah. MYSTERIES OF TANACH The TaNaCh is a unique work that transcends time and applies to all the generations. As we continue our study of our national heritage, we must have the humility to accept that the apparent simplicity of the beautiful weave of stories through which our prophets taught us God's Torah is deceptive. Buried within and behind the prophetic words and letters of the Hebrew text are layers upon layers of meaning, with multiple hints and allusions flying off in every direction. The rabbis

and sages who cherished and revered this literature and knew it forwards and backwards by heart have through their Midrashim and other comments opened tiny chinks in the thick veil concealing the infinite light that shines from the words of these texts. Thus we cannot always take the stories of NaCh as simple consecutive historical narratives. For example, some readers ask why ch 24 v 32 on the burial of Joseph's bones in Shechem comes AFTER the account of the burial of Joshua – is it possible that the people have waited THIRTY-EIGHT years after their entry into the Land before burying Joseph's bones, which they had brought up with them from Egypt??? But the truth is that it is not necessary to infer from our text that they did not bury Joseph until after they had buried Joshua. One of the most important hermeneutic principles of the Torah is that "there is no BEFORE and AFTER in the Torah". Events are often juxtaposed in the verses not because of their temporal contiguity but because of their thematic interconnection. With Joshua's death and burial in his tribal inheritance in Timnath-Serach in Mt. Ephraim next to Shechem, a whole cycle of history was complete. It was from Shechem that Joseph, Jacob's chosen "first-born", had been stolen by his brothers in accordance with God's deep plan (Genesis 37:14; see Rashi there) and it was to Shechem that he was returned by his brothers, the Children of Israel, in the end. Shechem had been the first place in the Holy Land that Jacob had acquired – he paid good money for it (Genesis 33:19) – and he had given it to Joseph as the "double portion" of the "firstborn" (ibid. 48:22). Joseph's mission (YESOD) was to cause the Divine Presence to dwell in the very Land itself, the material world. The conquest of the Land by Israel under the leadership of Joshua, Joseph's direct descendant, was a crucial stage in the fulfillment of this mission. Now that Joshua had completed his own life's work, it was fitting that he should be laid to rest in Shechem, the very place from which Joseph had been stolen, because Joshua, who like Joseph lived 110 years, was in fact his incarnation. Joshua's burial in Shechem – thereby acquiring his burial place as his eternal possession – was the completion of the cycle that began with Joseph's sale, concluding now with Israel's possession of the Land. Thus the ATZMOS YOSEPH (literally the "bones" of Joseph, but allusively his very "essence" = ETZEM), were now absorbed into the Land itself. It may be that the physical burial of Joseph's bones actually took place in the early days of the conquest, but it is mentioned here in order to point up the perfection of God's deep plan, through which the cycle always swings around to the end. "If Israel had not sinned they would have received only the Five Books of Moses and the Book of Joshua, which is the Registry of the Land of Israel (i.e. of its tribal portions)" (Nedarim 22b). The whole of the rest of the narrative and prophetic portions of the NaCh tells the story of how the Israelites failed to drive out the Canaanites and the terrible consequences to which this led. Some say that the only lesson we learn from history is that nobody ever learns anything from history. It may be true that many fail to draw and implement the lessons of history, but we do not have to be like them. In Joshua's final discourse he emphasizes that we are FREE to choose our own path (ch 24 vv. 14-15). Let us choose the path of life and learn the lessons of our national history now in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past in future.

Book of Judges The Book of Judges narrates the inner, spiritual history of Israel from after the death of Joshua until the very threshold of the establishment of the kingship by the prophet Samuel – a span of some four hundred years, in which the nation was largely without a single, unifying leader except at times when outstanding "Judges" – spiritual leaders of exceptional stature – arose to save them from their plight in face of their enemies. According to our rabbis, the Book of Judges was written by Samuel on the basis of "kabbalah" – i.e. the prophetic tradition handed down from generation to generation until it came to his teacher, Eli the High Priest (Bava Basra 14b; see RaDaK on Judges 1:21). The entire book can be seen as an intimate study of the developing moral sickness of the Israelites in their land that necessitated the establishment of the messianic kingship by Samuel. NO BEFORE AND AFTER IN THE TORAH The principle that "there is no before and after in the Torah" was discussed in the Study Notes on Joshua 23-24. We need this principle now in order to resolve possible confusion caused by the "time-line" of Judges chs 1-2, which zig-zags quite sharply back and forth. Chapter 1 verse 1 of Judges seems to pick up the historical narrative where the book of Joshua left off, but as it begins to describe the tribe of Judah's conquest of their territories, the narrative seamlessly slips back to events that apparently took place in Joshua's lifetime and were already described in the book of Joshua – the conquest of Hebron and that of Dvir by Osniel ben Knaz.(see Joshua chapter 15). Similarly, Chapter 2 of Judges opens with the appearance of God's messenger from Gilgal to reprove the people, which would seem to have taken place after Joshua's death. Whether or not it did, the text of Ch. 2 then interjects with the retelling of Joshua's death and burial (Ch 2 vv. 6-10) even though the whole book of Judges 1:1 has already started AFTER Joshua's death. (Likewise Numbers 1:1 starts in the SECOND month of the second year after the Exodus, while a later chapter, Numbers 9:1 tells what happened in the FIRST month of the second year!) As stated in the last installment, it is not necessarily the temporal contiguity of events that determines their juxtaposition in the text, but rather their thematic interconnection. Thus we shall find that the two striking episodes described at the end of the book of Judges (ch's 17-21) – Michah's idol and the Concubine of Giv'on – actually occurred in the very beginning of the period of the Judges.

Chapter 1 "WHO WILL GO UP FOR US" (Judges 1:1) Although it appears that the people consulted the Urim VeTumim of the High Priest in order to ask which TRIBE should "go up" first against the Canaanites, our rabbis taught that God's answer – "Yehuda shall go up" (ch 1 v 2) specifically referred to OSNIEL BEN KNAZ, the hero of the capture of Dvir, whose name was in fact "Yehuda brother of Shimon". He was called OSNIEL because it contains the letters

of the Hebrew word ANISA, "You have answered" – because God answered his prayers (see Temura 16a). Osniel ben Knaz (also called YAABETZ see Chronicles 1, 2:55) was the second Judge of Israel after Joshua, and the account of his capture of KIRYAT SEFER-DVIR refers allegorically to his conquest of the Torah (particularly those portions that were forgotten after the death of Moses.) PURIFYING THE WORLD OF EVIL A few hints of the profound allegory that underlies the book of Judges are contained in SEFER HALIKUTIM of the ARI (R. Itzhak Luria, outstanding 16 th century kabbalist). Following the account of the capture of Dvir, we are told that "the children of KAYNI, Moses' father in law (=Jethro) went up from the city of dates (= Jericho ) to be with the children of Judah in the wilderness of Judah …" (1:16). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that the fat, lush territory around Jericho was given to Jethro's offspring (who as converts did not have a share in the land) but only temporarily, as it would later be given in "compensation" to the Tribe in whose territory the Temple was to be built (Benjamin) as the place of the Temple would no longer be theirs but would belong to all Israel. However, Jethro's offspring, the KAYNITES, had more sense than to attach themselves to a temporary material plot of land. Instead, since they lived in tents anyway, they went to the wilderness of Judah – a territory with no material benefits – in order to learn Torah from YAABETZ=OSNIEL BEN KNAZ and thereby gain an eternal spiritual acquisition. The KAYNITES were later adduced by Jeremiah as the prime exemplar of the righteous convert who chooses the Torah itself as his inheritance (Jer. Ch 35). The KAYNITES will reappear in our narrative in Judges ch 4 where Yael wife of HEVER HA-KAYNI distinguished herself by killing Sisera. In chapter 4 it says that "Hever HaKayni SEPARATED himself from Kayin (=Adam's son)" (Judges 4:11). They also appear in Samuel, when Saul asks them to move away from the Amalekites, where they were then encamped, in order to facilitate his attack. ARI explains that Jethro was from the root of Kayin (GEVUROT, severe judgment) and Hever was from the seed of Jethro. This is why he is called HA-KAYNI from the root Kayin. Kayin was a mixture of good and evil, and in Jethro the "food" was sifted out from the "waste" and thereby rectified. This was when the good was SEPARATED from the evil, as alluded to in the above-quoted verse. The evil descended into the husks (Amalek, Goliath) while the good was left in Jethro. KEYNI succeeded in bringing the husk "inside", into the realm of the holy, and thus, "In the place where penitents stand, even complete Tzaddikim cannot stand", because, as ARI explains, the penitents bring the husk inside and sweeten it. Within the context of these notes it is impossible to condense the ARI's elaborate teachings about the various incarnations alluded to in these stories of RAHAV, YAEL and ELI (the last two have the same Hebrew letters), KAYIN, YISRO (Jethro) and others. I am mentioning them only to underline how profoundly deep are these chapters of NaCh that we have the privilege of studying. THE MYSTERY OF LUZ The above secrets relating to these souls are revealed in an extensive Drush of ARI relating to the entire first section of Judges and centering in particular on Deborah (ch's 4-5).

In the course of this Drush ARI reveals that the town of Beit El mentioned in our present text, Judges 1:23 (and is first mentioned in Genesis 12:8 as having been visited by Abraham and later, in Genesis 28:19, as the site of Jacob's dream of the Ladder) alludes to the Partzuf of Leah in the world of Beriyah, while Luz – the "name of the town before" – alludes to the Partzuf of Leah in the world of Atzilut. (Lamed Zayin = 37 = gematria of Leah). In the Form of Man, this corresponds to the place of the knot of the strap (RETZU'AH) of the Tefilin of the Head. As explained in Shulchan Aruch (Code of Torah Law) the knot must be placed at the bottom of the skull (OREF), just above where the neck (TZAVAR) begins. According to our rabbis, it is from this bone that the body of man will develop in time to come, at the time of the resurrection, and this bone is called LUZ. (Many Jews know the tradition that this bone is nourished only by the food we eat at the MELAVEH MALKA feast accompanying out the departing Shabbat each week.) ARI's introductions may open a tiny chink in the veil to help us appreciate the awesome depths of the very beautiful Midrashim about Luz brought in the "revealed" Torah as opposed to the esoteric Torah of ARI. Thus Rashi (on v. 24) tells us that the only way into this mysterious city of Luz was through a cave, at the entrance to which stood a LUZ (=almond? nut?) tree. (Was there a hidden door in the tree?) The man who showed the Israelites how to get in did not even say a word. He merely gestured with his finger. Further details of the story are given in Sota 46b, where we learn that in return for this great favor, the Israelites spared the man, who went off to found a city likewise named Luz in the Land of the Hitim (Asia Minor) that became prosperous from the Techeiles (blue die) industry, survived even the ravages of Sennacheriv and Nebuchadnezzar, and which even the Angel of Death was not authorized to enter. When the elders of the city, after living on and on, reached the limits of knowledge, they would go outside the city walls and die… All this was the man's reward for having ACCOMPANIED the Israelites and pointing them in the right direction (just as we accompany out the Shabbat). This Midrash suggests that the mystery of Luz is bound up with the mystery of drawing the timeless world to come (Leah in Atzilus) down towards this world (which derives from Beriyah…

Chapter 2 English translations of the Bible say that an ANGEL of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim (Judges 2:1). What is an ANGEL? Our rabbis taught that this "angel" was none other than Pinchas the Priest, of whom the rabbis said that "when holy spirit would rest upon him, his face would burn like fiery torches" (Midrash Tanchumah). Those who imagine angels as radiant winged beings from other realms may have been looking at medieval artists' reconstructions of events that are based on complete ignorance of the Hebrew language and the true meaning of the Bible. The Hebrew world MAL'ACH, which is frequently translated as "angel", simply means an AGENT or MESSENGER. Indeed this exactly is the meaning of the ancient Greek word ANGELOS from which our world ANGEL derives. A MAL'ACH from God is definitely not an ordinary, animalistic human being that eats and drinks like a glutton and is three quarters asleep most of the time. This does not mean that God may not at times choose outstanding Tzaddikim who have completely transcended the physical to be His MAL'ACHIM, as in the case of Moses, who is referred to both in the Chumash and in Psalms as a MALACH.

THE CYCLE OF WEEPING The message of the MALACH who came up "from GILGAL" (=reincarnation, recycling) to BOCHIM ("the weepers") gives the very essence of the moral of the Book of Judges as a whole: The cyclical problem with which Judges deals is that the Israelites failed to drive out all of the Canaanites, instead permitting them to continue to dwell among them. This alone and in itself was not the fatal flaw. The flaw was that as a result, the Israelites MIXED WITH and LEARNED FROM the Canaanites, and adopted the religions and idolatrous practices of the nations around them. Chapter 2 suddenly interjects the death and burial of Joshua into the reproof that traces the failure of the Children of Israel to live up to God's Covenant (vv. 6-10). We read once again, as already told at the end of Joshua, that Joshua was buried in TIMNATH CHERES to the north of HAR GO'ASH. TIMNATH CHERES means "picture of the sun" – for an image of the sun was placed over Joshua's grave (see Rashi on v. 9). This in itself does not have anything to do with idolatry: the allusion to the sun was fitting since it was Joshua who had stopped the sun in its tracks at Giv'on – Joshua TRANSCENDED NATURE. HAR GO'ASH is the VOLCANO. The rabbis taught that the people failed to eulogize Joshua properly after his death, and as a result God almost destroyed them all under a flood of lava (Rashi on Joshua 30. We note that our texts never refer to thirty days of mourning for Joshua as they do in the case of Moses, Jacob, etc. This is presumably the textual hint that Joshua was not properly eulogized.) In other words, after Joshua's final address to the people in Shechem (Joshua ch. 24), they all went home to attend to their own vineyards and fig trees without "eulogizing Joshua" i.e. without seeking to INTERNALIZE the lessons that Joshua had imbibed from HIS teacher, Moses (who WAS eulogized for thirty days). This rupture in the tradition is the key to the subsequent tragic history of the Israelites in the Land. They did not draw close to and internalize the messages of their spiritual leaders except when they were direly threatened by their enemies, whereas they should have continued to keep their departed leaders' Torah near to their hearts all the time. (Perhaps this indicates that attaining the true Chassidic relationship between Chassid and Tzaddik would be the remedy and thus one of the main keys to our future redemption???) Chapter 2 verse 13 tells us that "they abandoned HaShem and served the Baal and the Ashtoroth". Since these terms for idolatrous deities will recur frequently in our texts, it is worth noting that RaDaK (ad loc.) comments that Baal is a generic term for graven images and idols, "since they are like a LORD (Adon = Baal) to those that serve them". (Today also, we see that much of the world is under the spell of the images daily spun by the communications media, which are the latter-day purveyors of idolatry.) While ASHTAROTH are literally images of female sheep, they also allude to the idolatry of wealth (the Hebrew letters of the word OSHER, "wealth" are contained in the name ASHTAROTH.)

Chapter 3 The opening verses of our text paint a picture that is depressingly familiar to the modern Israeli. The generation that witnessed the heroic days of the miraculous conquest of the Land had passed, and a new generation arose that had not seen God's great work and they rebelled against Him (see Rashi on verse 1). Instead of enjoying peace and prosperity in the Land pursuing the Torah, they were forced to learn the art of warfare, just as in contemporary Israel , where the very flower of the country's youth are sacrificed on the altar of war.

Significantly the locations in the Promised Land over which the Israelites lost their hold as told in our present text (v. 3) correspond exactly to those that are the sorest trial for Israel until today. The "five officers of the Philistines" ruled over the "big five" Philistine cities, Ashdod, Gaza, Gath , Ashkelon and Ekron in the Mediterranean coastal region. The Sidonians and Hivites were dwelling in presentday Lebanon, southern Syria and the Golan Heights. Were it not for the hostility of the Arab population to the Jews, it is very likely that much of today's secular Israeli population would have intermarried with the surrounding peoples just as the Israelites did after the death of Joshua (v. 6). Verse 7 adds a new element to the idolatry which the ancient Israelites adopted from their neighbors: the ASHEROT (not to be confused with the ASH-T-EROT in Judges ch 3). The ASHERA is a tree worshiped as a god: tree veneration is mentioned in the Torah (Deut. 16:21) as one of the idolatries practiced by the Canaanites. The prohibition of anything that comes from an Ashera tree recurs throughout the Shas and Poskim (Talmud and Codifiers). Significantly, the Kabbalah sees all worlds, revealed and concealed, as parts of the Tree of Life, the Tree of the Sefirot, yet the sages typify any kind of theology that splits off divine powers from one another as "uprooting saplings" (Chagiga 14b). KUSHAN RISHATHAYIM Kushan Rishathayim king of Mesopotamia, whom God sent to try Israel (v. 8), was an ideological as well as a physical enemy. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 105b) states that this was none other than Bilaam-Laban (RISHATHAYIM means a DOUBLE wickedness) – i.e. the treacherous spirit of Laban the Aramean and his sorcerer offspring Bilaam reared its head and ruled again in the world. That Osniel ben Knaz had the power to overcome this attests to his great power. It is said that Osniel noted that God had said to Moses "I have surely seen (RA'OH RA-EESEE, the verb is doubled) the misery of My people" (Ex. 3:7). Osniel learned out from the doubling of the verb that God had already seen that the people would sin with the Golden Calf, yet He still had compassion on them. Osniel said, "Whether they are worthy or guilty, He is obliged to save them" (Rashi on v. 10). Let us turn this into our prayer today for contemporary Israel! EGLON KING OF MOAB After the death of Osniel, the people's sins caused Eglon king of Moab to gain ascendancy. Just as the Arameans of Kushan Rishathayim were relatives of the Israelites – being from the family of Abraham's brother Nachor – so too were the Moabites, who were descended from Abraham's nephew Lot, through his incestuous relation with his oldest daughter. Moab corresponds to the southern region of present-day Jordan east of the "Dead" Sea. The capture by Moses of the territories of the Emorites east of the Jordan (who had previously taken over parts of Moab) had driven a wedge between Moab and her sister nation to the north, Ammon (= Amman, capital of Jordan), severely weakening Moab. Eglon took advantage of the moral deterioration of the Israelites to reassert Moabite sovereignty over the territories of Reuven, Gad and Menasheh east of the Jordan, thereby joining up with Ammon again and also with Israel's implacable enemy Amalek (who dwelled in the wilderness areas south east and south west of the "Dead" Sea). Eglon even conquered Jericho, the "lock" of the Holy Land. Given the choice of going right or left by Abraham, Lot had opted to go to the left (Genesis 13:9 ff). It is therefore significant that Ehud ben Gera used a "sinister"

ploy to kill Eglon through the power of his LEFT HAND. Although from the tribe of Benjamin (BIN-YAMIN, "son of the RIGHT"), Ehud, like many other members of his tribe was LEFT-HANDED (cf. Judges 20:16. Rabbi Nachman, who discusses lefthandedness in a number of places, notes that Benjamin corresponds to the Tefilin, and the Tefilin of the arm are worn on the LEFT arm – Likutey Moharan II, 77; see Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom p. 293). The small "sword that had two mouths" (v. 16) which Ehud made and hid on his right thigh under his clothes for surprise use against Eglon with his LEFT hand was none other than the Torah, which is called "a sword of mouths" (Psalm 149) because those who engage in its study eat in this world and in the world to come (Tanchuma). RUTH Our rabbis note that when Ehud told Eglon "I have the word of God for you" (Judges 3:20), Eglon arose from his throne out of respect. "Said the Holy One, blessed be He, 'You accorded Me honor and rose from your throne for the sake of My glory. By your life, I will raise up a descendant from you whom I shall seat upon My throne, as it is said, And Solomon sat upon the throne of God as king'" (Ruth Rabbah 2:9). Eglon had two daughters: While Orpah was the mother of Goliath, Ruth became one of the most celebrated converts of all time and was the great grandmother of King David, father of Solomon. It is noteworthy that in this roundabout way Ruth's conversion came about through Ehud, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, from which came Saul, the first king of Israel . Saul persecuted David, who was said to be not even Jewish since the Torah explicitly forbids a Moabite to enter the Assembly (Deut. 23:4). Only when the sages of the generation revived Samuel's Midrash that this does not apply to a MoabitESS was David accepted. Evidently left-handed, roundabout courses of events are part of the coming of Mashiach!!! Just as Benjamin contributed Ehud ben Gera to the illustrious history of Israel's judges, so every one of the tribes of Israel contributed at least one judge, including Levi (Eli and Samuel), with the sole exception of Shimon, whose history of rebellion under Zimri ben Saloo in the time of Moses precluded the possibility of their producing a judge.

Chapter 4 A certain "confusion" between right-handedness and left-handedness continues in Chapter 4: even Rabbi Chaim Vital, who wrote down the teachings of the ARI, states that he cannot remember if his master said that Yavin king of Canaan who ruled in Hatzor (Judges 4:2) was from the LEFT side, Imma-Binah (Yavin, "he will understand") or from the RIGHT side, Abba-Chochmah (YaVIN=72=Chochmah; see Sefer HaLikutim, Shoftim). In any event, ARI reveals that the root of KAYIN (Adam's first son), which derives from the GEVUROT of BINAH, descended into the unholy realm of the husks to manifest as the unholy DA'AS ("knowledge"). For this reason, Yavin's general was called SISERA: The two middle letters of his name are Samach (60)-Reish (200) = 260 = 26 x 10 = i.e. ten Havayot (Each HaVaYaH is one Tetragrammaton, in gematria = 26; HaVaYaH is Da'at, here spreading through all ten Sefirot). The remaining letters of SISERA are Samach (60), Yud (10) Aleph (1) making a total of 71, which is the sum of MaH (the "Milui" – filling of the letters -- of HaVaYaH, corresponding to Zeir Anpin = 45) plus Kaf-

Vav (26=HaVaYaH). ARI states that Sisera alludes to the mystery of Daas of Zeir Anpin on the side of the Kelipot-husks (ibid). The Midrash attributes enormous military resources to Sisera. Besides the 900 chariots of iron mentioned in our text (v. 13), "he brought 40,000 commanding officers each of whom had one hundred thousand men. Sisera was thirty years old and conquered the whole world. There was not a city whose wall he did not cause to fall through his roar. Even a wild animal that he roared at in the field would stand unable to move from its place. When he went to bathe in the River Kishon, he would come out of the water with his beard full of enough fish to feed many, many people…" (Yalkut). All of this seems to be alluding allegorically to what the ARI expresses Kabbalistically through the use of Gematrias. Given that, as ARI explains, this was on one level a war of spirit and ideology, it is interesting to note that the war actually took place in areas of Israel that many today find to be the most spiritual – the lower and upper Galilee. Yavin's Hatzor had been destroyed together with its king, also called Yavin, in the time of Joshua (ch. 11). Now, however, the new Yavin reasserted the Canaanite power, threatening the entire north and center of the Land: the territories of Ephraim, Zevulun and Naftali. With all the other tribes now settled in their respective inheritances, they were so preoccupied with their lives, farms etc. that they did not unite as in former times to help their threatened brothers. The leader of the hour was the prophetess DEBORAH of the tribe of Ephraim. The Midrash states that she was exceptionally wealthy (Targum on Judges 4:5 teaches that the topography in this verse alludes not to places but to her sources of wealth, see Rashi ad loc.). ARI explains the topography spiritually: Devorah is rooted in MALCHUS, Her "husband" LAPIDOS (=flashing torches=BARAK=flash of lightening) is YESOD. The TOMER under which she modestly sits so as not to have YICHUD with the Israelites who come to consult her on Torah law also alludes to YESOD. It was "between RAMAH and BEIT EL" because BEIT EL is Leah who is RAMAH, "high up", the concealed world of BINAH. Thus we begin to see how it is that Devorah was part of the repair of the faulty world of Yavin-Daat of Kelipah. "What was Devorah doing there judging Israel – wasn't Pinchas ben Elazar still alive? I BRING HEAVEN AND EARTH TO WITNESS: BE IT A GENTILE OR ISRAELITE, A MAN OR A WOMAN, A SLAVE OR MAIDSERVANT, ACCORDING TO A PERSON'S DEEDS, SO HOLY SPIRIT DWELLS UPON THEM. In the academy of Elijah it was taught that Devorah's husband was an ignoramus, but Devorah said to him, 'Go and make wicks for the lamp in the Sanctuary in Shilo and then your share will be among the righteous among them and you will come to the life of the world to come.' Thus he would make the wicks and he had three names: Lapidos, Barak and Michael…" (Midrash Tanchumah). The concept of the wick of the lamp is bound up with Binah (see Likutey Moharan I:60 etc.). The ten thousand men of Naftali and Zevulun that Barak brought against Sisera were nothing but small farmers – how were they to stand up against Sisera's hosts and his 900 iron chariots? Barak went to Mount Tabor to lure Sisera out against him, but Sisera was a wily general and knew that his chariots would be useless in the rocky terrain of the mountain. It was springtime, and he stayed down below in the valley of the upper Kishon, where he expected that his chariots would easily overcome the Israelites. (The River Kishon starts in the eastern Galilee and runs all the way through the Yezriel valley down to the Mediterranean Sea by Haifa). In the Song of Deborah (ch. 5) we learn that "from heaven they fought -- the very stars fought from their tracks with Sisera" (v. 20). (The initial letters of

HAKOCHAVIM MIMESILOSOM NILCHAMU make up HaMaN, for the Divine victory over Sisera was the victory over the husk of Amalek, with which he was bound up. Amalek touts the Law of Nature, but God transcends nature.) How exactly did the very stars miraculously transcend the normal laws of nature to bring about the defeat the Canaanites? It is thought that the miracle consisted in a sudden, totally unexpected tornado sweeping in from the region stretching from the Rift Valley (ARAVA) to the Kinneret east of the Lower Galilee, bringing torrents of pelting rain that turned the Kishon Valley into a treacherous muddy bog that totally incapacitated the iron chariots of the Canaanites and swept them into the river, forcing Sisera to flee ignominiously. The miracle is not that there was a tornado – these occur periodically in this region – but that the tornado came exactly when it did (see Baal Shem Tov al HaTorah, Beshallach). The other heroine of this story is YAEL, another of the outstanding converts of all time. The wife of the itinerant KEINI, she could have saved Sisera, let him lie with her in the tent and risen to "greatness". Instead she remained faithful to her husband, cleverly giving Sisera not the thirst-quenching waters of kindness but soporific milk, which caused him to doze off exhausted from the battle. She then took the tent peg and smashed his head. It was fitting that it should have been his brain that she dashed, since, as revealed by ARI, Sisera's hold was in the brain and mind (DAAT). With the destruction of the unholy husk, the holy spark was released, and thus Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef came forth from the descendants of Sisera, just as Rav Shmuel bar Shilas came from those of Haman (ARI). Rabbi Chaim Vital concludes the ARI's Drash on Devorah by saying: "And my master told me that my soul was there too."

Chapter 5 THE SONG OF DEVORA It was fitting that Devora should sing the song of victory over Sisera. DEVORA is from the root DAVAR, "word", as in DIBUR, "speech" (= Malchut, through which Godliness is revealed.) When speech rises to the level of song, speech is perfected through the musical notes of the melody (TA'AMEY HAMIKRA), which come from a higher level. Speech is from the Nefesh ego-soul (Malchut) while song is from the Neshamah-soul (Binah, Understanding). Understanding elevates speech. Devorah's song was sixth of the ten great songs of history. They are listed in Targum on Shir HaShirim 1:1: Song of the Sabbath day at creation, Song at the Red Sea, Song over the well in wilderness (Numbers 21:17), Moses' song of Ha'azinu, "Hear O heavens…"; Joshua's song that stopped the sun at Giv'on, Deborah's song, Hannah's song over the birth of Samuel, David's song over his victory over all his enemies, Solomon's Song of Songs and the Song of the future redemption. The Hebrew word for song is SHIR, linked to the root SHEIR, a "chain". A song is a chain of words and notes that give TA'AM -- deeper MEANING – to events and experiences that would otherwise seem disconnected. The song links everything together as part of God's symphony of creation: the melody is the song of His HASHGACHAH, His "providence" over every detail. Deborah's song was sung with Holy Spirit. It is highly allusive, and we are in need of the commentators if we are to trace the multiple hints it contains. First among the commentators we need on any such a flighty, eloquent passage is the Aramaic Targum, which in translating simple narrative portions of NaCh is normally terse and direct, but which expands considerably on the meaning of many prophetic

passages in order to explain them in greater depth. While the best known Aramaic Targum on the Five Books of Moses is that of Onkelos the Ger (Convert) our Aramaic Targum on the Prophets and Holy Writings was written by R. Yonasan ben Uzziel (who also wrote a Targum on Chumash, somewhat lengthier and with more midrash than that of Onkelos). R. Yonasan was the greatest of the students of Hillel – while Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, who went on to lead the Jewish people during and after the destruction of the Second Temple, is described by the Talmud as Hillel's "smallest" pupil. Given that Raban Yochanan knew all the secrets of the universe and even the "conversations of trees", it boggles the imagination to try to understand the level of R. Yonasan ben Uzziel, who was so devoted to the Torah that he never even married. The Targum of Yonasan brings out various allusions in Deborah's song to past and future events in Israel's history, including the Crossing of the Red Sea and the Giving of the Torah. The miracle that Deborah's generation witnessed whereby the overwhelming forces of Sisera and his allies were swept away by the River Kishon was seen as a miracle on the soil of the Holy Land that bore comparison with that of the splitting of the Red Sea in its significance for the nation and its survival. The Targum and Midrash state that at the time of the Giving of the Torah, Mt. Tabor and Mt. Carmel had come asking for the Torah to be given on them, but God decreed that it was to be given on the humble Mount Sinai in the Wilderness. Nevertheless, Tabor and Carmel were rewarded: Elijah performed the miracle of the consumption of his offering by heavenly fire on Mt. Carmel, while Mt. Tabor was the scene of the "Giving of the Torah" in the time of Deborah. The song of Deborah (as explained by Targum, Rashi and the other commentators) portrays the dire state of Israel prior to the victory over Sisera. It had become impossible to travel the roads because of danger from the enemies; it was impossible even for the girls to go out to draw water from the wells; it was impossible to live in open, unfortified settlements – the Israelites had to take refuge behind walls! (See Targum and Rashi on vv. 6-7, v. 11.) The Israelites were faced with an "Intifada" from the Canaanites that made life impossible in the country, not unlike today. The song also hints at the cracks of disunity among the tribes. Reuven in particular comes in for criticism (vv. 15-16) for sitting on the east of the Jordan telling Barak "we are on your side" and Sisera "we are on your side", waiting to see who would win (Targum). The tribe of Dan is also criticized for loading their possessions into boats on the River Jordan in order to escape (v. 17), and MEIROZ is severely cursed (v. 23) although there are different opinions as to whether this was a city, a prominent individual, or perhaps a star (Moed Katan 16a). The greatest praise goes to YAEL, who became a Judge in her own right (Rashi on v. 6). "She is blessed more than women in the tent" (v. 24). This implies that she is compared favorably to the matriarchs Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah, all of whom are described in the texts as being "in the tent". How did Yael have the strength to kill a mighty warrior like Sisera. The Talmud states that her greatness lay in carrying out a sin for the sake of God (LISHMAH), which is greater than carrying out a mitzvah not for the sake of God (SHELO LISHMAH). The Talmud infers from v. 27 that Sisera had relations with her seven times, thereby exhausting all his strength and thus enabling her to kill him (Nazir 23b). "Thus let all your enemies be destroyed… and those who love Him are like the sun coming out in its strength" (v. 31). On the latter part of the verse, the Talmud

comments, "This verse refers to those who allow themselves to be insulted and do not insult back, who hear themselves abused and do not answer, who do what they do out of love and rejoice in suffering" (Yoma 23a). In time to come the light will be seven times seven the light of the seven days of creation – i.e. 343 times greater (7 x 7 x 7; see Rashi on this verse).

Chapter 6 The victory over Sisera brought relief to the Israelites but they did not take advantage of the victory to drive out the Canaanites and consolidate their hold on the Land. This gave the Midianites their opportunity to make ever more destructive predatory incursions. The Midianites, who were descended from Abraham's son from the "concubine" Ketura (Gen. 25:2), were a group of five clans, some shepherds, some traders and some of them marauding bandits, who lived as nomads across the vast stretch of desert east of Ammon and Moab (present day eastern Jordan and north west Saudi Arabia). They were sworn enemies of Israel (Numbers 25:18). The Israelite failure to drive out the Canaanites from their strongholds in the Jezreel valley enabled the Midianites to cross the Jordan river fords into the Land and establish a footing in the Beit She'an valley, from which they began attacking the tribes of the Galilee and advancing into the center of the country into the tribal areas of Ephraim and Menasheh. "And Israel became very low" (vayiDAL, DAL = poor, wretched) (v. 6). "They were poor without good deeds… And they didn't even have the resources to bring a MINCHAH offering" (Tanchuma, Behar). The prophet who came to reprove the people (verse 8) was according to tradition Pinchas ben Elazar. Gideon was from the tribe of Menasheh, from that half of the tribe that had settled in the Land itself. The town of "Ofra" in which he lived is not to be confused with Ofra north of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin, an important settlement until today. RaDaK on verse 11 states that Gideon's Ofra was a town of the same name further to the north: it was probably a little to the south west of Shechem (Nablus). The Zohar (I, 254) states that Gideon was not a tzaddik, nor the son of a tzaddik, but that he merited his role as savior because he spoke in defense of Israel (see Rashi on v. 13). The depiction of Gideon helping his father to beat and sift wheat in a wine vat out of fear of the Midianites shows the dire state of affairs in Israel . According to the Midrash, Gideon said he would do all the work so that his father could go to hide from the Midianites, and it was for this act of filial piety that he was worthy of the visit from the angel (v. 11). Our commentators make no effort to identify the angel with any human. It is clear from the text that this was a spiritual messenger from God who appeared to Gideon when he was in a state of prophecy (see RaDaK on v. 9). From Gideon's sacrifice of MATZOT before the angel, we learn that it was Pesach (Rashi on v. 19). According to tradition, Gideon had heard his father recounting the miracles of the Exodus at the Pesach Seder and said to God, "If our ancestors were Tzaddikim, then save us in our merit, and if they were wicked, then just like you did wonders for them for free, so too perform wonders for us – WHERE ARE ALL HIS WONDERS THAT OUR FATHERS TOLD US???"

Gideon's smashing of the Baal-idol is reminiscent of Abraham's smashing the idols of his father Terach as told in the famous midrash. His father Joash's challenge to the men of the city that Baal himself should avenge those who broke his statue is somewhat reminiscent of Abraham's mocking answer to Terach when asked how the idols were smashed and he said that the biggest idol smashed all the others. When Gideon sacrificed to God on an altar built from the stones of the altar to Baal and with vessels and fuel taken from the Ashera tree, eight Torah prohibitions were temporarily suspended to enable him to do so: (1) sacrificing outside the sanctuary (2) at night (3) by a non-Cohen (4) using vessels of an Ashera, which is forbidden for benefit even for a mitzvah (5) using the stones of an idolatrous altar (6) using the wood of the Ashera for fuel; (7) sacrificing an animal set aside as an offering to an idol – the fattened ox (8) sacrificing an animal that had been worshipped – the other ox (Temura 28b). "It is time to do for the Lord, they have broken (HEIFEIROO, = "you should break") Your Torah" (Psalms 119:126). Even though Gideon was obliged to perform his revolutionary, iconoclastic mission at nighttime because of fear of repercussions from the local bastions of political correctness, his heroic act was the beginning of a sweeping movement of repentance from idolatry that led to victory over the Midianites. As soon as one simple Israelite was willing to get up and shatter the gods of political correctness, the redemption could take place. If Gideon believed in God, why did he ask for a SECOND sign after God had already performed a patent miracle in drenching the fleece with dew when everything around was dry (vv. 36-40)? RaDaK (on v. 39) points out that "You shall not try the Lord" (Deut 6:16) but answers in the name of R. Saadia Gaon that it was not that Gideon had any doubt about God's ABILITY to save Israel. To test God would be to say "Prove that you can do it". But what Gideon wanted was reassurance about whether he himself was worthy to be the channel for such a great miracle. We can learn from Gideon that even a simple person can merit God's communicating with him directly and using him as the instrument of His redemption, all through the power of simple mitzvoth, good deeds and love of the people of Israel.

Chapter 7 The magnitude of the challenge facing Gideon must be reconstructed from hints scattered through our text. The marauding Midianites with their Amalekite and other allies, the "Children of the East" (ch 7 v 12), numbered one hundred and thirty-five thousand warriors (ch 8 v 10) -- over four times as many as Gideon's 32,000 – the great majority of whom proved to be too afraid to go out to battle (ch 7 v 3). The Midianites were encamped in the western corner of the Beit Shean valley between the protruding spurs of Giv'at Hamoreh with Mt. Tabor behind it to their north and Mt. Gilboa to the south. They had watchmen posted on the hills (ch 7:2 see Targum/RaDaK). Gideon had rallied Naftali and Asher, the tribes of the Galilee, to Mt. Tabor, intending that they should attack the Midianites on their northern flank, while he himself was waiting for reinforcements to come up from his own tribe of Menasheh in the south in order to advance northwards from Gilboa to attack the Midianites on their southern flank. However, the plan for a pincer attack failed because the hoped for reinforcements from Menasheh did not arrive in time, and from ch 8 vv. 18-19 we learn that the Midianites succeeded in routing the northern tribes on Mt Tabor under the leadership of Gideon's brother, whom they killed.

Thus Gideon was left with no more than ten thousand men to stand against the vast army of invading hordes from the east. Yet even Gideon's 10,000 were far too many for God, Who wanted to teach that Israel does not need great numbers in order to accomplish His purpose, "lest Israel boast against Me saying 'my own hand saved me'" (verse 2). God does not need numerical advantage for His victories. For "not because of your multitude out of all the peoples did the Lord desire you and chose you, for you are the small minority out of all the peoples" (Deut. 7:7). What counts for God is true devotion and righteousness. Gideon showed outstanding faith and courage in sending away all but the 300 tzaddikim who, rather than fall down on their knees like Baal-worshippers in order to plunge their faces into the stream to slake their desperate thirst, preferred to draw up the water with their hands and bring it up to their mouths with dignity. DEREKH ERETZ ("the way of the land", "good manners") comes even before the Torah. "And his HAND was FAITH" (Exodus 17:12). Instead of greedily bending down and swallowing what they needed to take from the world, they drew it to themselves through the hand of FAITH and PRAYER. Why was kneeling down by the water the sign of an idolater? RaDaK (on v 4) brings an illuminating midrash that says that the people of that generation used to kneel down and bow down TO THEIR OWN REFLECTIONS – i.e. they were filled with narcissistic pride. (Do we too look too much in the mirror?) Self-love with the accompanying craving for kudos were the fatal flaws that subsequently led to so much strife between Gideon and Ephraim, the men of Succoth and Penu-el (ch 8) and eventually to the downfall of Gideon's own dynasty (ch 9). THE CAKE OF BARLEY Man's egotistical pride is precisely what the Omer barley offering brought in the Temple on the second day of Pesach, 16th of Nissan, comes to rectify. We have already seen (ch 6 v 19) that Gideon's smashing of the idols took place on the first day of Pesach. He "rose early in the morning" (ch 7 v 1) and advanced all day, dispatching all who were unworthy to take part in the miracle. It was thus on the eve of the 16th Nissan that God told him to go down to spy on the Midianite camp, and they were routed that night. The Midianite man's dream about the coal-baked cake of barley that rolled through and overturned the Midianite camp alludes to the merit of the small Omer-measure of Barley offered by Israel (Rashi on v. 13). The Omer offering, which initiates the harvest season, is a kind of national Sotah (unfaithful wife) offering to propitiate God for apparent disloyalty. The only two grain offerings in the Temple that had to be of barley and not wheat were the Omer and Sotah woman's offerings. Barley is normally for animal consumption. Offering barley on the Altar signifies man's repentance for having succumbed to his animal instincts. RaDaK relates the unusual word TZLIL referring to the barley cake (TZLIL is the KRI, the way the word is to be READ) to TZLIL meaning a "noise", alluding to the tumult in the camp that the barley-cake brought in its wake. However, the Midrash darshens the KSIV – the word as WRITTEN in the parchment scroll, TZALOOL – as indicating that the generation was TZALOOL, "strained off" of all Tzaddikim (see Rashi on v 13 and Vayikra Rabba 28:6). Practically no-one was left except Gideon's tiny band. Even so, they saw victory through their humble faith and their confidence that even in their degradation and smallness, their repentance could bring God to perform miracles for them. The Shofars and Torches that were their only military "equipment" came to arouse the merit of the Giving of the Torah, which was accompanied by the blast of the shofar, thunder and lightning (Rashi on v 16). From the point of view of psychological warfare, the idea was to surround the Midianites and make them

think that they were in the middle of a surprise night-time ambush on all sides by a vast Israelite army. Thus God showed that one man's dream could throw an entire army into a state of such demoralization that an ingenious display of night-time fireworks with accompanying Shofar-blowing could send them all into flight. The defeat of the Midianites came about not through numbers but all through the power of the spirit. The Midianites fled southwards along the western bank of the River Jordan, hoping to cross over the river fords into Ammon in order to escape eastwards to their home territories in the Arabian desert.

Chapter 8 God's miraculous defeat of the Midianites and their allies is celebrated in Psalm 83 (particularly vv. 10-12). The lesson that comes forth from the narrative in our text in Judges is that the vital flaw of pride and arrogance, together with the internecine rivalry to which it leads, still prevented the Israelites from uniting under a messianic king whose goal would be not his own personal glorification and that of his dynasty but only the sanctification of God's great Name. It would take generations before the nation was ready for a true king of Israel. Gideon himself showed himself largely free of this pride: he eloquently dissipated a potential conflict with the Ephraimites by humbly offering them the kudos, but he was faced with excessive mean-mindedness from the men of Succoth and Penu-el, whose refusal to assist him in his efforts against the common enemy is reminiscent of Naval's later refusal to help David. Succoth and Penuel are east of the River Jordan near the Adam Bridge in the valley of the River Yabok. Penu-el had been the site of Jacob's encounter with the angel prior to his confrontation with Esau (Genesis 32:31) while Succoth was where Jacob subsequently built a house for himself and "tabernacles" for his animals (ibid. 33:16). Perhaps the severe reprisals which Gideon the Judge meted out against the men of Succoth and Penu-el were intended to eradicate the animalistic Esau-trait that their meanness betrayed. The remaining forces of Midian and their allies succeeded in reaching KARKOR, which is about 200 km. EAST of the River Jordan. There they thought they would be safe from Gideon, yet he succeeded in capturing their kings and routing the entire camp. The final destruction of the Midianites by a scion of the tribe of Menasheh was fitting since it was the Midianites who had purchased Menasheh's father Joseph from his brothers and sold him to the Egyptians (Genesis 37:28 & 36). Gideon refused the Israelite offer to be their king with a dynasty of his own offspring as kings after him: he understood that Israel was not yet ready for a king. Instead he took a rich share of the booty captured from the Midianites, who in v. 24 are referred to as Ishmaelites since as a son of Ketura (=Hagar) Midian was Ishmael's brother and came under his wing. The splendid gold necklaces and ornaments of the Midianite hosts indicate pride. Gideon's receiving the Midianite booty was perhaps a "repayment" for the sale of Joseph, his ancestor, but could he rectify the pride? Why did Gideon make himself an EPHOD? The EPHOD is one of the eight garments of the High Priest (Exodus 28:6 ff). Gideon had indeed, although not a COHEN, served as "High Priest" when he broke down the altar of Baal and sacrificed to HaShem. However, the Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 45) explains that he had a particular motive in making an EPHOD for himself. On the CHOSHEN MISHPAT, the

breast-plate of the High Priest worn with the EPHOD, there were twelve stones corresponding to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. But because one of the stones was for Levi, it was impossible to have more than one stone for the tribe of Joseph even though it had become two, with Ephraim and Menasheh. Since Ephraim was the natural leader of Joseph there was apparently no stone in the High Priest's breastplate for Gideon's tribe of Menasheh. Since the twelve stones correspond to the twelve constellations (MAZALOT), it was as if Menasheh had no MAZAL, and this was why Gideon made the EPHOD. If MAZAL means "luck" (well, kind of), Gideon's EPHOD proved to be very luckless, for although he intended it for the sake of heaven, this symbol of "his" victory over the Midianites became a stumbling-block for Israel as they turned it into a cult object, and although Gideon himself enjoyed a good old age, his success in weaning the Israelites from idolatry were thus shortlived. May God save us from pride and unholy rivalry and bring us to the humility that will enable us to be worthy of His victory over our enemies despite our tiny numbers and their overwhelming force.

Chapter 9 BETRAYAL At the end of Judges Chapter 8 we learned that after the death of Gideon (=Yeruba'al, "he who strives with Baal") the Children of Israel reverted "and they went astray after the Baalim and they put BAAL BRIS as god over them" (v. 33). It is unnecessary to try to imagine the ancient Israelites falling down and mindlessly prostrating to sticks and stones. The Talmud (B'rachos 12b) interprets the word VEZONU, "they went astray", lit. "they whored after", as implying that they entertained THOUGHTS of idolatry, which suggests that many may not have openly practiced idolatrous rituals but were ideologically alienated from their ancestral faith. In fact the ideology underlying certain kinds of idolatry can be seemingly highly profound and indeed very attractive to the enquiring mind. What exactly the ideology of BAAL BRIS was is hard to say. The Talmud (Shabbos 83) says that BAAL BRIS (lit. "master of the covenant") was identical with ZVUV, the god of the Philistines of Ekron. A ZVUV is a "fly". It may seem weird that anyone would worship a fly, though in fact flies have been even more successful than humanity in populating the world with their kind and can usually move a lot faster than even the best swatters. Whether this god was actually represented as a fly of some kind is open to question. The rabbis encouraged mispronouncing the names of idols in order to deride them. What is significant is that the Israelites, who were sworn to God's Covenant (BRIS), had now allowed the very concept of the Covenant, with the loyalty it demands, to become degraded. Thus the story of AVIMELECH – who burned up the people of Shechem who followed this idolatry – is essentially one of betrayal and its bloody consequences. I WANT TO BE KING We also learned at the end of Chapter 8 that Gideon had seventy legitimate sons and one son from his PILEGESH in Shechem. Under Torah law a PILEGESH is a woman that a man designates for himself as a concubine but without the ceremony of KIDDUSHIN (sanctifying a woman to oneself as a wife, the first stage of marriage) and without the protection of a KESUBA (the "marriage contract" guaranteeing the woman financial security even in widowhood or after divorce). The PILEGESH thus does not have the status of a wife and is considered somewhat disreputable: thus RaDaK on Judges 11:1 equates PILEGESH with ZONAH, "whore".

Did Gideon call this son AVIMELECH – or did the boy that was born of this not-soproper relationship take the name for himself? From Judges 8:31, a careful reading of the Hebrew suggests that he himself gave himself the name of AVIMELECH, which literally means "My father is king": thus he tried to cover over his disreputable origin using the KUDOS of Gideon. However, AVIMELECH also has the connotation of I WANT TO BE KING: AVI is thus from the same root as AVA, I want, as in EVIYON, the "poor one", who "wants" (see Likutey Moharan I, 10:4). Midrash Tanchuma contrasts this AVIMELECH unfavorably with AVIMELECH king of the Philistines in the time of Abraham (Genesis ch 20 etc.). "'Better is a near neighbor than a distant brother' (Proverbs 27:10). Better was Avimelech king of the Philistines who gave great honor to Abraham, saying 'Here, my land is before you' (Gen. 20:15) than Avimelech son of Yerubaal who killed his brothers. Said the Holy One blessed be He to Avimelech: 'You wicked man. You killed SEVENTY MEN ON ONE STONE (Judges 9:5) – You will be punished': 'And a certain woman cast down the MILLSTONE (ibid. v. 53). 'He who digs a trap will fall into it and he that rolls a stone will have it come back against him' (Prov. 26:27)." AND AVIMELECH… WENT TO SHECHEM (v 1) The city of Shechem was designated for punishments from long before. It was there that Jacob's daughter Dinah had been raped, sullying the purity of his family and leading to the slaughter of the men of Shechem by Levi and Shimon (Gen. ch 34). It was to Shechem that Joseph's brothers went to graze and devise their plan to destroy him. The solemn ceremony of the Blessings and Curses (Deut. 11:29 ff; ibid. 27:11; Joshua ch 8) had been carried out on Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eival overlooking Shechem. Joseph's bones had been finally buried Shechem, but since the death of Joshua there had been a steady decline in the Israelites that was expressed now in the corruption of the leadership. Faith and trust in God were replaced with mob appeal. In Shechem, Avimelech used his mother's family's influence to build a political base for himself founded not on loyalty but on popular resentment against the splendid dynasty of 70 princes that Gideon had established. Avimelech won over the BAALEY SHECHEM – the "owners", "masters" or "bosses" of the place with all the Mafiosi connotations that the term has. With money taken from the Temple of BAAL BRIS (was this the local bank?) Avimelech hired a gang of ruffians to form a private militia to carry out the bloody killing of his seventy paternal brothers. Only YOTAM was saved. The name implies "God (YO) is perfect/pure (TAM)" and is also an anagram of YATOM (="orphan"). To put his curse upon the murderer Avimelech, Yotam went up Mt. Gerizim . In the ceremony of Blessings and Curses, the blessings had been delivered from Mt Gerizim and the curses from Mt Eival. Yotam reasoned that if so, the blessings went in the direction of Mt Eival and the curses to Mt Gerizim, and thus the latter was a suitable location from which to send curses in the direction of the Bosses of Shechem. (In later time, after the exile of the Ten Tribes, Sennacheriv under his policy of population exchange settled the KOOTIM, who came to be known also as the SHOMRONIM – Samaritans – in Shechem. They semi-converted to Torah practice but later fell into idolatry and placed an image of a dove on the ill-fated Mt Gerizim, after which they were proscribed by the rabbis as idolaters. In many Talmudic editions the term KOOTI is used synonymously with NOCHRI or AKUM – oveid avodah zarah, "idolater".) Yotam's eloquent parable about the trees turning successively to the Olive Tree, the Fig Tree and the Vine to rule over them alludes to the growing degeneracy of the Israelite leadership. The Olive Tree alludes to Osniel ben Knaz ( Judah is compared

to an olive tree -- Jeremiah 11:16). The Fig Tree alludes to Devorah, who gave the people sweet nourishment with her Song, while the Vine refers to Gideon. That Avimelech could be compared only with the pricky thorn bush which hurts anyone who touches it and affords scarcely any shade is symptomatic of the decline of the leadership. Our text (ch 9 v 22) states that Avimelech ruled over Israel for three years, implying that he was more than merely a local tyrant, although no heroic acts of national service are attributed to him. He was merely power-hungry. Nevertheless, he is considered the Seventh Judge of Israel, and was the first to actually be called MELECH ("king"; ch 9 v 6). He had about as much staying power as the succession of rickety governments with which contemporary Israel has been plagued in recent years: Avimelech ruled for only three years. The RUACH RAAH ("bad spirit") that God sent between Avimelech and the bosses of Shechem is also reminiscent of the break-up of so many latter-day Israeli political coalitions with all the accompanying betrayal and acrimony. Opportunism and shifting loyalty were the order of the day. "And all the bosses of Shechem… went and made Avimelech king" (v. 6). "And the bosses of Shechem BETRAYED Avimelech" (v. 23). "And Ga'al ben Eved moved into Shechem, and the bosses of Shechem TRUSTED IN HIM" (v. 26). Verse 25 illustrates the anarchy that prevailed: this verse is cited in Talmud Bava Kama 72b as the paradigm case of blatant robbery. Rashi states that GAAL BEN EVED "was from another people" (Rashi on v. 26). GAAL has the connotation of vomiting, and EVED is a slave. His influence over the bosses of Shechem illustrates the extent of the Israelite assimilation with the surrounding peoples. They listen when Gaal tells them they would be better off serving HAMOR FATHER OF SHECHEM (the Hivite, the archetypal serpent) than serving Avimelech (v. 28). Avimelech is the embodiment of degenerate MALCHUS (kingship). MALCHUS is identified with FIRE (see Likutey Moharan I, 4) – and Avimelech takes vengeance on the people of Shechem for their rebellion against him by going on a rampage of bloodshed and burning, moving from town to town to chase after and destroy his enemies. This was a horrible civil war the like of which had not been known among the Israelites. It was stopped only through the quick thinking and resourcefulness of the anonymous woman who rolled a heavy millstone down from the fortress tower of the city of THEBETZ , smashing Avimelech's skull just in time to prevent him setting fire to it. The moral of the whole sorry story seems to be that secular politics is a dirty business.

Chapter 10 Our sources contain scant information about the exploits of Tola ben Pu'ah of the tribe of Issachar who judged Israel after Avimelech, and very little about Ya'ir HaGiladi, who seems to have established a splendid dynastic empire with his thirty sons on their thirty foals and their thirty cities. Rashi on verse 6 states that even he was numbered among those who abandoned HaShem and did not serve Him. The deepening idolatry of the people now encompassed the cults of no less than SEVEN of the surrounding nations, despite the fact that God had saved Israel from SEVEN enemies (v. 6 & v. 11, see Rashi). This led to a terrible retribution in which

the Israelites became subject to yet another "existential threat", this time from the Philistines and the Ammonites. The Ammonites, who not only gained sway over the territories of Reuven, Gad and half-Menasheh east of the R. Jordan but were now attacking the very heartland of Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim (v. 8-9) were the offspring of Lot's incestuous relationship with his younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). Their territory was in what is today northern Jordan , whose capital, Amman , is named after them. The Ammonites' frightening successes against the Israelites left the distraught leaders of Gil'ad asking the same question that so many are asking today. "Who is the man who will start to fight for us…?" There is a vacancy for Mashiach: who is going to fill it?

Chapter 11 GOOD INTENTIONS Like Avimelech, Yiftach (Jepthah) son of Gil'ad, the Tenth Judge of Israel, was also the son of a PILEGESH (concubine). However, despite being rejected by his halfbrothers, the sons of Gil'ad's full wife, Yiftach did not follow the example of his blood-thirsty predecessor Avimelech but instead fled from the more "respectable" members of his family and "dwelled in the land of TOV" (="good", ch 11 v. 3). The commentators (Metzudos, RaDaK), explaining PSHAT, the simple, direct meaning of the text, say that Tov was the name of a man, the baron of that region (cf. Ruth 3:13, where Tov may also indicate a man's name). Yet it is clear that our allusive Bible is here teaching us something deeper. Yiftach was not a RASHA (wicked man) like Avimelech. He was a Tzaddik – a "good guy" with truly good intentions. The flaw lay in the fact that his righteousness was not combined with clear understanding of Torah. Yiftach wanted to do the right thing, but not being a scholar he did what he IMAGINED to be right and brought about a terrible tragedy. "Because he was not a BEN TORAH he lost his daughter. Even if a man is a tzaddik, if he does not study the Torah he is left with nothing in his hand" (Tanchuma). A LESSON IN HISTORY The Ammonite "existential threat" to Israel was described at the end of Chapter 10. The Ammonites were encamped by the town of Gil'ad, which is east of the River Jordan, south of the River Yabok about 30 km north of present day Amman. The broader region of Gil'ad stretches along the entire east bank of the Jordan from the northern tip of the "Dead" Sea up to the Kinneret. This region was part of the huge swathe of territories east of the Jordan which the Children of Israel captured from the Emorite king Sichon and Og king of Bashan as described in the later sections of the book of Numbers (ch's 21 and 32). They were given to the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half Menasheh, who took their portions east of the Jordan. Prior to the time of king Sichon this entire swathe of territories was under the influence of the sister nations of Moab and Ammon. Their lands had been promised by God to Abraham together with that of Edom as part of the "greater" Promised Land (Genesis 15:19-20, see Rashi), but they were only to come under the full possession of Israel in the "final settlement" at the end of days. Until then Moses was enjoined not to take from the lands of Edom (Deut. 2:5) or Moab (Deut. 2:9) or Ammon (Deut. 2:19). Deuteronomy ch 2 describes the primeval tribes of "giants" etc. who dwelled in these territories before their conquest by Edom, Ammon and Moab, and also describes the conquest by Moses of the territories which Sichon had conquered from Moab and Ammon.

The reason why it was permitted for Israel to take possession of those areas previously occupied by Moab and Ammon that Sichon had conquered was because Sichon's conquest "purified" those lands of their association with the children of Lot (Gittin 38a). LAND FOR PEACE The Israelite presence in the areas of Gil'ad taken from Sichon drove a wedge between Ammon, who had been driven into the hinterland east of present-day Amman, and their sister nation Moab, who were left only with their territories south east of the River Arnon, (which meets the tongue-shaped "Dead" Sea approximately in the middle). This gave the Ammonites strong motivation to seek a CAUSUS BELLI against Israel, and when Yiftach sent messengers to the king of Ammon protesting their aggressions, the Ammonite king replied with an argument that has been repeated endlessly by Israel's enemies until this very day: "Because Israel TOOK MY LAND" (v 3). Moreover, the king promised exactly the same as Israel's enemies until this very day. "And now, return them…" (note how "my land" has seamlessly turned into the PLURAL) "…in PEACE". In other words the Ammonite king proposed exactly the same formula as Israel's present day Arab friends: LAND FOR PEACE. The messengers whom Yiftach sent back to the king of Ammon gave him a detailed history lesson the purpose of which was to explain precisely the above-mentioned point: the territories which Israel took east of the Jordan no longer belonged to Ammon or Moab since they had been conquered by Sichon king of the Emorites. This refutation of the Ammonite claim is based on the principle that "the whole world belongs to the Holy One blessed be He: He created it and He gave it to whoever it was right in His eyes to give it. Through His will He gave it to them and through His will He took it from them and gave it to us" (see Rashi on Genesis 1:1). YIFTACH'S VOW The Ammonite intransigence in spite of Yiftach's arguments (reminiscent of years of Arab "NO! NO! NO") left him with no alternative but to go to war to prevent them penetrating the very heartland of Israel (see Judges 10:9). The Spirit of God was on Yiftach, who advanced from the northern Gil'ad towards the Ammonite camp. The practice of vowing to make a dedication to God if He grants one's request goes back to Jacob, "head of those who take vows". After his dream of the Ladder during his flight from the wrath of Esau, Jacob had vowed to give God a tithe of everything if He would bring him home safely (Genesis 28:20ff). Likewise in the wilderness, when Israel was attacked by "the Canaanite" king of Arad (=Amalek, see Rashi on Numbers 21:1), "And Israel vowed a vow to God…" (Numbers 21:2). Likewise, as we shall see when we begin the book of Samuel I, Hannah vowed that if she would be granted a child she would dedicate him to God. "Two vowed and were rewarded; two vowed and lost. Israel vowed and they won. Hanna vowed and she was rewarded. But Jacob vowed and lost, because his wife Rachel died, while Yiftach vowed – and lost his daughter" (Bereishis Rabbah 70). The fatal flaw that vitiated Yiftah's vow was that it was imprecisely formulated. The mark of the wise man is that "he sees what will develop" (Avot ch 2). Yiftah lacked the wisdom to see the hidden pitfall contained in the vow that he uttered at the height of his inspiration and enthusiasm. The vow was insufficiently articulated, and

because its implications were not perceived by Yiftach at the time that he made it, he caused a terrible tragedy. It is hard when we enthusiastically make some commitment to stop for a moment to ask whether we will really be able to stand up to it. Sometimes people make wild offers and some MAZAL enables them to get out clean, but if the person lacks MAZAL it can lead to disaster. "Four asked improperly; to three He gave properly, but to one He gave improperly" (Ta'anis 4a). The four were Eliezer, servant of Abraham, Calev, Saul and Yiftach. Eliezer said that the first girl who offered to water his camels would be Isaac's wife – how did he know that she wouldn't be some lowly waif who was not fit for him? When Calev offered his daughter to whoever would capture Kiryat Sefer, how did he know that the man would not be disreputable. The same applies to King Saul's offer of his daughter to whoever would kill Goliath. Eliezer, Calev and Saul all had some MAZAL that ensured that despite their imprecise wording, they were not answered improperly. However, Yiftach apparently lacked something. He IMAGINED that the one who would first come out of the doors of his house to greet him on his safe return from the war would be some FAT OX or FAT LAMB that would make a fitting thanksgiving sacrifice to God, and it did not occur to him that perhaps it would be his own DAUGHTER. WHY DIDN'T YIFTACH ANNUL HIS VOW? The laws of vows and oaths and their proper formulation is the subject of three entire tractates of the Talmud – NEDARIM, NAZIR and SHAVUOS. Had Yiftach been more of a TALMID CHACHAM (Torah scholar), he would have known that in fact he was under no obligation to offer his daughter as a sacrifice. The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 60) presents an intricate discussion between Rabbi Yochanan and his student-chaver Reish Lakish (Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish) whose meaning is readily comprehensible to those with some background in the above laws. Rabbi Yochanan maintains that Yiftach could have redeemed his daughter for money which he would then have dedicated to the purchase of a sacrificial animal, while Reish Lakish maintains that even this was unnecessary since "One who says of an impure animal or of an animal with a blemish that it is a burnt offering has not said anything" since these animals are not eligible as a sacrifice anyway. The same applies to Yiftach's daughter. Yiftach is an example of the many people who have very high principles but lack the detailed knowledge of the Torah to know how properly to apply them in practice. Yiftach IMAGINED he was bound by his vow, and his high-minded determination to carry out what he thought was his obligation brought him to an unparalleled perversity. Even Abraham was not commanded to KILL Isaac, and indeed according to the commentators, Yiftach did not actually KILL his daughter. Rather, she was condemned to remain unmarried in a state of permanent HISBODEDUS (isolation) and divine service except for the few days of the year when her maiden friends would come to comfort her (see Metzudos David on v 37 and RaDaK on v 40). The Midrash brings out the absurdity and criminality of Yiftach's condemning his only child to a life of celibacy, thereby destroying the continuity of his own line. Not only was Yiftach criticized but so too were all the rabbis and scholars of his time and even Pinchas the High Priest (who according to tradition was still alive despite the passage of over 300 years since he entered the Land with Joshua). Through a mixture of high principles and pride, Yiftach would not go to Pinchas to nullify his vow, although the HALACHAH specifically permits this. Likewise Pinchas would not go to Yiftach to nullify the vow, reasoning that his own status as Priest required that Yiftach should come to him. Between the two of them, the poor girl

"died". Pinchas was punished with the withdrawal from him of holy spirit (Chronicles I, 9:20 – "HaShem was with him PREVIOUSLY"). Yiftach was punished with an illness akin to leprosy in the modern sense of the term, which caused his limbs to drop off one by one while he was still alive. For this reason "he was buried IN THE CITIES of Gil'ad" (ch 12 v 7) i.e. in several different places. Yiftach's daughter said to him: "Leave me for two months and I will go AND I SHALL DESCEND UPON the mountains" (ch 11 v 37). Since when do you DESCEND upon a mountain – first you have to GO UP??? These were not regular mountains. What she was really saying was, Let me go down to the elders of the Sanhedrin (who are called Mountains) in case they can find some release clause (PETACH, an "opening") from your vow. The Tanna deVei Eliyahu puts the responsibility for the tragedy squarely on the shoulders of the Sanhedrin. "Anyone who has the power to protest and does not do so carries responsibility for all the blood shed in Israel. The great Sanhedrin that Moses left behind him should have girded their loins with metal chains and lifted their garments above their knees and gone round to all the cities of Israel, one day in Lachish, one day in Eglon, one day in Hebron, one day in Beit El, one day in Jerusalem… and that way they could have taught them the proper way of doing things (DERECH ERETZ) in one, two, three, four or maximum five years until the land would have been properly settled. Instead, after Israel entered the Land, each one ran to his vineyard and olive tree and said, Peace be upon my soul – let me not have to make too much effort."

Chapter 12 The ruffled pride of the Ephraimites who felt that Yiftach had not involved them in the war against the Ammonites led more to bloody consequences. There is a suggestion in the above-quoted passage from Tanna deVei Eliahu that the Ephraimites that were killed if they could not pronounce SHIBBOLETH properly were involved in some kind of idolatry, because "SIBOLETH" is an idolatrous term, as when a man says "SA BEIL" ("Exalt BEIL", this being the name of a Babylonian god, as in Belshazzar in the book of Daniel.) Little is known of the succession of Judges enumerated in the latter part of Chapter 12, except for IVTZAN from Beith Lechem (verse 8), whom the rabbis identified with BO'AZ, known to us from the Book of Ruth. The Midrash tells that Bo'az lost all his thirty sons and thirty daughters because he did not show hospitality to Manoah, father of Shimshon, and thus he was childless when he married Ruth, who conceived Oveid, father of Yishai, the father of King David. As we thus approach the threshold of the dawn of David's kingship, the Bible steadily delineates the national crisis into which Israel had sunk, from which David would come to save them.

Chapters 13-14 AND GOD GAVE THEM INTO THE HAND OF THE PHILISTINES… From the time of Shimshon (=Samson) until that of David, the Philistines were foremost among the oppressors of Israel (just as the "Palestinians" who have adopted the Latinized version of their name are today). The Philistines originated from the descendants of Ham, whose son Mitzrayim gave birth among others to the Pathrusim and Kasluhim (Genesis 10:13). It was from between the two of them that the Philistines “emerged” (i.e. they were a “bastard” people, see Rashi ad loc.). A sea-faring nation, they spread to Crete and throughout the Greek islands into Greece proper, where they lived until the Dorian Greeks invaded and began to

oppress them, causing many to migrate eastwards to the coastal regions of the eastern Mediterranean. They were no match for the powerful Egyptians, who fought against them, but they were able to settle in the Land of Canaan and became particularly strongly entrenched along the entire coastal strip all the way from present-day Ashdod to the eastern arm of the Nile delta. The Philistines were new immigrants to the Land in the time of Abraham, who was also a new-comer. The fact that both had come to live in a new country might help explain why relations between Abraham and Avimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar, were cordial to the point that Abraham swore an oath not to harm Avimelech or his descendants to the fourth generation (Genesis 21:23ff). However, with increasing pressure on the Philistine communities in mainland Greece and the Greek islands, more and more were moving in waves into Canaan. Many came in the period of the Israelite exile in Egypt, and more entered during the early period of the Judges. They were fierce fighters and far more powerful than the Israelite settlers, who were mainly farmers without a centralized government or regular army. Through the sins of the Israelites the Philistines were able to gain power over them and dominate them. Kabbalistically, the “bastard” nation of the Philistines are emblematic of the most severe concealment of God’s light. The Hebrew letters of their name, PHILISHTIM, are Peh (80) + Lamed (30) + Shin (300) + Tav (400) + Yud (10) + Mem (40) = 860 = 10 x 86. 86 is the gematria of the divine name ELOKIM expressing the attribute of GEVUROT, “mighty powers”, restraint, severe judgment… In the Philistines, this attribute dominates in all their 10 Sefirot. It could be that Abraham, as the embodiment of CHESSED, kindness, knew that his offspring would have to be tested by and would have to overcome the husk of the Philistines and for that reason swore the oath allowing them to remain in the Land for the necessary period of time. By the time of Shimshon, the time had elapsed. As the Angel tells Manoah’s wife, “For the lad shall be separated to God from the womb, and HE WILL BEGIN (YACHEL) TO SAVE ISRAEL FROM THE HAND OF THE PHILISTINES” (ch 13 v 5). “Said Rabbi Hama ben Hanina: The oath of Avimelech was annulled (HUCHAL), as it written, Do not betray me, my grandson and my great grandson” (Sota 9b). Those who imagine Shimshon as a muscled superman out of a wham-bam cartoon animation will be greatly disappointed on trying to penetrate the deeply-veiled allegory in our text with the help of our rabbis. The first surprise is that Rabbi Yochanan states that while Bilaam was lame only in one leg, Shimshon was lame in both! (Sotah 10). Who ever heard of a lame Superman? We may begin to unlock the mystery if we ponder the verse R. Yochanan cites as proof. While of Bilaam it is said “And he went SHEFI (has connotation of lame)” (Numbers 23:3), it says of Dan, “a serpent (SHEFIFON) by the path” (Genesis 49:17) – it is the doubled form of SHEFIFON that is the hint that Shimshon – the outstanding Judge from the tribe of Dan – was “lame”. "Dan will judge his people like one of the tribes of Israel" (ibid. v. 16) – this refers to Shimshon, the only judge contributed by that tribe. He is described as "biting the heels of the horse, his rider will fall backwards" (ibid. v. 17). In the wilderness, the tribe of Dan marched last, gathering in all the weak remnants and saving them from the Amalekite "serpent". It was now Shimshon's task to bite back – to use the bite of the serpent against the serpent itself in order to redeem Israel – except that he failed in his lifetime and succeeded only in his death. Shimshon's lameness has the deepest roots, as revealed by the ARI (in Likutey Torah on Judges), who explains that Shimshon was the GILGUL (incarnation) of

ADAM HARISHON, the first man. Shimshon had the power to rectify Adam’s sin, which came about through the eyes (“and the woman SAW” Gen. 3:6), but he failed, because “Shimson rebelled with his eyes, as it says, ‘And Shimshon said to his father, take HER for me because she is right in my EYES’ (Judges 14:3)”. Accordingly, Shimshon was punished by having his eyes gouged out. After his capture by the Philistines, he was taken in “chains of copper” (NECHUSHTAYIM, related to the root NACHASH = serpent) and placed in the House of the Bound = Domain of the Kelipot, the “husks” (ch 16 v 21). Just as the serpent was condemned to crawl with no legs, so was Shimshon "lame". Just as Adam sinned and allowed his power to fall into the Kelipot, so did Shimshon. It was only with his death that he was able to take vengeance on the Philistines, the husks, and by pushing the PILLARS of their Temple – the LEGS that supported the entire structure – thereby redeem his own sin. Shimshon was a NAZIR although the rabbis are divided about the exact nature of his particular form of Nazirite status, which diverges somewhat from the normal Nazirite status as set forth in Numbers ch 6. Shimshon was forbidden to cut his hair at all, while a normal NAZIR would make his vow only for a specified period, usually 30 days, after which he was at liberty to cut his hair. Shimshon, like a regular Nazir was forbidden wine or anything deriving from the grape, but he was evidently permitted to defile himself with the dead, which is strictly forbidden to a Nazir who takes the vow himself. But since Shimshon was dedicated from the womb, he was subject only to the restrictions explicitly stated in our text, and we find him defiling himself with the dead by stripping Philistine corpses of their clothes etc. (ch 14 v 19; see RaDaK on Judges 13:4 for a detailed discussion of Shimshon’s status). Zohar (Parshas Naso) explains that the NAZIR alludes to the divine PARTZUF of ARICH ANPIN, the “long face”, which stands as KETER, the crown over ZEIR ANPIN, which is the “small face” where by God is revealed to the world. The sweetness of ARICH ANPIN rectifies the harsh judgments of ZEIR. Thus the attributes of the Partzuf of Arich Anpin include long white hair, which is bound up with the concept of the long hair of the NAZIR (each hair – SE’AR – is a SHA’AR or gateway – a channel of divine light. These revelations of kindness must not be "cut"). Because of the NAZIR’s association with this exalted level, he is forbidden to drink wine or indeed even partake of any part of the grape left after the juice is squeezed out, the lees. Adam's wife Eve “squeezed wine” from the primordial grapes but gave Adam the lees and husks – harsh judgments. It was through this unpurified wine that Adam fell, and Shimshon was to make the repair by being separated from wine. Shimshon was to go down into the very lair of the husks – the Philistines – and take out any remaining divine sparks in order to then destroy the remaining husks and waste. This is why our text repeatedly speaks of Shimshon “going down” (ch 14:1 & 5 etc.). However, he “went after his eyes” and fell, revealing his own secrets to his Philistine wives and thereby falling into the net of the Kelipot. It may seem strange that Shimshon the Judge took Philistine wives – yet he is not criticized for this in our text, whereas if he had done anything sinful he would have been criticized (see RaDaK on ch 13 v 4). Shimshon's sin was that he was drawn after the "beauty" of his Philistine wives and instead of drawing out the holy sparks, he revealed all his holy secrets to them, causing more holiness to fall into the clutches of the Kelipot. Shimshon's tragic end should not be allowed to overshadow his tremendous power, which was not that of a Superman in the modern entertainment sense but literally that of ADAM. The rabbis stated that the fruit that Eve gave to Adam was wheat, figs or grapes. (In fact, because of the mysterious way in which midrash "works", it was all three!) The mystery of the FIG enters into the deep allegory of these

chapters in ch 14 v 4: "And his father and his mother did not know, for it was from God, for he (? He ?) sought a PRETEXT (TO-A-NOH) against the Philistines". The word TO-A-NOH has exactly the same Hebrew letters as TE-ENAH, a "fig". The fruit caused Adam to fall to the realm of the husks – for one hundred and thirty-years he had relations with demons, chief among them "Lilith". This was why Shimshon had to take DELILAH, who was the embodiment of Lilith. Had he accomplished the Tikkun and not revealed his secret to her, he would have rectified everything and been the Redeemer. But the time was not yet ripe. "He will BEGIN to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines" (ch 13 v 5), but he was not able to complete the task. However, he "sought a PRETEXT" – he initiated Israel's war of liberation against the Philistines and showed the Israelites that they could become free. He was called SHIMSHON from the root SHEMESH, the Sun = DAAS, Godly knowledge. The Rabbis said that Adam's very heel darkened the sun – i.e. through his sin, he darkened the light of DAAS. Abraham began the repair – "Abraham had a jewel which he hung on the sphere of the sun" – but the repair was still not complete. Shimshon had the power to finish it but he failed because the time was not ripe. Melech HaMashiach will complete the TIKKUN "and his name will continue AS LONG AS THE SUN" (Psalms 72:17).

Chapters 15-16 It must be understood that Shimshon's life came at the very end of the period of the Judges on the very threshold of the institution of the kingship under the prophet Samuel, the cycle of whose stories is told in Samuel I. After today's text a sizeable portion of the book of Judges still lies ahead of us before we reach the Book of Samuel, but the two episodes related in the last five chapters of Judges – Michah's idol (ch's 17-18) and the Concubine in Giv'ah (ch's 19-21) – in fact occurred early in the period of the Judges, as noted by the commentators. They are placed at the end of the book in order to characterize the deep national malady that prevailed throughout the period of the Judges in order to explain the need for the kingship. The narrative in our present text, with all its many riddles and deep allegories, reflects the situation prevailing immediately before the institution of the kingship. The Israelites had practically turned into a subject nation living in constant fear of their Philistine rulers. As the men of Judah complained to Shimshon, whom they saw as a dangerous provocateur: "Don't you know that the Philistines rule over us?" (ch 15 v 11). RaDaK in his lengthy introduction to the story of Shimshon (ch 13 v 4) notes that the Israelites were not fighting the Philistines at this time: Shimshon alone was engaged in a single-handed campaign against them. RaDaK states that it is unthinkable that Shimshon simply married idolatrous Philistine women without converting them, for if he had, he would have been criticized for violating the prohibition against intermarriage with other peoples (Deut. 7:3f). Likewise Rambam (Maimonides) in the Laws of Forbidden Relationships (Issurey Bi'ah 13:14) states categorically that one should not imagine that Shimshon married unconverted women. As in the case of King Solomon, who also took foreign wives, Rambam and RaDaK state that Shimshon converted them first. If Shimshon could be criticized, it is because he "went after his eyes" – he strayed from his original holy intentions because of some kind of "material desire" (on his exalted level). This showed that he did not convert them entirely LISHMOH (in the name of true conversion).

Nevertheless, "it was from God" (ch 14 v 4) that he took Philistine wives. This was because "He sought a PRETEXT against the Philistines" (ibid.) in order to take revenge against them, and this is why God was with Shimshon and give him such success. RaDaK states that the Israelites in that period were not sufficiently God-fearing to be worthy of God's sending them complete salvation from the Philistines. Shimshon kept the Philistines in check through using the various "pretexts" that God arranged (the honey in the lion's carcass, the giving of Shimshon's wife from Timnah to another man, etc.) in order to terrorize and wreak havoc among them. Shimshon's heroism in single-handedly struggling against those seeking to deny the people of Israel their right to live at peace in their ancestral land is reminiscent of the courageous few who are today willing to defy the contemporary "political correctness" of latter-day Israel's so-called "peace camp", endorsed by its mainstream media and high court etc., which is essentially a policy of appeasement and capitulation to Arab terror. Just as the men of Judah tied up Shimshon and handed him over to the Philistines, so too Israel's latter-day appeasers have had no scruples about doing everything in their power to gag, strap, tie up and inhibit those who would defend the actual people of Israel from their worst enemies in the absence of any concerted government campaign against them. The subtle weave of riddles and allegories in our text makes for a colorful story replete with word-play and other mysteries leading up to the heart-rending conclusion in which Shimshon reveals his secret and falls prey to his barbaric enemies. "If I am shaved, my power will depart from me and I will become weak (VE-CHOLISI – I will be CHOL, profane) and I will be LIKE EVERY MAN (KE-CHOL HA-ADAM)". It is here that the deep inner truth of the allegory stares us right in the face. "If I fail, I will be like ADAM". Shimshon was the GILGUL (incarnation) of ADAM. His mission was to rectify Adam's sin, but he was unable to do so in his lifetime and could only take vengeance on the Philistines with his death. We see that Shimshon constantly called out to God and prayed for all that he needed. He was a CHATZOS JEW – he was awake and active from midnight (=CHATZOS), thus escaping the wiles of the Philistines who plotted to kill him in the morning (ch 17 v 3). Similarly every Jew can escape the wiles of the YETZER RA, the evil urge that lurks in wait to kill him each morning – by getting up long before the dawn in order to pray and study Torah thereby outwitting the YETZER, destroying its power. There was no end to Shimshon's ambition: he wanted to take all the sparks of holiness from the Philistines and thereby destroy them. But their GEVUROT (mighty powers) proved too much for him, because Israel was not yet ready for salvation. The five "captains" of the Philistines who offered Delilah money to extract Shimshon's secret are called "SARNEY Philishtim". The gematria of SARNEY is 320, alluding to the SHaCH Dinim (320 severe judgments) that hide Godliness from the world. The rabbis taught that Delilah tormented Shimshon by pulling out from under him immediately before he could climax. Embodiment of the evil demon Lilith, she thereby succeeded in steadily wearing him down until he came closer and closer to revealing his secret and finally did: his power came from his uncut locks. As discussed in yesterday's commentary, Shimshon the Nazirite's hair alludes to the hairs of the head of the Partzuf of Arich Anpin, source of all the sweetening mercies in the world. Once these were cut, the Shechinah departed from Shimshon without his even knowing it.

The Talmud comments on the verse "and the lad grew and God blessed him" (ch 13:24) that He blessed him in his organ, because it was like that of a regular man but his seed was like a flowing river (Sotah 10a). All this creative power was captured by the forces of evil. "And he was grinding in the house of the prisoners" (Judges ch 16 v 21). "Said Rabbi Yochanan, 'grinding' is an expression having the connotation of sin. This teaches that each and every Philistine would bring his wife to the prison house to be impregnated by him" (Sotah 10a). The Philistine celebration of the capture of their most feared enemy and their praise of their idols for the victory was a terrible CHILUL HASHEM, desecration of God's Name. We shed tears as we read Shimshon's last prayer to God (ch 16 v 28). "Let my soul die with the Philistines" (v. 30): Shimshon was the true archetype suicide martyr, who gave his life to bring about an eternal KIDDUSH HASHEM (Sanctification of God's Name). He sacrificed the merit of one of his gouged eyes in order to take vengeance on his enemies in this world. The merit of his second eye is stored up in the World to Come (Yerushalmi Sota). There the truth of the mystery of Shimshon is known and revealed.

Chapters 17-18 Rashi on Judges 17:1 writes: "Even though these two portions about Michah (ch's 17-18) and the Concubine in Giv'ah (ch's 19-21) are written at the END of the Book of Judges, these episodes actually took place at the BEGINNING of the period of the Judges in the days of Osniel ben Knaz". Rashi's opinion follows that of SEDER OLAM (the ancient rabbinic historical Midrash giving the dates of all the main biblical events based on calculations of the years mentioned in the text and other hints). RaDaK, however, characteristically seeks to follow the simple PSHAT of the narrative, arguing in great detail that these episodes could equally well have taken place at the END of the period of Judges, between the time of Shimshon and that of Eli the High Priest. (See RaDaK on ch 17 v 1 & ch 18 v 1.) Nevertheless the very heavily-veiled tale of Michah and his idol has a timelessness that makes the question of when exactly it took place almost incidental. The NaCh is teaching us lessons that go beyond any specific time and place: The recurrent motif is: "In those days there was no king in Israel; each man would do what was right in his eyes" (ch 17 v 6). The text presents the narrative without moralizing, leaving the student to seek to deduce and understand the subtle lesson and reproof. MICHAH Michah is unidentified in our text except for his location in Mt Ephraim, but this does not necessarily mean he was from that tribe (cf. Rashi on Judges 17:7). The rabbis taught that he was called MICHAH because he was SQUASHED (nisMACHMECH) in a building (Sanhedrin 101b) – alluding to the ancient Aggadah (tale, midrash) as brought by Rashi (ad loc.): "This was in Egypt. They placed him in a building instead of a brick. Moses said to the Holy One blessed be He, 'You have done evil to this people' -- Now, if they don't have bricks, they put the Israelite babies in the walls. The Holy One blessed be He replied: 'They are merely destroying thorns, for it is revealed before Me that if they were to live they would be complete villains. If you want, try and take one of them. Moses went and took out Michah." According to the rabbis, Michah should have been numbered with those who have no share in the world to come, but he was not for one reason: because his bread

was available for passers-by (Sanhedrin 103a): thus we see that Michah showed hospitality to Yonasan ben Gershom in his travels. THE IDOL The rabbis stated that all of the divine names in the chapter about Michah are CHOL – they possess no holiness – with the exception of ch 18 v 31 (Shevuos 35b). What this means is that the prohibition against erasing one of the seven principal names of God does not apply to the divine names written in these two chapters, because the names had been taken and applied to idolatrous gods. Our text does not give any indication as to when the mysterious incident of Michah's confession to his mother of his theft of silver and her dedication to idolatry took place. The rabbis have handed down the tradition that Michah's idol came with the Children of Israel out of Egypt and indeed that at the very moment they were miraculously crossing the sea on dry land, the idol was going with them (Tanchumah). This idolatry was like an alien germ hidden and deeply embedded – "bricked up", as it were -- within the unconscious mind of Israel, ready to rise to the fore and test the people in later times. It is bound up with the mystery of the idolatry of the Mixed Multitude who went up with Israel out of Egypt. The disease engendered by this germ manifested in various ways in the later history of the people – such as in the idols that Jeraboam set up in Ephraim and Dan (the two key locations in our present text), and those which king Menasheh (son of Hezekiah) set up in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. In chapter 17 v 5 we are told that "Michah had a house of god and he made an EPHOD and TERAPHIM…" As discussed in the commentary on the story of Gideon, the Ephod was the apron-like garment of the High Priest to which the breast-plate, with its jewels inscribed with the names of the Twelve Tribes, were attached. Michah's EPHOD was clearly intended as a replica of that of the High Priest (it would have to be a good one to con the intelligent Israelites into believing, or at least half-believing in it). In Genesis 31:19 the TERAPHIM are Laban's gods – i.e. some kind of statuettes used for divination. Whereas the Holy Spirit that spoke through the High Priest's breastplate was channeled through the URIM VE-THUMIM, it was through the TERAPHIM that the fake spirit spoke to Michah's priest. RaDaK on ch 18 v 5 offers two explanations of what the TERAPHIM actually were. "Some say this was a copper instrument showing the divisions of the hours whereby astrologers could determine the path of the stars. Others say that the astrologers have the power to produce at known times a certain form (TZURA) that actually speaks. And the sage R. Abraham Ibn Ezra has written that the most likely explanation in his opinion is that the TERAPHIM were in the form of a human made to receive the power of the supreme beings, and the proof is that the TERAPHIM placed by Michal (when Saul's soldiers came searching for David) caused the guards think it was David." YEHONASAN BEN GERSHOM BEN MENASHEH The mystery of the veiled allegory in our text is immeasurably deepened when we learn from our rabbis that the opportunistic Levite who went up from Bethlehem and found himself a fat livelihood as Michah's private Priest was none other than the grandson of MOSES, although this is only hinted at allusively in the text. In ch 18 v 30 his YICHUS (pedigree) is given as YEHONASAN BEN GERSHOM BEN MENASHEH. In the Hebrew written text on parchment, it is traditional to write the NUN of MENASHEH "hanging" (TOLUI) above the line. If you remove this NUN from MENASHEH you are left with the letters of the name MOSHEH. Rashi states on this

verse that it is out of honor for MOSHEH that the NUN was inserted to change the name (and thus somewhat obscure the connection between Yohonasan and his most illustrious grandfather). The Yerushalmi Talmud Berachos ch 9 indicates that MENASHEH alludes to king Menasheh son of Hezekiah (as mentioned above) who placed an idol in the very Temple. In other words, the same underlying disease was manifested in a variety of forms in the history of the nation. When the men of Dan pass through Mt. Ephraim on their search for new territory, they come to Michah's house, "AND THEY RECOGNIZED THE VOICE OF THE LAD, THE LEVITE…" (ch 18 v 3). Once again the Midrash of the rabbis opens a tiny chink to hint at the profound depth that lies behind this mysterious allegory. "They said to him, 'Aren't you a descendent of Moses…' He replied, 'I have a tradition from the house of my father that a person should even hire himself out to AVODAH ZARAH rather than become dependent on others.' [The Talmud comments:] He thought this meant literal AVODAH ZARAH, idolatry, whereas the real intention was that one should even take on a demeaning job like flaying animal carcasses – a work (AVODAH) that is STRANGE, ZARAH, to oneself -- rather than depend on others… Later on, when King David saw that he was very fond of money he appointed him over the Treasuries, as it is written, 'and Shevu-el son of Gershom son of Menasheh was officer over the treasuries' (Chronicles I, ch 26). Was his name Shevu-el then? No, it was Yonasan, but this teaches that he RETURNED TO GOD (SHAV LE-EL) with all his heart." (Bava Basra 110a). So Yonasan was a Levite for whom the intended system of supporting the nation's spiritual teachers through tithes (the Levitical MAASER) was evidently not working in Bethlehem, forcing him to go off in search of opportunities for PARNASSAH, livelihood, wherever he could find them! This in itself is a reproof against the people of whatever time it was that this story occurred: by failing to support their teachers by the Torah system of tithes, they forced them to demean themselves and base their ministry on money, with all the attendant evils. THE TRIBAL PORTION OF DAN In the commentary on Joshua ch 19 we have already discussed the fact that Dan took tribal portions both in the center of the Land and in the north. (See Joshua 19:47). Dan's main portion was in the center, in what is today the Tel Aviv-Dan region of Israel. This is where all the events in the story of Shimshon took place (Judges 13-16). The place names that recur both in the story of Shimshon and in that of Michah and the BNEY DAN – Tzor'ah and Eshta'ol – will be particularly familiar to present-day residents of Israel who know the road connecting the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway with the town of Beit Shemesh, "BETWEEN TZOR'AH AND ESHTA'OL". It was population pressure and the limitations caused by the Philistine presence in the south and center that led the BNEY DAN to search for more territory. The peaceful, idyllic Sidonian town of LAYISH which their team of five surveyors found, as described in Chapter 18, was located in the region of TEL DAN ("the mound of Dan") in the north of present-day Israel amidst the sources of the R. Jordan (Banyas etc.) The Sidonians were one of the Canaanite nations. The settlement of the western Galilee by the tribe of Asher and the eastern Galilee by Naftali had left the Sidonians of Layish isolated from their fellow Canaanites on the coast of present-day Lebanon, and this is why there was no-one to come to their aid when the BNEY DAN attacked them.

Rashi (on ch 18 v 27) states that LAYISH is the same as LESHEM mentioned in Joshua 19:47. LESHEM is the name of the Jacinth-stone in the High Priest's breastplate – this was the stone of the Tribe of Dan! When they came to this town they discovered a LESHEM stone, and they took this as proof that the location was destined for them from heaven. However, our narrative makes it clear that the BNEY DAN conquered their new territory not through divine miracles of the kind we read about in Joshua but through overwhelming military might against a people whose idyllic life had left them totally ignorant of the art of war. We also find that the BNEY DAN exhibited an extraordinarily overbearing, threat-laden attitude to both Yonasan the Priest and his boss-manager Michah. To Yonasan their attitude was basically, "Shut up and come with us", whereas they told Michah that if he made his voice heard he would be killed. Here we see how the enterprise of settling the Holy Land in order to live the life of Torah had been corrupted into territorial expansionism based on brute force, and legitimized with the veneer of religion through a "high priest" who was for sale to the highest bidder. Religion had thus been high-jacked for mundane goals and purposes, posing very perplexing issues for lovers of Moses' Torah. RaDaK and Metzudos David (on ch 18 v 30) both argue that Yonasan and his sons served as "priests" to the tribe of Dan only until the Ark was captured by the Philistines from Shiloh in the days of Eli, and that this is the meaning of the phrase "until the day of the exile of the land". However Rashi maintains that this fake religion continued until the days of Sennacheriv, who exiled the Ten Tribes. Rashi's view would link the idolatry delineated in our present text with the idolatry that eventually led to the exile of Israel. The Talmud states that the location of Michah's temple was only THREE MILES from Shilo and that the smoke of the Altar of the Sanctuary would mingle with the smoke of Michah's idolatrous altar. The Ministering Angels wanted to drive Michah out, but the Holy One blessed be He said, "Leave him: his bread is available for all passer's by" (Sanhedrin 103a). The mingling of the two columns of smoke indicates how very fine indeed can be the dividing line between true and fake religion.

Chapters 19-20 The sorry tale of PILEGESH BE-GIV'ON, "the Concubine in Giv'on" and the civil war to which it gave rise is one of the most shocking and gruesome in the whole Bible. THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF ANGER IN THE HOME A careful reading of our narrative makes it clear that the Children of Israel were considered justified in wreaking a terrible vengeance on the "left-handed" Benaminites – almost wiping out the entire tribe -- for refusing to hand over the perpetrators of a barbaric gang-rape for punishment. Gevurah (force) was requited with Gevurah. However the rabbis indicate that the entire affair came about only through an excess of Gevurah on the part of the mysterious Levite man that lived on the edge of Mt. Ephraim. In Talmud Gittin (6b) there is a discussion about the cause of the domestic altercation that led to his concubine walking out on him. One opinion is that he chastised her when he found a fly in his soup; another is that he found a hair in "that place", and "these and these are the words of the Living God". When he found the fly, which is merely disgusting, he was not that upset because it was not necessarily her fault, but a hair in "that place" could cause him injury and

this was clear negligence on her part. Nevertheless, the Talmud concludes, "A man should never make the members of his household excessively afraid of him, because the husband of the Concubine in Giv'ah made her excessively afraid and caused the death of tens of thousands of Israel ". HOSPITALITY AND ITS OPPOSITE In the previous story about Michah and his idol, we see that Michah was saved from complete obliteration from the world to come because of his trait of hospitality. Hospitality like that which Abraham showed to the three angels that he took for idolatrous Arabs (Genesis ch 18) was intended to be one of the distinguishing traits of his progeny: bringing strangers under the shelter of one's home is tantamount to bringing them under the wings of the Shechinah! However, the horrible tragedy of PILEGESH BE-GIV'AH came about through the very opposite of hospitality. The Levite's Judean father-in-law from Beth Lehem – presumably anxious to re-endear his daughter to the Levite – detained him more than necessary to the point that he felt the need to break away and leave hurriedly even though it was too late in the day for him to complete the journey before him. The Levite refused to seek lodging for the night by turning into Jebus (=Jerusalem, then occupied by the Canaanite Jebusites), because, as he said to his attendant, "We shall not turn aside to a city of an alien people that are not from the Children of Israel" (ch 19 v 12). Yet it was precisely the kind of abominable behavior he EXPECTED from the Canaanites that he ACTUALLY ENCOUNTERED among the Benjaminite-Israelite inhabitants of Giv'ah, despite the fact that he was a PILGRIM, no less, on his way to Shilo (see RaDaK on ch 19 v 18)! He was not even asking for full hospitality, i.e. food and drink, since he had plenty of bread, wine and animal feed with him (v. 19). The one old man from Giv'ah who was willing to open the doors of his home to this party of wayfarers knew all too well the actual nature of his Benjaminite fellow-townsmen. The conversation between the Levite and the old man (vv. 16-20) is reminiscent of the conversation between Lot and the angels who came to visit him in Sodom (Genesis vv. 19:1-3). The old man knew that the men of Giv'ah were already suffering from the Israelite vice of mingling with and imitating the Canaanites. The threatening demand of the Giv'ites that he hand over his guest for them to use for their perverse pleasure is exactly parallel to the Sodomites' demand for Lot to hand over his guests (Genesis 19:4). BRUTE FORCE The men of Giv'ah are called BAALEY GIV'AH (ch 20 v 5) – the Mafiosi BOSSES of the town. This appellation is reminiscent of the BAALEY SHECHEM in the time of Avimelech the Judge (Judges ch 9 v 2), but whereas the Bosses of Shechem were primarily interested in political power, those of Giv'ah were after perverse sexual gratification of the kind that is the very opposite of the Covenant of Sinai. "…And according to the deeds of the Land of Canaan to which I am bringing you, you shall not do and you shall not go in their statutes" (Lev. 18:3). That the Levite man could have thrown his PILEGESH "to the dogs" to save himself and his host is in its way quite as repugnant as the Giv'ites' treatment of her as nothing but a sex object to be tossed aside and abandoned after brutal abuse. (Repugnant as all this is, the fact is that today, with very little ingenuity, anyone can use the Internet underbelly to gain instant access to literally thousands of websites devoted to gang rape fantasies and worse: all this obviously continues to fascinate and excite a significant portion of the population until today.)

The horrible fate of the PILEGESH BE-GIVAH alludes perhaps to the "rape" of the Shechinah by the forces of evil. The Levite man saw that it was fit to cut her body into twelve parts and send them to each of the tribes to SHOCK them into action. Indeed, the gang-rape murder in Giv'ah was a national scandal for the Israelites, who immediately gathered in Mitzpah to take counsel. The Torah itself provides that if a city of Israel turns aside to idolatry (as an IR HANIDACHAS, the "cast-aside city"), the people are to make a careful enquiry into the affair and kill all the guilty inhabitants, destroy their property and burn the entire city (Deut. 13-19). The national gathering at Mitzpah was a most solemn affair judging a case that was quite as serious for the people as IR HANIDACHAS. THE ASSEMBLY AT MITZPAH The site of GIV'AH itself is on a TEL (mound) north of Jerusalem between presentday French Hill and Nevey Yaakov. The site of Mitzpah is somewhat further north, just a little south of present day Ramallah. Mitzpah was an appropriate place for a national gathering as this was there Joshua was victorious over the northern kings of Canaan (Joshua 11:3) and, as RaDaK explains (ad loc.), Joshua probably set up an altar there and inaugurated it as a place of national assembly and prayer (Judges 11:11; 20:1; I Samuel 7:5). So great was the unity of the tribes that the verse describing their armed forces' advance on Giv'ah "AS ONE MAN, FRIENDS" (ch 20 v 11) was taken by the sages as the foundation for their teaching that on the pilgrim festivals in Jerusalem the usual stringencies of those who strictly observed all the laws of tithing were somewhat relaxed to allow them to give credibility even to an AM HAARETZ ("ignoramus") who claimed to have separated Terumah, because KOL YISRAEL CHAVERIM, "all Israel are friends" (Chagigah 26a). The founder of the tribe of Benjamin had ten sons all of whom had families. Benjamin's ten sons together with Joseph's two (Ephraim and Menasheh) made up a total of twelve, giving their mother Rachel twelve "tribes" corresponding to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Levites did not take part in the Israelite assault on the tribe of Benjamin, and of course the latter were on the other side. Thus there were Ten Tribes of Israel against ten "tribes" of Benjamin (see Rashi on ch 20 v 12). Unlike Michah, who made a fake EPHOD and fake TERAPHIM which were used by the BNEY DAN for divination, the Tribes of Israel in their campaign against Benjamin turned to the legitimate High Priest wearing the authentic priestly Breastplate for true divine guidance from the URIM VE-THUMIM. (That Pinchas the High Priest was still alive at the time of PILEGESH BE-GIV'AH is proof that this episode took place before the time of Shimshon.) There is a deep irony in the fact that Judah was told to lead the campaign against Benjamin since in Egypt in the time of Joseph Judah had taken personal responsibility for Benjamin's welfare (Genesis 43:9, 44:32-3). We see from our present narrative that the Children of Israel were indeed in anguish about whether to make war against "the children of Benjamin my brother" (ch 20 v 23) for refusing to hand over the perpetrators of the crime for appropriate punishment. The Children of Israel did not go to war lightly and repeatedly consulted the URIM VE-THUMIM to make sure that God approved of their path. If God was with them, why did they lose so many of their own in abortive battles before finally overcoming Benjamin? "God said to them: You have shown zealousness against immorality but you did not show zealousness when it came to Michah's idol (an affront to the glory of God)! It was because they did not show

zealousness with respect to Michah's idol, which they made no effort to uproot, that the Benaminites succeeded in killing so many of them in their first, second and third assaults, until the Israelites fell before the Ark of the Covenant of HaShem seeking to repent and begging for an answer, and then He was reconciled with them" (Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer). THE MISSING BENJAMINITES The commentators discuss the apparent discrepancy between the numbers of male Benjaminites who went out to battle (=26,700, verses 16-17), the number of men they lost (25,000, v 46) and the number that fled to Sela Rimon and survived (600, v. 47. N.B. ALL the Benjaminite women were killed v. 48, leaving only these 600 men alive). RaDaK (on ch 20 v 15) suggests that of the missing 1,100 about a thousand may have fallen in the earlier battles, but also refers to a most fascinating Midrash that appears in some editions of Rashi (on v. 45): "Elijah revealed to the author of MEGALEH AMUKOS that the other one hundred went and settled in Rome and Ashkenaz (=Germany), and this is why Elijah (said by some to be from Benjamin) was from among the inhabitants of Gil'ad (as in Eliyahu HA-GIL'ADI), because they alone did not leave their land but stayed in their place." This Midrash would tend to support the theories of those who maintain that from the earliest times and afterwards some Israelites mingled with the populations of Europe, creating a pool of Israelite souls exiled among the other peoples of the world.

Chapter 21 The Book of Judges concludes with a heartening story of national reconciliation and healing which brought the Tribe of Benjamin back within the fold of the Twelve Tribes, and indeed Benjamin went on to provide the first king of Israel – Saul -- as well as Mordechai many generations later. The behavior of the tribe of Benjamin in trying to protect the perpetrators of the brutal rape-murder of the Concubine in Giv'ah showed that they had strayed way outside the boundaries of the Torah code of civilized behavior. At their national gathering in Mitzpah the other tribes thus put the Benjaminites into NIDUI, which like HEREM is the state of being "driven out," excommunicated from the KAHAL, the Assembly of Israel, just like MAMZERIM (illegitimate children), Moabites, Ammonites and Gibeonites etc. who are not allowed to marry Israelite women (see Radak on Judges 21:1). Since all the Benjaminite women had been killed, there was nobody for the surviving 600 Benjaminites who had fled to Sela HaRimon (ch 20:47) to marry. Yet the very severity of this sanction, which threatened to wipe out an entire tribe from Israel, aroused a spirit of profound national soul-searching and collective repentance in the whole nation who now gathered at the Sanctuary in Shilo (= Beit El, Metzudas David on v. 2). "If you want to know the power of the sanction of CHEREM, come and see it in operation in the tribes that avenged the immorality of the tribe of Benjamin… They took a solemn oath that ALL ISRAEL must follow them in prohibiting intermarriage with Benjamin, as it says, 'For the OATH was great' (v. 5). This oath was the CHEREM, and since the men of Yaveish Gil'ad were not with them at the Assembly, they were liable to the death penalty" (Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer). The town of Yaveish Gil'ad , whose inhabitants failed to attend the national Assembly, was east of the R. Jordan about 30 km south east of Beit She'an,

presumably in the territory of Menasheh . The punitive slaughter of all its male inhabitants and all females who were not virgins may seem very shocking, but its practical outcome was to leave 400 girls for the surviving Benjaminites to marry. (The subsequent connection between Benjamin and Yaveish Gil'ad became of crucial importance in the time of King Saul, who with the Prophet Samuel mobilized the whole of Israel to come to the town's rescue when threatened by the Ammonites – I Samuel ch 12). Since there were 600 Benjaminite survivors, after 400 married, 200 were left without wives, leaving the Children of Israel in a quandary since they had sworn not to intermarry with the Benjaminites (Judges 21:16-18). THE MYSTERY OF TU BE'AV The resolution of this national crisis came about through the mystery of TU B'AV, the 15 th day of the month of Av, which enters allusively into our text (vv. 19-23). This is the "festival of HaShem in Shilo from year to year…" (verse 19; Talmud Taanis 30b). TU BE'AV, whose sanctity the rabbis compared to that of Yom Kippur (Taanis ibid.) had become a national festival since the 40 th year of wandering in the Wilderness. All the men who accepted the slander of the spies about the Land had been condemned to die in the Wilderness, and for that reason throughout the forty years of wandering, the entire nation used to dig graves and sleep in them on the night of the anniversary of the sin, TISHA BE'AV (9 th of Av). Each year some of the condemned generation would die while everyone else would climb out of their graves in the morning and go on living for at least another year. In the fortieth year of wandering they all slept in graves as usual but nobody died. They thought they might have miscalculated the date and slept in graves the following night, and the next… However by 15 th Av, the full moon showed that they had certainly passed the 9 th of Av and no-one had died, indicating that the decree was at an end. This was why TU BE'AV became a national festival celebrating God's reconciliation with Israel and signifying that His favor was with the new generation. God wants Israel to multiply, and thus TU BE'AV is particularly propitious for ZIVUG – the paring of male and female soul-mates together. TU BE'AV is exactly 40 days before 25 th Elul, the day when Creation began (for man was created on Rosh HaShanah, 1 Tishri, which is the sixth day of Creation). Since "forty days before a child is born, a heavenly voice goes out proclaiming PLONY ("so-and-so") is matched with PLONIS", we may infer that forty days before the start of creation (on TU BE'AV) all the souls are matched with one another. This is why TU BE'AV was a most propitious time for the remaining 200 Benjaminites to wait in the vineyards around Shilo as the maidens came out to dance, and for each to "snatch" his bride (for "Benjamin is a wolf that snatches…" Genesis 49:27, Tanchumah). This way none of the men of Israel violated their oath not to GIVE their daughters to the Benjaminites, for the latter TOOK them for themselves. The rabbis taught that it was TU BE'AV when the Israelites revoked the CHEREM on Benjamin from that time on, darshening the wording of the original oath, "not a man OF US shall give his daughter as a wife to Benjamin" to refer only to those who were actually present but not to their descendants. On the same occasion they also darshened from the verse in Numbers 36:6, "THIS is the matter that God commanded regarding the daughters of Tzelaphchad" that the prohibition of a woman marrying a man from a different tribe to avoid land inherited by women passing from tribe to tribe applied only to that generation (Taanis 30b). The relaxation of both decrees signified national integration and unity among the Twelve Tribes, and the fact that the girls' dance circle at Shilo could take place

safely out in the open in the vineyards around the town without fear of rape despite the absence of the strict separation between males and females that we normally require showed that this was truly a "festival of HaShem" (v. 19), a celebration LISHMOH in holiness and purity at which the new generation of pure, young Israelite men and women could find and link up with their BASHEIRT (destined soul-mate). The gross violation of this norm of purity that had occurred in Giv'ah was thus atoned, and the Book of Judges ends on a note of national reconciliation and healing, with all Israel going to their tribes, families and inheritances. "In those days there was not a king in Israel and each man would do what was right in his eyes" (Judges 21:25). Through his weave of stories and allegories in this book, the Prophet has left it to us to draw the moral of his reproof and understand why, without a king and without anyone of sufficient stature and authority to tell the people what was truly right instead of what each one THOUGHT to be right, Israel was in need of a prophet on the level of Moses – Samuel – to bring them to a state of repentance and unity fit for the inauguration of their age of national glory.

Book of I Samuel Chapter 1 The beautiful and evocative tale of Hannah and God's answer to her prayer and vow with the birth of the prophet Samuel is familiar as the Haftara of the first day of Rosh HaShanah (Gevurah, "might"), anniversary of the birth of Isaac (Gevurah) and Shmuel the Levite (Gevurah). It was Shmuel – Samuel – whose Gevurah brought about the appointment of Israel's messianic king. Like the story of PILEGESH BE-GIV'AH, the story of the birth of Samuel begins with a Levite from Mt. Ephraim, but whereas the Levite husband of the Pilegesh brought great suffering to Israel, Elkanah brought great TIKKUN (repair). It is said that "the sons of Korach did not die" (Numbers 26:11), from which we learn that "when Korach descended into hell, a place was formed for them where they stood and sang" (Megillah 14a). Elkanah was a grandson of a grandson of Korach. At a time when the Israelites were neglecting to go up to Shilo for the thrice-yearly pilgrim festivals, our rabbis teach that Elkanah made it his personal mission to go from town to town – each year to new towns – encouraging the people to go up with him to the Sanctuary, thus reviving the national consciousness of the divine plan for a Temple "in the place that He will chose". It was in this merit that Elkanah, himself a prophet, was worthy of his son Samuel. Hannah was one of the seven outstanding prophetesses of Israel. Kabbalistically, Elkana is the partzuf of ABBA ("Father", Chochmah, wisdom) and Hannah is IMMA ("Mother", Binah, understanding, as alluded to by the Gematria of her name, Hess 8 + Nun 50 + Heh 5 = 63 = the second Milui of HaVaYaH -- SaG corresponding to Imma/Binah.) Elkana and Hannah had to come together in ZIVUG to bring Shmuel – ZEIR ANPIN (Gevurah in relation to Abba) – into the world. (ARI, Likutey Torah Shmuel). Thus it was Shmuel who played the key role in establishing the kingdom, MALCHUS, by appointing Saul and then David as the first kings of Israel. In the reign of David and his son Solomon, God's kingship was completely revealed in the world (GADLUS of Zeir Anpin) through the successful establishment of the earthly kingship which perfectly reflected and served the Kingship of God. Samuel – Shmuel – was the last of the Judges and first of the Prophets who led Israel. Thus in her prayer Hannah invoked "the Lord of Hosts", HASHEM TZEVAKOS (I Samuel 1:11), being the first in Israel to use this appellation. The kabbalistic writings teach that this name signifies the attributes of NETZACH and HOD, the "breasts" from which the prophets suckle. Thus the later prophets from the time of Shmuel onwards repeatedly invoke this Name. Hannah's magnificent and profoundly allusive prayer was elicited through the constant taunting of her rival, Peninah, who appears as the villain of the piece yet is said by our rabbis to have acted purely LISHMOH in order to stir Hannah to prayer. Hannah's whispered prayer is the very archetype of silent prayer and is darshened in great detail in Talmud Berachos 31b as a lesson in many of the most fundamental HALACHOS (laws) of prayer, in particular those relating to the daily AMIDAH prayer.

As discussed in the commentary on Yiftah (Jephthah), Hannah is one of the examples of those who vowed successfully. Her son Shmuel proved to be the "seed of men" that she requested. Eli had been appointed judge on the very day that Hannah came to the Sanctuary to pray ("And Eli the Priest YOSHEIV, was sitting, on the chair…" v. 9, i.e. now but not before), and on that same day God granted Hannah's prayer for a son – a son who was to come to prophesy the doom of Eli's house. While Eli was a true Tzaddik who had received the tradition from the Beis Din (court) of Pinchas and of Shimshon, he nevertheless showed that he was lacking in RUACH HAKODESH – he mistook Hannah for a drunken woman, causing her to say, "LO ADONEE" (v. 15), as if to say, "You are not my master!". When the young Shmuel was brought to the Sanctuary as a two year old boy, he already showed his child-prodigy Torah genius by darshening that the ox did not need to be slaughtered by a Cohen specifically, unlike the ensuing sacrificial rituals, which could only be performed by a Cohen – thereby incurring Eli's wrath for "ruling in front of his teacher". Eli wanted to curse the boy to death, and when Hannah protested, said he would give her a better son. Until Hannah cried out, "It was for THIS lad that I prayed" (v 27; see Rashi on v 25). "This lad" was to become the towering leader of Israel at a time of searing national crisis within and from external enemies like the Ammonites and Philistines etc. – a prophet who is mentioned in the same breath as Moses and Aaron: "Moses and Aaron among His priests and SHMUEL among those who call upon His Name" (Psalms 99:6). * * * I Samuel 1:1-2:10 is read as the Haftara on the First Day of Rosh HaShanah ***

Chapters 2-3 HANNAH'S SONG As mentioned in the commentary on the Song of Devorah (Judges ch 5), Hannah's song is the seventh of the ten outstanding prophetic songs of all times. The tenth, which we are now awaiting: will be sung when those in exile will come out of their exile (Targum Yonasan on Shir HaShirim 1:1). Hannah is counted as one of seven outstanding prophetesses (with Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Avigail, Huldah and Esther) enumerated with the 48 male prophets who (besides the millions of other men and women who prophesied in Israel) delivered prophecies that were relevant to all the generations (Megillah 14a). As discussed in the commentary on the Song of Devorah, SONG connects together and gives deeper meaning to the apparently disconnected happenings in this world. Hannah turned her personal triumph over the taunts of her rival, Peninah, into a song of triumph over God's victory over the enemies of Israel. The theme is how He brings down those who are arrogant and raises those who lowly. Targum Yonasan in his characteristically expansive rendering of a prophetic passage of this kind specifies the enemies of Israel alluded to in these verses: the Philistines in time of Samuel (v 1); Sennaherib king of Assyria in the time of king Hezekiah (v 2); Nebbucadnezzar of Babylon, who destroyed the First Temple (v 3); Greece (Macedonia) overcome by the Hasmoneans (v 4); Haman and his sons (v 5); Rome, whose destruction will inaugurate the consolation of Jerusalem (v 6); The hordes of Magog at the end of days.

So important is Hannah's song with its many proverbial expressions that in some communities it is customary to recite this passage as one of the preliminary preparations for the daily prayer service. MEASURE FOR MEASURE Hannah's song was over the birth of a son descended from Korach. In the Wilderness, Korach (intense GEVURAH) had challenged Moses for apparently putting his own family interests over the national interest by appointing his brother Aharon as High Priest and founder of the line of Cohanim. Korach demanded that ALL the Levites should have a share in the priesthood (Numbers ch 16). It was God's rejection of Korach's rebellious challenge through the earth's opening her mouth to swallow him and his band alive (Numbers ch 17) that led to the subsequent reaffirmation of the priestly privileges in the Torah portion enumerating the various gifts they received, including specified portions of sacrificial animals, Terumah (the priestly tithe) etc. (Numbers ch 18). Yet while Korach went down to hell, "the sons of Korach lived" and his descendants were later to sing on the DUCHAN (platform) in the Temple. There is deep irony in the fact that now, in the generation of Eli, it was Korach's descendants – Elkanah and Shmuel – who were sent to reprove Eli's own sons, the descendants of Aharon, for abusing their priestly privileges. Indeed in the time of David, Shmuel reorganized the entire basis of the priestly and Levitical service in the Temple, establishing the rota-system whereby the various priestly and Levitical families took turns to serve there week after week throughout the year. Eli's sons had become examples of precisely the kind of prosperous, fat, arrogant workers of evil that Hannah in her song had praised God for bringing down and humbling. "They did not know the Lord" (ch 2 v 12): "They had cast the yoke of Heaven from upon them – they said, 'There is no kingdom in Heaven'" (Toras Cohanim, Tzav). "And Yeshurun became fat and he kicked" (Deut. 32:15). Eli's sons were abusing their priestly privileges for their own pleasure and selfaggrandizement. The service of the priests was intended to atone for Israel through the ritual consumption by the priests of specified sacrificial portions. However, Eli's sons were eating the meat for their own gratification, thereby shamefully exploiting the people. The Midrash (Toras Cohanim, ibid.) delineates their exact sin: (1) They took more than their fair assigned share of the SHELAMIM (peace) sacrifices, the meat of which was supposed to be shared between the priest who offered it on the Altar and the Israelite who brought it; (2) They took their priestly share by force even before the HEILEV-fat of the animal and the KOMETZ-handful of the grain offerings had been burned on the Altar – they consumed their own shares while leaving the KOMETZ to the flies and the HEILEV to get spoiled out in the hot sun! In addition, our text tells us "that they would sleep with the women assembled at the entry to the Tent of Meeting" (verse 22). On this the Talmud states that anyone who thinks they did so literally is mistaken. The Talmud explains that their sin was to delay sacrificing the sacrificial birds brought by women who had either given birth or who needed atonement for a morbid non-menstrual flow of blood (ZAVA). This delay forced these women to stay overnight in the vicinity of the Sanctuary, thus being unable to return home and be with their husbands that night. The sons of Eli thus impeded their ability to "be fruitful and multiply", which was considered as if they had adulterously slept with other men's wives (Yoma 9a; Shabbos 55b). Eli's sons were thus guilty of "immorality" and despising the very Sanctuary ritual and sacrifices over which they were appointed as priests. It was thus "measure for

measure" that God rejected them from the priesthood. Pinchas, the previous High Priest and son of Aharon's third son, Elazar, had himself been rejected in favor of Eli, who was from the descendants of Aharon's fourth son, Itamar. The rejection of Pinchas came about because he had failed to go from city to city to reprove the people, with the result that in the days of the Concubine in Giv'ah they abandoned most of the commandments (see commentary on Judges 12). After Eli rose to be High Priest instead of Pinchas, we see from our text that he did indeed reprove his sons for their misdemeanors. However, he was at fault for not being more forceful. Eli had shown himself capable of severely cursing the little boy Samuel for ruling in front of his teacher (see commentary on Samuel 1), yet when it came to his own sons he merely chided them when he should have dismissed them from the priesthood. This was why Eli was considered guilty of putting his own family dignity before the honor of Heaven and for this reason his descendants were fated to die young and to be in the humiliating position of having to practically beg for a small coin and a loaf of bread… (v. 36). In the time of king Solomon, Eli's descendant Eviatar was rejected from the priesthood in favor of Pinchas' descendant Tzadok. SHMUEL RISES TO PROPHECY According to rabbinic tradition, the "man of God" who came to reprove Eli (I Samuel 2 vv 27-36) was none other than Shmuel's father Elkanah. In the meantime, Shmuel was growing. We must remember that Shmuel was a boy of only two years old when he first came to Shilo. Our text goes into precise details about his clothing. First we are told that he went in a linen EPHOD (ch 2 v 18); immediately afterwards we learn that his mother would bring him a "small coat" (small because it was to fit a small boy) each time she came to Shilo for the fesivals (v 19 – the boy was growing fast). Shmuel's EPHOD was somewhat different from the EPHOD of the High Priest, which had been imitated by Gideon in his time and by Michah, maker of the idol. RaDaK (on v 18) provides a detailed explanation of the different kinds of garment to which the word EPHOD refers in various different contexts in NaCh. Shmuel's EPHOD was NOT an imitation of the High Priest's (Shmuel was a Levite). Shmuel's EPHOD was a simple linen robe that was typically worn by those truly given over to divine service regardless of their pedigree (cf. I Samuel 22:18; II Samuel 6:14). The account of Shmuel's growth and his childhood clothing is bound up with the mystery of the KATNUS ("smallness" or "childhood") of the divine Partzuf of ZEIR ANPIN, who is nurtured and bedecked by IMMA (=Binah, "understanding"), and thus Shmuel's wears a succession of garments corresponding to his spiritual growth. THE GATHERING STORM In those days the word of God was "precious" (YAKAR, ch 3 v 1) because it was so rare. The ascent of Shmuel signified the revelation of a new level of prophecy out of the "womb" of Imma -- a birth accompanied by great pangs of travail. The commentators are at pains to point out that despite the apparent simple meaning of the text (ch 3 v 3), Shmuel WAS NOT SLEEPING IN THE SANCTUARY when the call to prophecy first came to him. Those familiar with the cantillation notes (trope) will readily see that there is an ESNACHTA ("resting note") under the word SHOCHEIV, "was lying", separating it from the next words "in the Sanctuary of the Lord", which begin a new phrase. It was strictly forbidden for a Levite even to enter the Sanctuary itself, let alone lie down to sleep there. Shmuel was lying OUTSIDE the Sanctuary Courtyard by the gate, performing his Levitical guard duty. The prophetic voice did indeed come forth form the Sanctuary, and REACHED

Shmuel in the very place where he lay despite the fact that it by-passed Eli. God is perfectly capable of making His voice heard to one and not to another, regardless of where they are situated (see Rashi on v. 3). It is very noteworthy that when Shmuel first heard God's call, he thought it was Eli, for "your fear of your teacher should be like the fear of Heaven". Before one can be a prophet, one must first be the assiduous student of a Torah sage and a Tzaddik. Yet now Shmuel was ready to ascend to a new level beyond that of his teacher: from now on God would speak to Shmuel directly. The fate of Eli and his sons was sealed. Shmuel's ascent to prophecy came on the eve of a terrible storm that would be so shocking that "the two ears of all who hear of it will ring and tremble" (v. 11). Shmuel, while modest, eventually showed himself fearless in delivering his message to its intended recipient, Eli. God was with Shmuel and all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheva knew that he was God's faithful prophet.

Chapter 4 Samuel was now nationally known throughout Israel as the PROPHET, but as yet he could not really be said to be the nation's LEADER because the people did not take counsel with him in face of the crisis caused by Philistine expansionism. It was on their own initiative that they went out to war instead of first repenting, and when they suffered their first serious defeat on the battlefield, they sent to take the Ark from Shilo without consulting either Eli or Samuel. They were still afflicted with the malady of the age of the Judges, doing what was right in their own eyes without seeking counsel from the wise. THE ARK OF THE COVENANT The Ark was Israel's most sacred national treasure, containing the fragments of the Tablets of Stone received by Moses on Sinai, the Second Tablets hewn by Moses, and the authoritative Torah Scroll that Moses had written. Jacob in his dream on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem had seen a SULAM ("ladder", Gematria = 130) connecting heaven and earth. 130 is also the Gematria of SINAI – for the Torah given on Sinai connects heaven and earth when we embrace that Torah and take it into our hearts and our very lives. Jacob dreamed that the Torah – the Ark of the Covenant with its precious contents given at Sinai – would eventually rest on the very spot where he had laid his head, the Foundation Stone around which the Temple Holy of Holies was built to house it. The purpose of the Giving of the Torah on SINAI was that the Torah should be at the very center and foundation of the Temple, from which it should shine to all Israel and to all the world. In the time of Eli, the Sanctuary in Shilo was the precursor of the destined Temple in Jerusalem. But before Samuel could pave the way for the building of this Temple, the Israelites first had to suffer a catastrophe in order to learn the awesome meaning of the Ark and the Covenant to which it bore testimony. "And the people came to the camp and the elders of Israel said, Why has God smitten us this day before the Philistines…?" (ch 4 v 3). The elders pretended to be righteous, beating their breasts in mock self-recrimination, but they did not truly repent because they did not seek out the true reason for their defeat, which was their acceptance of the corruption of the priesthood and the resulting corruption of the spiritual life of the people, a malady delineated in the previous two chapters. Even though it was the people themselves who had complained about the irregularities practiced by Eli's two sons, Pinchas and Hofni, they did nothing about them, and indeed they suffered from a related malady, because it is clear from the

ensuing narrative that they thought that carrying out the EXTERNALS of religion is sufficient without embracing God INTERNALLY with all their heart. Israel had witnessed the power of the Ark of the Covenant in the time of Moses in the war against the Midianites, and again in the time of Joshua at the splitting of the Jordan and the fall of Jericho. Now in their struggle against the Philistines, they thought that it would be sufficient to take the Ark out to battle and let its "magic" "work" for them automatically without their having to break their own hearts and repent completely. However God was to teach both the Israelites and the Philistines that the Ark is not a magic box-of-tricks that does whatever you want. The Ark is testimony to God's infinite power to make or change the laws of nature at will – according to what HE wants. When Pinchas and Hofni brought the Ark to the Israelite camp, the people sounded a great TERU'AH ("blasting" ch 4 v 5), but this was not the TERU'AH of repentance. The Philistines were disconcerted by the Israelite trumpeting, sensing that the Israelite God had come into their camp. The Philistines evidently believed in divine power, but erred in thinking that it is wielded by a plurality of forces that can be set against each other and overpowered. The Philistines thought they could beat down God by asserting their macho virility (v 9) – and God, who is very patient with sinners, allowed them to carry on thinking so by granting them victory, since the decree had already been passed against Pinchas and Hofni. The Prophet in his unflinching reproof teaches us through our text that the responsibility for Israel's national malady lay with its corrupted leadership, and this is why Pinchas and Hofni were killed in the battle. "AND A BENJAMINITE MAN RAN FROM THE RANKS" (v 12) The rabbis teach that this man from the tribe of Benjamin was none other than Israel's future king Saul – who distinguished himself by his heroism this day, despite Israel's crushing defeat at the hands of the Philistines, by snatching the Tablets of Stone from the hands of the Philistine strong-man, Goliath, who had taken them when they captured the Ark. According to tradition, Saul ran anywhere from 60 to 180 miles on this one day in order to bring the Tablets back to Shilo and to tell Eli the terrible news. Saul had a particular interest in this struggle against the Philistines as their very power over the Israelites was rooted in Abraham's oath to the Philistine king Avimelech not to betray the latter's descendants to the third generation (Genesis 21:22-31). Abraham's gift of seven lambs to Avimelech led to a decree against seven of Abraham's righteous descendants to fall at the hands of the Philistines. These were Samson, Pinchas and Hofni, and… Saul himself together with his three sons, who were destined to fall on the battlefield at Mt Gilboa. Saul now sought to break the news of the disaster to Eli as gently as possible, but Eli, although not perfect, was truly a Tzaddik and while he was unmoved by the death of his own sons, which had already been prophesied to him, the news of the capture of the Ark was such a shock that he fell backwards to his death – BACKWARDS to requite his having failed to look FORWARDS to the new generation of priests, his corrupt sons, whom he should have chastised. The Philistines soon arrived in Shilo, sacking and destroying the Sanctuary, which had stood for 369 years.

Eli's daughter-in-law, Pinchas' widow, found the right term for the disaster in calling her son EE-KAVOD, "the opposite of Glory" (v 21) – since the Glory of Israel had gone into exile with the capture of the Ark of the Covenant.

Chapter 5 THE ARK TAKES CARE OF ITSELF Eli died of shock at the capture of the Ark because he knew that he and his sons were at fault, having been charged with its safe-keeping. However, at the crossing of the Jordan Israel had already seen that it is not man who carries the Ark but rather the Ark that carries those who carry it. The Philistines erred in equating the One God of the Ark of the Covenant with one of their own gods. Little is written about the nature of the Philistine god Dagon except that it was represented by the form of a MERMAN, like a human from the torso upwards and like a fish from the torso downwards (DAG in Hebrew = "fish"). In this the Philistine god was apparently similar to various other mythological gods such as the Sumerian-Babylonian "Enki" and the Greek-Roman "Triton". The Philistines may have believed that their god had power over the earth and the sea. Our text suggests that they believed that there were limits to the power of the God of Israel since they evidently thought He had exhausted all His plagues on the Egyptians (ch 4 v 8). The first time God toppled the statue of Dagon, the Philistines wanted to think it was CHANCE and they put it back in its place (ch 5 v 3). When God broke off Dagon's head and hands and cast them on the threshold, they did not cease to believe in idols but instead superstitiously attributed the "accident" to some power contained in the threshold (v 5). It was then that God showed the Philistines that His plagues were by no means exhausted on the Egyptians, and that He had the power to afflict them in their most private parts of all. Like Pharaoh in the time of Moses (who went down to the river to relieve himself at a time when nobody could see him), the Philistines liked to deny that they had human toilet needs, but now they were forced to confront their human vulnerability in the most painful way possible. When Avimelech kidnapped Sarah, the Midrash tells that he and all his household were afflicted by having all their bodily cavities of excretion stopped up so that all the waste was held back clogged up inside them. A similar punishment now afflicted all the Philistines in the succession of towns where they tried to keep the kidnapped Ark. They kept moving the Ark from town to town, "testing" God to see if it was really the cause of their troubles. The first blessing a Jew makes every day is ASHER YATZAR… "Who formed man in wisdom and created in him many orifices and hollows. It is revealed and known before Your throne of Glory that if one of them is opened [when it should be closed] or one of them is stopped up [when it should be open] it is impossible to survive and stand before You for even one hour…" The T'CHORIM – hemorrhoids or "piles" – with which the Philistines were plagued were so terrible that these virile "men" suddenly found themselves staring death in the face to the point that they wanted to send the Ark straight back to the Israelites. This was in fulfillment of Moses' words: "And it was when the Ark traveled, and Moses said, Arise HASHEM and your enemies will be scattered and those that hate You will flee from before You" (Numbers10:35).

Chapter 6 The stay of the Ark of the Covenant among the Philistines for SEVEN months was another penalty for the SEVEN lambs that Abraham had given king Avimelech (Bereishis Rabbah 54). The story of the return of the Ark by the Philistines to Beth Shemesh subtly contrasts the attitude of the Philistines towards it with that of the Israelites who received it, serving as a reproof to the latter for failing to show the proper respect. (A similar lack of respect is often visible in present-day places of "worship".) The Philistines consult their priests and magician-diviners as to a fitting way to return the Ark that had created such havoc in their land (a terrible infestation of mice) and in their very innards (the hemorrhoids). (According to one Midrash the mice jumped up into their anuses and pulled out their innards, making this plague no less striking than those of Egypt.) The priests and magicians answer that the Philistines must SHOW that they understand that the plague was from God by offering GOLDEN MICE and GOLDEN HEMORRHOIDS. "Then you shall be healed, and HE WILL BE KNOWN TO YOU – why would He then not turn his hand away from you" (ch 6 v 3). Nevertheless the Philistines did not quite believe in God's supreme power. They believed in a variety of divine powers and knew of the wrath of the gods, which they sought to propitiate, but they also believed in luck and chance. This was why they set up the test of the cow-drawn wagon to see if the plague might not have been chance. "And you will see, if it goes up by way of his boundary to Beth Shemesh, He did this great evil to us, but if not, we shall know that it was not His hand that plagued us, it was a CHANCE that occurred to us" (v. 9). The test was set up to be as difficult as possible. Two nursing cows were brought to draw the wagon laden with the heavy wooden gold-covered ark and its contents of stone together with the golden Cherubim together with the box of golden mice and golden hemorrhoids, while their suckling calves were held back in the house behind them. The last thing a nursing cow that has never had to work wants to do is to turn her back on her new-born calf and drag an exceedingly heavy wagon in the opposite direction. VA-YISHAR-NAH HA-PAROS, "AND THE COWS SANG" (v. 12) Rashi on this verse states that the Hebrew word VA-YI-SHAR-NAH is "ANDROGYNOUS" i.e. a grammatical hybrid of masculine (the prefix –YI- indicating masculine 3 rd person plural) and feminine (the suffix -NAH, indicating feminine 3 rd person plural). Without Rashi's comment, the obvious PSHAT for anyone familiar with Hebrew grammar is that the word is not ANDROGYNOUS at all, but that the root is YISHAR, as in YASHAR, "straight", and here we simply have the feminine 3 rd person plural form. I.e. the two milking cows WENT STRAIGHT. However, by telling us that the word is indeed ANDROGYNOUS, Rashi is pointing to the deeper DRUSH, based on the root SHAR – "sing". Not ONLY did the two mother cows SING, but so did their MALE YOUNG, and this is why the grammatical form is both masculine and feminine!!! The miracle of the singing cows is greatly celebrated in Torah lore (Talmud Avodah Zarah 24b), and – for Rabbi Nachman lovers – is alluded to in his story of the Exchanged Children, where the king's true son eventually gains possession of a vessel that when placed on an animal, causes it to sing.

The Rabbis indeed asked why the remarkable mouths of these cows were not included in the list of Ten Things that were created at the very end of the Sixth Day of Creation in the twilight just as the first Shabbos was beginning (Avos 5:8). They answered that it is because the mouths of the cows are INCLUDED in the MOUTH OF THE ASS which opened up to speak to Bilaam (Numbers 22:28). There the ATHON, wife of the HAMOR, "donkey" representing HOMRIUS, material physicality, spoke out the letters of Aleph Beis from Aleph to Thav – A-TH-oN (the long Nun, which stretches from the top of the line down way below the bottom, signifies the 50 Gates of Understanding). When the Philistines returned the Ark, this HOLY VESSEL caused the very cows to SING DESPITE THEMSELVES – despite their longing for their young and not to have to drag this heavy wagon. As discussed in the commentaries on the songs of Deborah (Judges 5) and Hannah (I Samuel 1-2), the level of SONG (BINAH) reveals that all creation is governed providentially by the One Unified God, whose commandments to the world are engraved on the Stone Tablets contained in the Ark of Testimony. Just as the Ark miraculously carried those who carried it over the waters of the Jordan, so it compelled the very cows to sing songs of praise to God. The idolatrous Philistine captains walked after the cart watching all this in amazement, and they knew the power of God and His holy Ark, but the Israelite men of Beth Shemesh were too busy with their wheat harvest to pay more than casual attention to the passing spectacle (v. 13). The Talmud (Sotah 35a) says that the men of Beth Shemesh were smitten (v 19) because (1) they kept harvesting even as they prostrated to the Ark when they should have stopped everything in face of this miracle, and (2) they made up a scurrilous rhyme asking the Ark who made it angry and what came to reconcile it. The rabbinic discussion about whether only 70 men died but that they were equivalent to 50,000, OR did 50,000 die who were the equivalent of the 70 members of the Sanhedrin (Sotah 35b) illustrates that such numbers given in the Biblical text need not necessarily be taken literally but are given for DRASH. In any event the men of Beth Shemesh suffered an extremely painful blow that came to teach the true, terrible AWESOMENESS of the Ark of the Covenant, which signifies God's very presence among us. This is a double edged sword, causing the righteous to rejoice while the wicked and rebellious suffer God's wrathful intolerance of evil. So important was this KIDDUSH HASHEM, Sanctification of God's name, that – surprising as it may seem – the very BOX with the GOLDEN MICE and GOLDEN HEMMORHOIDS offered by the Philistines was kept SIDE BY SIDE with the Ark of the Covenant in the Sanctuary in Jerusalem throughout the period of the first Temple, until they were put away, together with the flask of Mannah made by Aaron in the Wilderness, the flask of the anointing oil, Aaron's staff and the flowering almond branch by king Josiah (Talmud Yoma 52b). As we prepare ourselves to see them again soon in our times, let us learn from this text a lesson in the proper attitude of respect and honor we must show to God's holy Ark.

Chapter 7 The men of KIRYATH YE'ARIM who came to take up the ark from BETH SHEMESH did show the proper respect for the Ark, taking it to the house of Avinadav, who dedicated his very son Elazar to guard the Ark with due honor. Present-day Beit Shemesh and Kiryat Ye'arim (Telstone) are considered close to the sites of the ancient settlements mentioned in our text.

The twenty year period mentioned in our text (ch 7 v 2) as the duration of the Ark 's stay in Kiryath Ye'arim extended well beyond the days of Samuel. The Talmud (Zevachim 118b) states that for ten of these years, Samuel himself reigned, then Samuel reigned jointly with Saul for one year, after which Saul reigned for two years by himself. Samuel died four months before Saul. Thereafter David reigned in Hebron for seven years before he went up to Jerusalem , and it was then that he took up the Ark from the house of Avinadav (II Samuel ch 6). For this entire period of twenty years "the whole House of Israel SIGHED after God" (ch 7 v 2). The absence of the Sanctuary and its holy Ark caused deep yearning. The period described in the remainder of our present text, Chapter 7, covers most of Samuel's ten years of ministry, in which he physically traveled from center to center (ch 7 v 16) bringing the people to the level of Teshuvah where they would be ready for the kingship. In this ten year ministry Samuel succeeded in reversing the blight of idolatry (vv 3-4) that had begun over three hundred years earlier after the time of Joshua. At Samuel's national assembly of all the people at the traditional gathering place in MITZPAH, "they drew water and they poured before HaShem" (v 6): Jonasan in the Targum renders this as: "and they poured out their hearts in repentance like water before HaShem". From verse 7 ("and the Philistines heard… and the officers of the Philistines went up to Israel") we learn that whenever there is an arousal to holiness and repentance in Israel, the forces of the other side (PHILISHTIM = 860 = 10 x 86, ELOKIM = severe DINIM, Judgments) arouse to threaten Israel not to rebel against the yoke of ThisWorldly Materialism in favor of spirituality and service of God. Israel's fear of the Philistines shows how they had subjected their very selves to Philistine rule. However, now they had Samuel the Prophet, who could call upon God and receive a spectacular answer. Samuel slaughtered one female sheep (a "ruling of the hour" permitting a FEMALE animal as an Olah burnt-offering on a BAMAH whereas the Olah on the Sanctuary Altar must be MALE specifically Lev. 1:3), and as Samuel offered up the sacrifice, God answered with a THUNDER that threw the attacking Philistines into consternation, turning the tables on them and enabling the Israelites to chase after and subdue them all the days of Samuel (v. 13). It had been to EVEN HA-EZER that the Israelites had originally taken the Ark of the Covenant from Shilo in attempting to defeat the Philistines in the time of Eli (ch 4 v 2) and it was there that the Philistines captured it. However EVEN HA-EZER was not yet the name of the place (see Rashi ad loc) until Samuel set up the stone (EVEN) commemorating God's HELP (EZER) until the present (ch 7 v 12). The stone came to teach that God constantly watches His people, answering them as soon as they POUR OUT THEIR HEARTS LIKE WATER in true repentance. The name EVEN HA-EZER has a special significance to those who observe the Torah in accordance with the teachings of the rabbis. This is because Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher (author of ARBAA TURIM "The Four Rows", which provided the structure for R. Joseph Karo's definitive SHULCHAN ARUCH law-code) chose EVEN HA-EZER as the name of its fourth section, which deals with with all the laws of marriage, divorce and family life as they apply until today. He chose EVEN HA-EZER as the name for this section because God created WOMAN as man's "helper" (Genesis 2:20). Thus the section of Shulchan Aruch called EVEN HA-EZER is the "foundation stone" of man's life with his EZER, "helper", i.e. his wife. The story of Samuel's memorial stone EVEN HA-EZER can be seen as a lesson to us that when we cast out our inner idols and base the most intimate details of our family life on God's Torah as taught in the laws of EVEN HA-EZER and with this POUR OUT OUR HEARTS LIKE WATER IN

TRUE REPENTANCE, we can live at peace with those around us, and even our worst enemies will turn their backs and flee.

Chapter 8 VAI!!! IT WAS WHEN SAMUEL WAS OLD The first word of Chapter 8 is VA-YEHI, "And it was…" "We have a tradition handed down from the Men of the Great Assembly that wherever it says VA-YEHI, it is an expression of pain – VAI: 'And it was when Samuel was old… and his sons did not go in his ways'" (Megillah 10b). When Eli had told Samuel that he MUST reveal his prophecy to him on pain of being cursed, even though Samuel did in fact reveal it, nevertheless the threatened curse had its effect, and Samuel, like Eli, suffered from having children who did not live up to his own high standards (Maccos 11a). As in the case of Eli's sons, the flaw in Samuel's sons was more subtle than might appear from a superficial reading of our text. They may not have gone in Samuel's ways but this does not mean they were crude sinners. Their flaw was that unlike Samuel, they did not TRAVEL AROUND from center to center to judge the people. Instead they both sat at home in comfort in Beer Sheva – in the extreme south of the Land (when one of them at least should have set up in Dan in the north), forcing all who sought justice to travel all the way there. They also allowed their staff to take fat fees for legal services (Talmud Shabbos 56a). They "inclined after gain" (ch 8 v 3) – they were criticized for DEMANDING the tithes due to them as Levites instead of waiting for people to GIVE them (ibid.; cf. Hullin 133a). THE PEOPLE REQUEST A KING "Set a king over us to judge us like all the nations. And the matter was evil in the eyes of Samuel" (vv 5-6). " Israel had been given three commandments to fulfill after their entry into the Land: to appoint a king over themselves, to build the Temple and to destroy Amalek. If so, why were they punished when they asked for a king in the days of Samuel? Because they asked out of anger and not for the sake of the mitzvah" (Tosefta Sanhedrin ch 4). The mitzvah to appoint a king is given in the Torah (Deut. 17:14-19), and Samuel's whole mission was to establish the kingship, which would inaugurate a period of divine glory and revelation through the Kingdom of God being reflected and enhanced by the kingdom on earth. However, from our present text we see that the people had not yet reached the necessary level of understanding of the nature of the Torah kingship to be ready for kings like David and Solomon. Israel would have to endure a painful process of many years of war and civil strife in order to clarify the true meaning of the kingship. Our rabbis taught that the elders of the people did ask Samuel for a king in the proper manner: "Give us a king TO JUDGE US " (v 5, i.e. to settle their disputes and make peace). However, it was the impetuous "people of the earth" (AMEI HA'ARETZ, ignoramuses) who were at fault, because it was they who said, "…and we also shall be LIKE ALL THE NATIONS…" (v 20; Sanhedrin 20b). Some rabbis say

the people secretly hoped that with a king instead of judges they would more easily be able to revert to idolatry, which indeed came about when Jeraboam ben Nevat rebelled against king Solomon and established the kingdom of the Ten Tribes. The people of Israel today could save themselves much war and strife by seriously seeking to clarify for themselves the true purpose of having a sovereign state to govern their affairs and the true reason for wanting Mashiach. AND HE SAID, THIS IS WILL BE THE LAW OF THE KING" v 11 God Himself commanded Samuel to accede to the people's request – for the time of the destined kingship had arrived – and ordered him to lay before them the laws of the kingship. Samuel wanted to shock this nation of independent land-owning small farmers into understanding the real implications of the Torah kingship by explaining the king's power over the people in terms that would have immediate tangible meaning for them. The king was going to be lord over the land, with the power to requisition the flower of the country's youth, males and females, for the glory of his court and to man his army, and the power to commandeer land, produce and other resources for his domestic and military needs. We will see in Kings I in the narrative about king Solomon how he did indeed use this power for the glory of God – he built His Temple – and for the glory of Israel and the House of David. But Samuel's warnings to the people that the king would be "tithing" (i.e. taxing) their seed and orchards and flocks etc. were intended to let them understand that all this would hit them hard where they would really feel it -- in their "pockets", as it were. Samuel's address to the nation about the powers of the king is one of the primary sources in the written Torah for the laws of the kingship (as is the section in Deut. 17:14-20). These laws are discussed in the Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin (20bff) and are laid out in detail in Rambam (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings chs 1-5.

Chapter 9 ENTER SAUL In I Chronicles 8:33 the name of the father of Saul's father, Kish, is given as NER (= a "lamp") whereas here it is given as AVI-EL (I Samuel 9:1). "Saul attained the kingship in the merit of his grandfather, who used to light lamps for the benefit of the public. There were dark alleyways leading from his house to the Study House, and he lit lamps in them to light the way for the public… His name was AVI-EL but because he lit lamps for the general public, he merited to be called NER" (Vayikra Rabba 9). In other words, it was in Saul's very blood to bring Israel to study the Torah. THE MYSTERY OF THE ASSES The story of Saul's cross-country search for his father's asses and how it brought him to the Seer who was to anoint him as king is another example of the heavily veiled allegory of the Navie (Prophet). Again it is the holy ARI (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria) who opens a chink in the veil with his teachings in Sefer HaLikutim on I Samuel. "Know that the asses (ATHONOS) correspond to the Ten Crowns of Impurity (the Keters of the Ten Sefiros of the unholy side of creation). And because Jacob sent asses to Esau, Esau's angel wrestled with him. The blow Jacob received on his right

thigh causing him to limp brought about the cessation of prophecy. When the text says, 'And as to the asses… they have been found' (I Samuel 9:20), it means that the KELIPOS ("husks", forces of evil) that were scattered around the world had been 'found' – i.e. the source of their accusation against the holy side has been discovered and it is possible to rectify them. "The secret of Jacob's thigh – it was the right thigh – is that it alludes to the Sefirah of NETZACH ("victory"), which was flawed by the Angel of Death (Samech Mem, Esau's guardian angel). Now it is from the Sefirahs of NETZACH-HOD-YESOD that prophecy comes, but when the prophetic spirit would descend and come to NETZACH, there was an intervening barrier closing up the channels through which the flow descends from NETZACH. For this reason 'The word of God was PRECIOUS (YAKAR, "heavy") and no vision burst through' (I Samuel 3:1). Because Jacob prostrated 22 times to Esau, NETZACH was very seriously flawed until BENJAMIN came – he was not yet born when Jacob prostrated to Esau. For this reason MORDECHAI (descended from Benjamin), rectified NETZACH and did not want to bow down to Haman. "And he [Esau-Amalek] kept his fury for ever NETZACH" (Amos 1:11). I.e. Esau's fury is against NETZACH. "The reason why Samuel is here called HA-ROEH, "the SEER" (I Samuel 9:9 etc.) and not the NAVIE, "prophet", is because now was the time for Prophecy to be rectified through the repair of NETZACH, but as yet the repair had not been carried out. Samuel, who was a Levite (GEVURAH, "might") had the power to repair it with Saul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, BEN YAMIN ("son of the RIGHT") – for it had been Jacob's RIGHT THIGH that was damaged. " 'He will lead (YA'ATZOR) my people' (ch 9 v 17). The unusual word used here for leadership, YA'ATZOR, has the connotation, "he will stop, put on a brake". God did not say "he will RULE, (YIMLOCH)" because Saul was only able to put a temporary brake on the flaw and stop the evil Kelipah from ruling over NETZACH any more. But when Saul sinned with his failure to destroy the Amalekite king, the Kelipah came back and held sway again. It was only David who would be able to rectify the flaw in NETZACH. It was because Saul failed to rectify prophecy and holy spirit that he was attacked by an impure spirit and accordingly was not answered through the Urim VeThumim and the prophets. This was because his flaw lay in the sphere of prophecy and holy spirit. "In the feast that Samuel made with the meat of the sacrifice at the Bamah (ch 9 vv. 22ff) he was sure to give Saul the portion that had been specially set aside for him – the THIGH of the animal – for this alluded to NETZACH, the "right thigh", i.e. the wellspring of prophecy, for this was what Saul was intended to rectify. The intention of Saul eating together with Samuel was to open the channel of prophecy, which is why immediately afterwards Saul saw a band of prophets prophesying…" (ARI, Sefer HaLikutim).

Chapter 10 In the light of the extracts from the ARI quoted in the commentary on the previous chapter, teaching that Saul's essential mission was to rectify prophecy, the weave of incidents involving prophets and prophetic locations as narrated in our present chapter becomes a little more comprehensible.

"And Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it upon his head and kissed him" (I Samuel 10:1). The oil is, of course, emblematic of the spirit flowing down from above, yet the Rabbis pointed out that this was not Moses' SHEMEN HAMISHCHAH, "anointing oil" but only aromatic APHARSAMON oil, and it was poured not from a KEREN ("horn") but from a PAKH ("flask"). The SHEMEN HAMISCHAH was reserved for the kings of Judah, and thus David and Solomon were both anointed with it from a horn – and both saw their kingship established. However Saul, and later Jehu, who were anointed only with APHARSAMON oil from a flask, did not see their kingship established (Horayos 11b; Megillah 14a). Samuel's foretelling Saul of his coming journey (ch 10 vv 2-9) involves locations associated with Saul's illustrious ancestors Rachel, whose grave is mentioned though Saul was not actually to visit it (see Rashi on v 2) and Jacob, who dreamed his dream of the ladder at Luz - Beit El (v. 3). The "Hill of God" mentioned in v 5 is said in Targum to be the location of the Ark of the Covenant. It was from there that Saul would encounter a "band of prophets". RaDaK notes (ad loc.) that the illustrious prophets of those times included Elkanah, Gad, Nathan, Asaph, Heyman and Yeduthun. Thus Saul was being prepared for the kingship. However, scarcely noticeable in verse 8 is Samuel's test to Saul. "And you shall go down before me to Gilgal… and you shall wait seven days until I come to you…" In order to help us understand where Saul's going down to Gilgal as referred to here actually comes in the sequence of events in our unfolding narrative, the commentators on this verse point out that Samuel is here referring to a visit to Gilgal by Saul and Samuel that was to come only AFTER the renewal of the kingship at Gilgal as described in in ch 10 vv 14-15 and ch 11 v 15. The story of the second visit to Gilgal as referred to here is only told later on, in ch 13 vv 8-14 – where we see that Saul failed Samuel's test. Here in our present text, Samuel is ordering Saul to WAIT for Samuel on that second occasion and NOT to sacrifice, because Samuel was coming to do that. However, as we shall see, Saul gave in to popular pressure, and when Samuel did not arrive, offered the sacrifice himself. For this he was deposed from the kingship. Prophecy is only possible when the student prophet is absolutely obedient to his master. As yet, however, the text contains few direct hints of the flaw that was to undermine Saul's kingship. Here in our present chapter, we learn more of the virtues for which he was chosen as king – his exceptional modesty and humility, and his flight from honor, which actually caused honor to pursue him. Already in the previous chapter (ch 9 v 5) we heard Saul tell his attendant that he wanted to return home from searching for the donkeys lest his father "be worried about US" – Saul humbly put himself on the same level as the attendant. Now we hear how Saul's own uncle asked him what Samuel had told him but Saul modestly would not tell him that he had been chosen king (v 16). The rabbis connected Saul's modesty with his illustrious ancestress Rachel, who according to Midrash collaborated with Laban and remained silent in order to make Jacob think he was marrying Leah so that she should not be humiliated. And in the merit of Rachel and Saul, they had as their descendant Queen Esther, who modestly "did not tell her lineage". At the assembly of the nation at Mitzpah (vv 17-25) Samuel used the method of lots to show the people that Saul had been chosen by God as their king (vv 20-21). With characteristic humility Saul ran away and "was hiding by the vessels" (v 22). Rashi's simple PSHAT is that the KELIM are the clothes and Saul was hiding where the people left their cloaks before attending the assembly. However Rashi also brings the Midrash that the KELIM refer to the Urim VeThumim of the High Priest: Saul would only agree to accept the kingship if they consulted the Urim VeThumim!

"It is hard to rise to greatness, and as hard as it is to arise to it, so it is hard to descend from greatness. For so we find by Saul: when he was told to arise to the kingship, he 'hid by the vessels'. And when he was told to descend from the kingship, he went after David to try to kill him" (Pirkey d'Rabbi Nathan 10:3). When the skeptics questioned how this Saul could save them, the king was silent and forbearing (ch 10 v 27 and ch 11 v 13). However, he was criticized for this. While he was permitted to be personally humble and forbearing, he was not allowed to compromise on the honor due to the king, as this would undermine the kingship.

Chapter 11 The first challenge of Saul's kingship was from the Ammonites. They had been routed by Yiftach (Jephthah) but since that time the Philistines had been pressing in on the Israelites from the south and west, leaving them seriously weakened and unable to defend the Israelite settlements east of the Jordan. The Ammonites thus succeeded in extending their hegemony northwards into the Gilaad at least as far as Yavesh Gil'ad, which is about 60 km north west of present day Amman. The name of this ancient settlement survives in the Arab name of the local waddi – Yabbes, which flows into the R. Jordan. (The names of hundreds of other settlements mentioned in TaNaCh are also evident in local Arab place-names, attesting to the great antiquity of Israel's connection with the Land.) The town of Yavesh Gil'ad was involved in the story of the Concubine in Giv'ah (Judges ch 20) as the men of that town did not attend the National Assembly that was called to discipline the Benjaminites, and were accordingly killed. It was their 400 surviving virgin female offspring who were married to 400 of the 600 Benjaminites who survived the war of the Tribes against them, and thus although in the territories of Menasheh, the town was inhabited by Benjaminites who inherited their wives' property. The Ammonite king Nachash (="serpent") demanded that the inhabitants of Yavesh must gouge out their own right eyes if they wanted to make peace with him. (This is very reminiscent of the demands of Israel's present-day oppressors.) His demand was intentionally humiliating (v 2). The rabbis teach that the "eyes" he wanted the Israelites to gouge out were (1) their best slingers and archers, who are the "delight of Israel's eyes" (2) the Sanhedrin, who are called the "eye" of Israel (3) the Sefer Torah (Yalkut Shimoni). "And the spirit of God burst into Saul as he heard these things…" (v 6). Now Saul exhibited the GEVURAH of kingship and swiftly mobilized the entire nation for war (vv 7-8). His tactics against the Ammonites, dividing his forces into three, are reminiscent of Gideon's tactics against the Midianites (Judges 7:16). His surprise attack brought about a God-given victory which showed all the people that he was truly God's chosen king. Samuel therefore called all the people to Gilgal (for the FIRST visit, not the SECOND, see above ch 10 v 8, which was to be Saul's test) in order to "renew the kingship" (ch 11 vv 14-15). Although Saul had already been chosen by the lottery and Urim VeThumim and acclaimed by the people, his kingship was not established until after his victory over the Ammonites and this is why the kingship was now "renewed" at Gilgal.

Chapter 12 * * * I Samuel 11:14-15 and 12:1-22 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Korach, Numbers 16:1-18:32 * * *

Samuel's address to all Israel assembled in Gilgal to "renew the kingship" (ch 12 vv 1-25) displays an apparent ambivalence about the kingship. It is a Torah mitzvah to appoint a king, yet Samuel castigated the people for asking for one even though he himself appointed him. This is because Samuel saw that the people's conception of the nature and purpose of the kingship as being primarily for the sake of what today is called "national security" was inherently flawed. His intent in his address was to correct their misconceptions. A LESSON IN GOOD GOVERNMENT "I have become old" (v 2). Samuel was only 52 when he died, but the rabbis said that "old age jumped upon him" so that he should not see Saul's destined death in his lifetime (Taanis 5b). In his "retirement farewell" address to the whole people Samuel asked them to testify to his impeccable integrity throughout the years he ruled, neither oppressing nor exploiting the people and never taking bribes or twisting justice. The rabbis said that Samuel was independently wealthy (Nedarim 38a) which should perhaps have made him less susceptible to the temptations of corrupt government, yet even the ownership of substantial wealth has not stopped numerous past and contemporary government figures from flagrantly pursuing their private interests through their endeavors in the "service" of the public. None of the assembled Israelites could deny Samuel's integrity, "…and HE SAID [I am] a witness" (v 5) Based on the use of the singular verb at the end of verse 5 where we would have expected the plural – "and THEY (the people) said" – the rabbis taught that a BAS KOL (lit. "daughter of a voice" – a heavenly "echo") proclaimed, "I AM THE WITNESS". Even Heaven could testify to Samuel's absolute integrity. Perhaps the reason Samuel felt no need to take from others was that he was truly wealthy – i.e. satisfied with his portion (Avos 4:1) – which cannot be said for the power-hungry, wealth-seeking "leaders" of today. THE LESSONS OF HISTORY The key point in Samuel's sweeping survey of the history of Israel is that in Egypt, "your fathers CRIED OUT to God…" (v 8) and in the Land, after being "sold" to their enemies, "they CRIED OUT to God and said, 'We have sinned…'" (v. 9). The lesson is that when Israel turns to God, they are saved, but if they put their trust in some powerful king or government or military strength alone, they are abandoned. Samuel compares Moses, Aharon and himself in their generations to "Jerubaal, Bedan and Yiftach" in theirs. Jerubaal is Gideon, while Bedan is Shimshon (Samson), who was from the tribe of DAN (=BeDaN, "IN Dan"). Compared to Moses, Aharon and Samuel the prophets, Gideon, Jephtah and Samson were KALEY OLAM, "lightweights", yet Samuel mentions them together – teaching that even though Israel's Torah leaders in the later generations may seem much less authoritative than the outstanding giants of the past, we must still rely on our leaders if they truly speak in the name of the Torah (see Rashi on v 11). A RAINSTORM AT HARVEST TIME "And Samuel CALLED to God, and God gave thunderclaps and rain on that day" (v 18). Samuel gave the people a most frightening, practical demonstration of the great power of prayer in order to prove his point that the strength of the people of Israel in the face of all their enemies lies only in CRYING OUT TO GOD.

In Israel the rainy season comes to an end in Adar (March) with only a few late showers in Nissan (April), and by the time of the wheat harvest, which is after Pesach during the months of Iyar-Sivan (May-June) any rain is a freak occurrence. Indeed rain after Nissan is a curse (Taanis 12b) because it spoils the wheat. Nevertheless, when Samuel called upon God, He answered him at once. Samuel's purpose was to shock the people into understanding that their entire salvation depended only on prayer. He was also was hinting to them that just as his few words of prayer had the power to unleash a terrible storm, so too their few wrongly-motivated words in requesting for a king could let loose a torrent of destructive consequences (Me'am Lo'ez). We need to know what we should be praying for (which we learn from the Torah), and then we need to pray for it.

Chapter 13 BEN-SHANAH SHA'UL BE-MOLCHO (ch 13 v 1). The literal meaning of the Hebrew words is: "Saul was ONE YEAR OLD when he reigned", although the commentators explain that the intent is that the "renewal of the kingship" described in the previous chapter took place a year after Saul's induction as king. However, the rabbis darshened from the literal meaning of these words that Saul was LIKE A ONE YEAR OLD babe when he became king, because just as a baby is clean of all sin, so a leader is forgiven all his sins on his induction (and from other verses they learned that so too a sage on his induction and a bridegroom – and his bride – on their wedding day are forgiven all their sins). The same verse also states that Saul's reign over Israel lasted only two years (v 1), at the end of which he died in battle against the Philistines. This may seem surprising when we consider that the nineteen chapters from here to the end of I Samuel seem to cover very great variety of incidents which one might have expected to have taken place over a longer period of time. We should bear in mind the timeframe as we proceed with our study of the later sections of this book. ENTER JONATHAN In verses 2-3 we are first introduced to one of the most noble characters in the Bible, Saul's son Jonathan, who should have inherited the kingship, and who displayed spectacular boldness and courage from the very start of his career by assassinating the Philistine governor of the Benjaminite territories – emblem of the foreign oppressor -- thereby triggering the Philistine war to quash the Israelite "rebellion". Despite the fact that Jonathan "lost" the kingship to David, he showed not the faintest trace of jealousy of his beloved friend, for whom he was ready to endanger his very life. RaDaK (on verse 2) notes that from the beginning of the book of I Samuel until ch 18 v 1 his name is written as YONASAN except for two occasions (ch 14 vv 6 & 8), where it is written as YE-HO-NASAN, as it is from ch 18 v 1 onwards. In Hebrew the difference is the result of the addition of only one letter – a HEH. The addition of this letter, as in the change of Abram to Abraham and the addition of a YUD in the name of Pinchas, indicates the attainment of a higher spiritual level. THE PHILISTINE OPPRESSION Chapter 13 illustrates the dire plight of the Israelites under Philistine "occupation" in the times of Saul and Samuel. While the Philistines could field an army of 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and "people like the sand of the shore of the sea in multitude" (v 5), the disorganized Israelite small farmers had been intentionally

disarmed by their foreign masters, who banned the Hebrews from engaging in any kind of metalwork so as to be unable to make swords and spears (v 19). The Israelites were forced to go down to the Philistines to repair their plows and other agricultural implements (v 20) or else they had to make do with the most primitive self-help methods to sharpen their instruments (v 21, see commentators). [Ironically, contemporary Israel is one of the world's leading weapons manufacturers, yet the nations of the world led by the country's closest ally generally prevent Israel from actually using any of her sophisticated armory with real effect, thus leaving the people of the country at the mercy of enemy rockets and missiles etc.] SAUL: FLAWED OR TOO PERFECT? It is hardly surprising that most of the people felt completely helpless and went into caves and holes, etc. (v 6) or emigrated to safer areas (v 7). Even when Saul gathered his bands at Gilgal to wait for his SECOND meeting there with Samuel as instructed by the prophet (see ch 10 v 8 and yesterday's commentary thereon), people started deserting and scattering (ch 13 v 8). Saul had been commanded not to sacrifice at Gilgal but to wait for Samuel to do so on the seventh day. However, when Samuel did not arrive on the morning of the seventh day, Saul felt compelled to stall the people's increasing restiveness by officiating at the sacrifice himself. He was not at fault for serving at the Altar even though he was not a priest, because a ZAR (non-priest) is permitted to serve at a BAMAH. (Indeed Samuel himself was not a priest but a Levite.) Saul's error was to succumb to popular pressure and stop waiting for Samuel, even though the latter had prophesied that he would arrive, which he did, albeit late in the day. Samuel's delay was a very hard test for Saul, but the Torah writes that the king "must not turn aside from the MITZVAH to the right or the left in order that he may extend his days…" (Deut. 17:20), and since the same passage previously states that he must "keep all the words of this TORAH", we infer that the MITZVAH can only refer to the order of a prophet, which is also from God (see Rashi on v 14). Unlike democratic politicians, the leader of Israel must not pay attention to VOX POPULI but only to the word of God and His prophets. Paradoxically, the rabbis stated that Saul was deposed from the kingship not because he sinned but because he was TOO PERFECT. "Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel, Why did the kingship of the house of Saul not endure? Because it contained no reproach (i.e. Saul's pedigree was impeccable), for R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Shimon son of Yehotzedek, A leader is only appointed over the community if he has a box of unclean creatures hanging from his back so that if he becomes too arrogant they can say to him, Take a look behind you." [Thus David's great grandmother wasn't even Jewish as she was a Moabitess, and this was the "box of unclean creatures" hanging over his back!!!] (Yoma 22b). Despite having been told by Samuel that his kingship would not endure, Saul did not flinch from carrying out his duty and going to war against the Philistines despite the fact that NONE OF HIS PEOPLE HAD ANY WEAPONS (v 22). Only Saul and Jonathan miraculously found weapons (Rashi on v 22), and with this they prepared to face the Philistine hosts at Michmass.

Chapter 14 There are many mysterious twists and turns in this chapter's narrative about Israel 's war of rebellion against Philistine domination in the reign of Saul, which was largely initiated by his bold and courageous son Jonathan. Despite the presence of Achiyah the High Priest and the URIM VE-THUMIM with Saul, Jonathan did not wait

for an answer through this channel (which in any case was not forthcoming) before setting of on what would have been a suicide mission were it not for his total trust in God. Jonathan was going to expose himself and his sole attendant to the entire Philistine garrison and decide if he would remain stationary or advance based on their reaction on seeing him. Jonathan's making a sign for himself in this way was compared by the rabbis to Abraham's servant Eliezer's making a sign at the well as to which maiden would be suitable as Isaac's wife (24:13-14). The question of whether such signs are legitimate or proscribed as divination is discussed at great length by RaDaK (on v 9). If the Philistines advanced towards Jonathan, he would know that they were not afraid, but if they told him to come up to them he would know that "the fear of God was in their hearts and they were afraid to move from their place" (Rashi on v. 10). Jonathan was not afraid to go into the very midst of the Philistines for hand-tohand combat despite the odds being so heavily weighed against him, for "there is nothing to prevent HaShem from saving whether through a multitude or through a little" (v 6). Jonathan's foray and his rapid massacre of the enemy garrison led to the mass flight of the Philistine army in total disarray. When Saul's watchers reported this, he sought divine guidance through the URIM VE-THUMIM as to whether to chase after them (v 18), but there was no time even to wait for an answer (having disobeyed Samuel at Gilgal, Saul was unable to elicit answers through holy spirit any more) and the war against the Philistines started in earnest. From v 21 we learn that Philistine domination had been so powerful that many Hebrews were actually present helping their forces, but when the Hebrews saw the success of the Israelite rebellion they went over to Saul. [Similarly in the war of Gog and Magog it is prophesied that even Jews will come with the hordes of Gog against Jerusalem but their hearts will go out to their Jewish brothers under the siege, Zechariah 12:2, see Targum and Rashi ad loc.] "AND SAUL PUT THE PEOPLE UNDER OATH (v 24) The key to understanding some of the mysterious twists of this chapter is to recognize that Saul wanted to bring the people to exceptional levels of spiritual discipline, even under the exigencies of a war against an enemy they perceived as being overwhelmingly powerful. Thus Saul put the people under an oath not to eat until the evening – despite the fact that they were engaged in a life and death battle! Jonathan, who was absent when Saul declared the ban, tasted some "honey" (= cane sugar), and, when told of the oath his father had imposed, was not afraid to express his true opinion that Saul had gone too far (vv 29-30): "he has upset their minds and their salvation like turbid waters" (Rashi on v 29). At the end of the day the ravenous people flew upon the booty and took sheep and cattle "and slaughtered them on the ground and the people ate upon the blood" (v 32). The rabbis offer various opinions about the nature of the "sin", with some saying they did not allow the blood to drain properly from the meat before eating it as required by the laws of Kashrus, and others saying that they offered SHELAMIM (peace) offerings but ate the meat before the blood was sprinkled on the Altar. Rashi's opinion is that they slaughtered mother animals and their young on the same day, which the Torah forbids.

Saul's emergency measure of setting up a BAMAH Altar and sacrificing even at night (which is not permitted in the Temple but was permissible on such a BAMAH) was intended to rein the people's animalistic lusts as part of his campaign for heightened self-discipline. Failing (again) to get an answer from the URIM VE-THUMIM about taking the war into the Philistine areas (v 37) Saul realized there was a flaw that had to be exposed, and he resorted to casting lots in order to discover where it lay. The perfection of Saul's governmental ideals is expressed in his declaration that even if the fault lay with his very son he would kill him (v 39). Why Saul received no answer from the URIM VE-THUMIM despite the fact that Jonathan at worst violated the oath UNWITTINGLY since he had not heard it (as v 27 testifies) is explained by Rav Saadia Gaon (brought in RaDaK on v 45). He suggests that if Saul had received an answer despite the fact that his son was somehow at fault, this would have made people feel Jonathan was getting preferential treatment as son of the king whereas someone else would have been punished for violating the king's ban. The public would then not have become aware that Jonathan had not even been present when the ban was declared. Since Saul was not answered by the URIM VE-THUMIM, he was forced to cast lots to establish where the problem lay, and when Jonathan was "caught" the people were forced to investigate what really happened and thus they all found out that Jonathan had indeed not been present and was quite innocent. "AND WHEREVER HE TURNED HE CAUSED TERROR" (v 47) The closing section of Ch 14 summarizes the many-fronted wars waged by Saul in his brief two year reign, and introduces the names of his family members and Chief of Staff, several of whom play leading roles part in the narrative in the chapters to come. Saul is a very paradoxical figure, but without doubt he was a man of outstanding GEVURAH. He fought on so many fronts, and "wherever he turned he caused terror" (v 47). An illuminating comment based on this verse is found in Talmud Eiruvin 53, where Ravina states that "David revealed his MASECHTA (the tractate of Torah that he learned), and his kingship endured, for 'those who fear You see me and rejoice' Ps 119:74, while Saul did not reveal his MASECHTA and his kingship did not endure, 'and wherever he turned he caused terror'." This seems to suggest that David (like his descendant, Hillel) reached out to the people and spoke on their level, while Saul, who was "head and shoulders above everyone else" (see ch 10 v 23), wanted to bring the people up to his own high levels of stringency (like Beis Shamai) – and this was why his kingship did not survive.

Chapter 15 The account of Saul's war against Amalek and its tragic consequences is familiar as the Haftara of Shabbat Zachor immediately before Purim, when we remember Amalek's evil, murderous and entirely unprovoked attack on the Israelites as they came out from slavery in Egypt. The mitzvah to extirpate of Amalek is one of the three that Israel were commanded to carry out on entry into the Land, together with the appointment of a king and the building of the Temple. Amalek's continuing war against Israel was a war against the very name of God Himself, which this KELIPAH (husk) seeks to hide from the consciousness of the world, and thus it must be removed in order for the glory of God to shine to perfection from His Temple in Jerusalem.

"AND NOW LISTEN TO THE VOICE…" (v 1) Saul had already deviated once from Samuel's instructions when the prophet told him not to sacrifice at Gilgal but to await his arrival (ch 10 v 8). Now Saul was given one last opportunity to redeem himself and his kingship – but he failed, and the decree against him was sealed. God finally rejected him completely and gave the kingship "to your companion who is better than you" (=David; ch 15 v 28). It was only many generations later that Saul's descendant Esther came to the throne in Shushan when Vashti was displaced and the king gave her royal position "to her companion who is better than her" (Esther 1:19), and Esther rectified Saul's fault by working with Mordechai to destroy Haman the Aggagite-Amalekite. Samuel gave Saul exact instructions to destroy not only the Amalekite men, women and children but even their animals. (Rashi on v 3 states that the Amalekites were masters of witchcraft and changed themselves in such a way that they resembled animals – which is somewhat reminiscent of the kind of media wizardry of our day that causes humans to seem and behave like animals.) However, after Saul's victory over the Amalekites, "and Saul and the people had pity on Agag and on the choice of the flocks and cattle etc." (v 9). Rashi (on vv 5 and 24) explains that it wasn't just that they said what a pity it would be to kill all these fat cattle. "And he struggled in the VALLEY (NACHAL)" (v 5) Rashi explains to mean that Saul went through a deep inner debate about the justice of killing innocent men when the Torah itself commands us to atone for spilt blood and avoid further bloodshed through the mitzvah of the EGLAH ARUFAH, breaking the neck of a heifer, which is performed in a VALLEY (Deut. 21:4). It was not just the mass of the people who questioned the justice of the Prophet's command – it was no less than DO'EG HAEDOMI, the outstanding Torah scholar of the time, who was so great that he was equivalent to the whole people (see Rashi on v 24). Do'eg is portrayed by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov as the archetype of the brilliant, constipated Torah scholar who is all intellect without heart (Likutey Moharan I, 61) – Do'eg was later responsible for Saul's persecution of David, and here we find that Do'eg's advice brought about the collapse of Saul's kingship. When Samuel questioned why Saul spared the flocks, the latter was quick to provide extensive rationalizations – he talked too much – and Samuel put a stop to this, telling him that his rebellion against the words of God's prophet was quite as bad as the very sorcery that Saul tried to stamp out in Israel, and that his excessive talk was as bad as the divination he prohibited (v 23). "Does God receive pleasure from burnt offerings and sacrifices as from listening to the voice of God?" (v 22). "The eternal of Israel (NETZACH YISRAEL) will not lie and will not repent" (v 29). As explained by ARI (see commentary on Samuel 9) this verse was said precisely because Saul's flaw was in the Sefirah of NETZACH, from which the prophets "suckle", and since NETZACH WILL NOT LIE OR REPENT, the decree against Saul was now sealed and unchangeable. As soon as he heard the decree, Saul acknowledged his sin – but it was too late. From this time on, despite his great GEVURAH Saul was almost like a ghost of a king, and we are left with feelings of deep mourning – like those of Samuel – about how a character so noble and exalted could fall. Saul had erred with an excess of kindness – but when kindness is bestowed upon those who are evil, such as Amalek, it turns into the worst cruelty.

Chapter 16 THE ANNOINTING OF DAVID We find little in our text about Saul's greatness and good qualities despite his perfection and outstanding saintliness (CHASSIDUT), while we find a great deal both in the Bible and in the words of the sages (Berachos 4a) about David. This is because Saul's soul is rooted in the World of Concealment (Nekudas Tzion, Yesod of Imma, the "World of the Male"), while that of David is from the Revealed World (Yesod of Nukva = Nekudas Tzion ViYerushalayim). For this reason, Saul was modest (hidden) and he calls David "my son" and became his father-in-law. Saul's root lay in the Yesod of the Kings of Edom who died (see Genesis 36:37: the SIXTH king of Edom was called SHA'UL). Thus Saul "reigned… and died…" His kingship, being from the world of TOHU ("devastation"), could not endure. David, on the other hand, is rooted in the world of TIKKUN ("repair"), and for this reason his kingship endured. (ARI, Likutey Torah I Samuel 17). God commanded Samuel to go to the house of Yishai to anoint his son as king, but although Samuel had said "I am the seer" (ch 9 v 19), even he was unable to SEE who was really MASHIACH, "for it is not as man sees, for man sees according to the eyes but God sees into the heart" (v 7). From the outside, Yishai's first-born Eliav seemed outstanding, but God knew that he was given to lose his temper (ch 7 v 28) and was not fit to be king. Nobody could have imagined that Yishai's "small" shepherd son was the one, because Mashiach is necessarily clothed in darkness and mystery and surrounded by the most powerful opposing forces, including even those who are apparently very wises, and even those who are closest to him. David is nothing less than the reincarnated soul of ADAM (ADaM=Adam-DavidMoshe). As we read the beautiful narrative about this most breathtakingly enchanting of all the Biblical heroes, we must constantly bear in mind that while the stories show us the HITZONIUS ("externality"), the true PNIMIUS ("inner face") of David is to be found in his immortal TEHILIM (Psalms), which are the very foundation of the spiritual life of Israel until today. A substantial part of the prayer services in the Siddur (Jewish prayer book) is made up of Psalms, and it was these songs that were and will be sung in the Temple in Jerusalem. David taught the mankind the true path of RETURN and REPENTANCE (Psalm 51:15). It is said that Samuel was terrified when he saw that God's chosen was ADMONI ("ruddy", from the root Edom, v 12) – saying that this one too was a shedder of blood like Esau (=Edom) – until Samuel saw that this came "with beauty of the eyes". The "eyes" of Israel are the Sanhedrin: everything David did, including all the wars and bloodshed, were carried out in accordance with Torah law and the guidance of the Sages (Bamidbar Rabba 63:8). When David stepped forth, the very oil jumped out of Samuel's horn to anoint him. This was Moses' anointing oil, which was kept by the Ark in the Sanctuary, from where Samuel took it to anoint Israel's true king. As soon as David was anointed, Saul became afflicted by an "evil spirit" – the penalty for his having failed to obey the voice of the holy spirit that spoke through Samuel ordering him to wipe out all Amalek. The intention of that "one of the lads" who advised Saul to take a musician to play to him was far from pure. This was

Do'eg HaEdomi, the "unique ONE" among Saul's "lads", Do'eg the brilliant troublemaker. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 93b) shows how every one of his words to Saul (v 18) was designed to bring him to jealousy of David. "He knows music" – "he knows how to ask". "Mighty" – "he knows how to answer". "a man of war" – "that knows how to give and take in the war of the Torah". "and HaShem is with him – "THE HALACHAH IS LIKE HIM!!!" "And when Do'eg told Saul that 'HaShem is with him – which was not so in Saul's case – he became disheartened and became jealous of him" (Sanhedrin ibid.) Yet the pure, innocent David came from the world of TIKKUN and was therefore able to heal Saul. "And he would play WITH HIS HAND" (v 23). His HAND = YaD, made up of the letters YOD (10) and DALETH (4) = 14. For Koheleth (Ecclesiastes) speaks of the 14 good times and 14 bad times. David would play only in the 14 good times. This is because David is the mystery of the waxing moon, which grows from the slenderest crescent to fullness in the first 14 of the 28 days in which the moon can be seen each month. The YAD (14) with which David played derived from the 4 letters of HAVAYAH plus the 10 letters of the Milui of HAVAYAH = 14 = YaD. David's power to heal and repair comes from his pure radiation of the light of HaShem.

Chapter 17 The story of David and Goliath must be one of the most famous and inspiring of all biblical tales and has been illustrated countless times (see Shulchan Aruch Orach Hayim 307:20). Targum on ch 17 v 8 brings out the force of Goliath's taunts against Israel. "I am Goliath the Philistine from Gath that killed the two sons of Eli the Priest, Pinchas and Hofni, and I captured the Ark of the Covenant of HaShem and brought it to the house of Dagon my idol… and in every battle that the Philistines waged I went out at the head of the army and was victorious in battle and I cast down dead corpses like the dust of the earth… and as for you, Children of Israel, what might has Saul son of Kish from Giv'ah that you appointed king over you done for you? If he is a mighty hero, let him engage in battle, and if he is a weak man, choose someone else to come down against me". If the Philistines represented the ultimate of unholy GEVURAH (PHILISHTIM = 860 = 10 x ELOKIM), Goliath was the very epitome of this utter concealment. According to rabbinic tradition, HORPAH who is mentioned as Goliath's mother (II Samuel 21:16ff and commentators ad loc.) was none other than ORPAH, daughter-in-law of Naomi, who when her sister-in-law Ruth, David's great grandmother, converted, refused to do so. ARI explains that Ruth and Orpah parallel Rachel and Leah. Leah was marked out for the unholy Esau (SITRA ACHRA) but had the ability to attach herself to the side of the holy (Jacob, SITRA DI-KEDUSHAH), which she took, thereby becoming the "chariot" of the World of Concealment while Rachel was the "chariot" of the World of Revelation. Like Leah, Orphah could have attached herself to the Side of Holiness had she converted, but she refused, turned her back (OREPH) and instead became consort of the Angel of Death. All of the holiness contained in Orpah went to Ruth, while all the unholiness contained in Ruth went to Orpah. Thus Ruth was blessed to be LIKE RACHEL AND LEAH (Ruth 4:11). Orpah on the other hand opened herself indiscriminately to all the Philistines (see Rashi on ch 17 v 23) and from in between them all came forth Goliath, who is therefore called "the man in between" (ch 17 v 4). The unholy side is the evil mirror-image of the side of the holy, and thus Goliath

is on the side of the unholy what David is on the side of the holy. (ARI Likutey Torah on I Samuel ch 17). Rabbi Nachman of Breslov explains that the "greaves of brass (NECHOSHES) on his legs" (ch 17 v 6) allude to the God-concealing ideology which attributes everything to natural causes (the "legs") that Goliath represents. This is the ideology of the serpent (NACHASH). (Likutey Moharan Vol II, Torah 4:7-8). According to natural law and science it was completely ridiculous that a tender, inexperienced youth like David could conquer a mighty giant like Goliath who was armed to the teeth. This was why David's brother Eliav was so angry with him for coming to join the "action" on the battlefield (v 28), and Saul too could not believe that David could be victorious. However, David had already conquered "the lion and the bear" (actually there were 3 lions and 3 bears according to the Midrash brought by Rashi on v 34). These wild animals allude to the evil philosophers of materialism and natural cause who have preyed upon Israelite souls, turning them into atheists (see Likutey Moharan loc. cit.). "And David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts…" David's purpose was that "all this Assembly shall know that it is not with the sword and the spear that God saves…" (v 47). The shepherd's satchel in which David took his stones alludes to MALCHUS. The "five stones" are CHESSED-GEVURAH-TIFERET-NETZACH-HOD. He took them from the NACHAL = YESOD. David made these attributes into a unity – one stone. This is the EVEN SHELEMAH RETZONO – "a perfect stone [is] His will" (Proverbs 11:1), alluding to God's WILL, which has power over EVERYTHING, including all the powerful natural causes that Goliath flaunted. The stone with which David killed Goliath is bound up with the mystery of the stone that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, which was hewn out without hands and which struck the great statue he had seen, causing it to collapse and be ground up, signifying the destruction of the empires that subject Israel heralding the everlasting kingship of Heaven (Daniel 2:34 & 44-5). David showed that despite seemingly overwhelming odds, God's WILL rules over everything. David is the secret of prayer, in which we pray that "He should carry out our will as His will". David's conquest over Goliath was his first lesson to Israel in the power of prayer. But Mashiach cannot be revealed more than momentarily each time. No sooner had David conquered Goliath than the MACHLOKES – the controversy and opposition that attended him throughout his life – began to develop in earnest. The verses in Chapter 17 vv 55-8 in which Saul starts enquiring who David really is are interpreted in the Talmud (Yevamos 76b) as alluding to the dispute about whether David's Moabite pedigree on Ruth's side even allowed him to enter the Assembly of Israel since "a Moabite shall not come to you in the Assembly of the Lord" (Deut. 23:4). Once again it was the sinister Do'eg who stirred up the trouble. While Saul and Avner opined that only a Moabite was forbidden to enter but not a Moabitess, Do'eg argued that the same reasoning could be used to permit a MAMZERA (illegitimate female) into the Assembly since the verse apparently only forbids a male MAMZER… (Deut. Ibid. v. 3). With Saul and Avner silenced, a cloud of doubts and questions settled over the little shepherd David.

Chapter 18 DAVID AND JONATHAN "And the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David" (ch 18 v 1). The ARI (Likutey Torah I Samuel 18) explains: Jonathan's love for David was "more wondrous than the love of women" (II Samuel 1:26). For it was from Jonathan that the flow of blessing (SHEFA) came to David, because the first three letters of Jonathan's name are Yud-Heh-Vav, the first three letters of the Tetragramaton, the "essential" name of God, while the last three letters are NaTHaN, "he gave", indicating the MASHPIAH, who influences another. The gematria of NaThaN is 500, because Jonathan's soul was rooted in Tiferet of the Kings that Died (Genesis 36:31-39), and Tiferet receives the influence of Binah, "understanding", whose Fifty Gates each contain 10 Sefiros: 50 x 10 = 500. Being rooted in the Seven Kings that Died, Jonathan's kingship could not endure. Understanding that his role was to give over his influence to David, he embraced his destiny with love and "made a covenant" with him, giving him his coat and all his symbols of royalty – his sword, bow and belt (ch 18 v 4). THE CYCLE OF JEALOUSY AND HATRED The song of the women who came out dancing with instruments to hail Saul could have been construed as an honor to Saul – that while Saul only needed to go out with thousands to conquer the Philistines, David had to go out with tens of thousands. However, when a person has already been "bitten" by an evil spirit, he tends to construe everything negatively, and thus Saul took the women's song as an insult to his honor, and from that time on the poison of his jealousy of David festered and grew. "And it was on the next day that an evil spirit from God swelled in Saul, and HE PROPHESIED in the house" (v 10). The Hebrew word VAYIS-NABEI is from the same root as NAVIE, a "prophet", but here Targum Yonasan renders it not as "he prophesied" but "he went mad" (VE-ISHTATI). For without the perfect discipline required of the prophet, his prophetic spirit easily turns into madness. "A prophet and a madman both speak in hints that are not understood" (Rashi ad loc.). Saul's jealousy was only increased when he saw that David was divinely protected from all his efforts to spear him, making Saul afraid and even more full of hatred. Saul's mix of jealousy, fear and hatred is very reminiscent of similar syndromes found in many Jews who have gone more or less off track in relation to those who remain genuinely faithful to the Torah pathway, whose joyous determination and success cause them profound vexation and irritation. Just as Saul tried every method, direct and indirect, of killing David, so too some lapsed Jews are tireless in their efforts to thwart the Torah community – and they will fail just as Saul failed to harm David. Saul's stratagems to try to get David killed are reminiscent of the kinds of stratagems often used today by those in positions of great power in order to get their enemies knocked off indirectly or seemingly by accident. Saul hoped that by dispatching David to bring the foreskins of 100 Philistines as the "dowry" for his daughter, he was sending him to a quick death – yet with typical loyal obedience, dauntless courage and great alacrity, David brought back DOUBLE the number of foreskins. Cutting off the enemies' foreskins may seem to be a

particularly gruesome way of humiliating them and taking vengeance – though the same was practiced on Israel by their enemies (see Rashi on Deut. 25:17). Perhaps a less gruesome modern equivalent would be the endeavors of contemporary outreach workers to outdo each other in removing the mental and emotional "foreskins" from as many irreligious Jewish hearts as possible and turning them into BAAL TESHUVAHs!

Chapter 19 The vicious cycle of Saul's jealousy and hatred for David deteriorated into a mad paranoia that had him telling all his ministers and servants and even Jonathan to kill him. Jonathan succeeded in temporarily mollifying Saul, who exhibited all the symptoms of severe mood-swing. The fact that Saul's son Jonathan and his daughter Michal continued to show the utmost loyalty to David proves that they saw clearly that he was completely guiltless. David did nothing to provoke Saul: all the suffering that came upon him was sent to him from God to prepare him for leadership, for the broken heart of one who has suffered is filled with compassion for others who are suffering. David gave expression to his pain and search for fortitude in God in his Tehilim (Psalms), which speak for all Israel and are our greatest source of solace in face of the jealousy of the nations. When indirect methods of assassination did not work, Saul sent a squadron of messengers directly to David's house to capture him in order to kill him. In this Saul was criticized for being even worse than Jezebel, who was not Jewish (she was the daughter of idolatrous priests) yet when she sent to Elijah saying "At this time tomorrow I will make your soul like the soul of one of them [i.e. the prophets she had already killed]" (I Kings 19:2) she at least gave him a day's notice so that he had the opportunity to flee. (Yalkut). The present-day Israeli government does indeed normally give advance notice to Arab terrorists of their intent to conduct bombing operations against specific hideouts etc. thereby enabling the occupants to flee or take other precautions. However this same government tends not to display a similar indulgence when sending police in to deal with protesting Jewish settlers, haredim, disenchanted Ethiopian immigrants, etc. Thus it is that those who show kindness where it is unwarranted end up showing cruelty where it is unwarranted. THE TERAPHIM After Michal let David down through the window to escape, she put the TERAPHIM in his bed to seem like a body together with a goatskin to seem like hair, so that Saul's guards would think it was David. When Jacob fled from Laban, Rachel took her father's TERAPHIM (Genesis 31:19), which were clearly idolatrous statues. In the case of the TERAPHIM taken by Michal, most of the commentators agree that they were some kind of statue or mannequin in human form but bring a variety of interpretations as to what such a statue was doing in the house of David. RaDaK (on v 13) states that it is quite unthinkable that David would have had any kind of idolatrous statue in his house and inclines to Ibn Ezra's opinion that these TERAPHIM were a diagrammatic emblem of the human form that could be used for channeling angelic power. According to this interpretation, Michal would have used them to bring some kind of protection against Saul's messengers. Metzudas Tzion's explanation is that while some TERAPHIM were indeed idolatrous statues, others were made by devoted wives in the form of their husbands so that they could look upon them lovingly…

PLANNING THE TEMPLE David fled to Samuel, who had anointed him king. And at this moment of supreme crisis, when his very life was hanging in the balance, how did David occupy himself with Samuel? The rabbis said that in this one night when he fled from Saul, David learned more from Samuel than a seasoned student could learn from his teacher in a hundred years. They could find nothing better to do than determine the site of the Temple and lay plans for its building. [Similarly, in the 1720's, at the very height of the persecution of the 22 year old R. Moshe Chayim Luzzatto, Ramchal, by the rabbis of Italy and Germany, he could find nothing better to do than write MISHKENEY ELYON, "Secrets of the Future Temple", explaining the meaning of the form of the Third Temple as prophesied by Ezekiel ch's 40ff.] "And he and Samuel went and they sat in NOYOUS" (v 18). The rabbis taught: "What connection does NOYOUS have with Ramah? What the text means is that they sat in Ramah and engaged in the BEAUTY (NOYO) of the world. [The Hebrew word BE-NOYOUS in vv 18 and 19 is written in the parchment – KSIV -- differently from the way it is pronounced – KRI. The KSIV has the connotations of both BEAUTY and BUILDING.] They said that since the Torah writes that 'you shall go up to the place' (Deut. 17:8), it must be that the Temple is higher than all the land of Israel and the Land of Israel is higher than all the lands, but they did not know the exact site of the Temple, so they brought the book of Joshua. In all the descriptions of the territories of the tribes it says the border 'goes down… and goes up…' but in the case of the territory of Benjamin it is written that 'it goes up' but not that 'it goes down' (Joshua 15:8). They said that from this we can infer that this is the proper place of the Temple. They discussed whether to build it in Eyn Eytam, which is high, but they said they should go down just a little, as it is written, 'He dwells BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS' (Deut. 33:12)" (Talmud Zevachim 54b). The presence of Samuel and his students, the "sons of the prophets" engaged in such exalted prophecy brought even Saul to the level of true prophecy. In verse 23 the word VAYISNABEI is rendered by Targum Yonasan as referring to true prophecy: "also on him there dwelled the spirit of prophecy from HaShem". Saul's stripping off his clothes and falling "naked" (v 24) does not mean that he was literally without any clothes, but that in his prophetic ecstasy he removed his royal robes – for at this moment of truth and prophetic lucidity, he knew then that David was the true king of Israel.

Chapter 20 "BUT A STEP BETWEEN ME AND DEATH" David had barely escaped being killed with Saul's spear by stepping aside at the crucial moment. He felt himself to be in extreme danger from Saul, and the present chapter narrates the final test which Jonathan set up to see if Saul intended the worst or not. The constant danger attending the Messianic king is reflected in the epithet given to Mashiach in the Talmud, "BAR NOFLI" (Sanhedrin 96b). While on one level this alludes to how the future Mashiach will raise the FALLEN (NAFAL) Tabernacle of David, it also indicates that Mashiach is all but a NEFEL – an "abortive foetus" that has only a slender hairsbreadth chance of surviving. David almost had no life at all, except that Adam gave him 70 his own allotted 1000, and thus Adam lived only 930 years. Mashiach is in constant danger because of the fierce opposing forces that ever seek to swallow him up. Only by hiding himself in the baffling depths of concealment and secrecy can Mashiach survive.

Jonathan too was in great danger from his demented father, who indeed tried to kill him (ch 20 v 33). However Jonathan knew that David was truly destined to be king and therefore swore an eternal covenant to help and protect him, in exchange for which David was duty bound to protect Jonathan and his family. [David paid a heavy price for violating this covenant when he took half of Saul's son Mephibosheth's estate and gave it to the latter's servant Tziva, see II Samuel 19:30: as a result, a heavenly voice declared that David's kingdom would be divided between his grandson Rehaboam and the rebel Jeraboam.] THE NEW MOON Verses 18-42 of our present text are familiar as the special Haftara read in place of the regular Shabbos Haftara whenever Rosh Chodesh (the New Moon) falls on the following day, i.e. the Sunday, for "tomorrow is the New Moon" (v 18). David (=MALCHUS, Kingship) is bound up with the mystery of the Moon, which wanes steadily after the 15 th of the month until it disappears completely at the very end of the month, and cannot be seen again until a very slender crescent appears on the western horizon for a few minutes after the sunset of the last day of the month. The appearance of the "new" moon heralds the arrival that night of Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the new month, and from then on the moon steadily waxes day by day – corresponding to the steadily growing light of Mashiach after its initial total concealment. The constant renewal of the moon is a sign of the everrenewed vitality of Mashiach (and thus when we bless the new moon after Rosh Chodesh in the ceremony of KIDDUSH LEVANAH, "Sanctification of the Moon", it is customary to recite three times "David king of Israel is alive and enduring".) Jonathan used the sign of the three arrows at his secret tryst with David (vv 20-22 and 36-39) because in relation to David's MALCHUS, the "receiving" attribute, Jonathan is rooted in the mystery of YESOD, the MASHPIA, the giver of influence, which is allusively called the KESHES, the "bow", connoting both the 3-colored rainbow and the archer's bow. YESOD, the power of procreation, "shoots like an arrow". The news was not good and David had to flee. Saul was so paranoid that he besmirched his own wife in accusing Jonathan of being illegitimate and therefore favoring Saul's enemy. But Jonathan knew the truth and took God as his witness that his covenant with David would be eternal.

Chapter 21 After the destruction of the Sanctuary in Shilo in the days of Eli the Priest, the Sanctuary was re-established in the city of Nov, which was entirely given over to Cohanim (priests). Achimelech, who ministered as the High Priest in the Sanctuary, is identical with Achiyah mentioned in I Samuel 14:3 (see also 22:9). David was in flight from Saul when he came to Nov – alone and unarmed, and apparently starving to the point of being in mortal danger. Numerous halachic questions surround David's eating of the "holy" bread in the Sanctuary since Achimelech stated that there was no "profane" bread (=CHULIN) available. RaDaK (on v 6) offers his father's opinion that the bread that Achimelech gave David was from the loaves of a TODAH (thanksgiving) offering, which are permitted to a ZAR ("stranger", non-Cohen) as long as he is ritually pure (and this is why Achimelech tactfully checked that David had not been with his wife recently, which would have made him defiled with TUM'AS KERI, vv 5-6). However, RaDaK evidently prefers

the more obvious though halachically difficult PSHAT of this passage, adopted by the Talmudic sages (Menachos 95b), which is that the "holy bread" that Achimelech gave David was actually the LECHEM HAPONIM ("showbread") from the Golden Table in the Sanctuary. Twelve new loaves were placed on the Table each Shabbos, while the loaves that had sat there for the previous week were removed and divided up between the High Priest (who took six loaves) and all the other priests (who shared the rest; see Leviticus 24:5-9.) The priests were only allowed to eat the showbread AFTER the incense in the golden spoons that sat on the table side by side with the bread all week had been burned on the Altar (as the AZKARA, "memorial" Lev. 24: 7 – for the Altar had no share in the showbread itself). This is the meaning of David's words to Achimelech (v 6) "and it is by way of profane" – i.e. the incense had ALREADY BEEN BURNED, thereby releasing the bread for consumption. David went on to say, "…even if today it had been sanctified in the ministering vessel" (ibid.) meaning that in any case, even if this was the new bread that had only just been sanctified for putting on the golden table, he would still have been permitted to eat it because of SAKONAS NEFOSHOS – a danger to life. All the commandments of the Torah (except for the prohibitions against idolatry, murder and fornication) are suspended if there is a danger to life. RaDaK also explains why Achimelech could not provide David with any other bread despite the fact that there must have been bread somewhere in the city of Nov. Nov was a city of priests, whose main food is Terumah. The penalty for a ZAR who eats Terumah is death at the hands of heaven, and although David would have been permitted to eat Terumah because of SAKONAS NEFOSHOS, it is preferable, where there is a choice, to feed the person in danger with the less serious of two prohibited items. While a ZAR is also forbidden to eat the Showbread, doing so does not carry the penalty of death at the hands of heaven like Terumah. Thus it was that David, although not a Cohen, tasted from the LECHEM HAPANIM, the "bread of the inner face", which remained hot on the Sanctuary Table for over a week from the day it was baked before Shabbos until the time the priests ate it on the following Shabbos (v 7 as explained in Menachos 96b). The heat of the bread is the same as the heat of the sun which God took out of its "scabbard" after Abraham circumcised himself and sat at the door of his tent "in the heat of the day" (Gen. 18:1). Circumcision strips off the thick concealing outer ORLAH foreskin from the world, exposing and revealing the inner PNIMIUS ("interiority") that governs everything. The "heat" of the sun of revelation burns up all God's enemies (see Likutey Moharan I, 30:9). The Talmud (Menachos 95b) comments on the enormous good that comes from feeding a needy person even a mouthful. If Jonathan had had the good sense to provide David with a couple of loaves of bread when he fled, the priests of Nov would not have been slaughtered, Do'eg the Edomite would not have been driven out from the life eternal, and Saul and his three sons would not have been killed. As it was, David, who was starving and in mortal danger, had no choice but to stop at the Sanctuary to eat the LECHEM HAPONIM, and while there he was seen by the sinister DO'EG, who as discussed previously is emblematic of Torah brilliance turned perverse. Thus he was called an Edomite, not only because Edom was the name of his town, but also because he was jealous of David, who was called ADMONI ("ruddy"), and because he ruled that the priests of Nov should be massacred, that David's wife could be given to another man and that Agag should not be killed – he turned everyone's face red with shame in face of his "brilliant" rulings and tried to consume David's merits like the red thread that swallows up the

merits of Israel (Yalkut). The text states that Do'eg was "NE-ETZAR before Hashem" (v 8) – i.e. he was "detained" at the Sanctuary in Nov. NE-ETZAR also carries the connotation of "was closed up, constipated" – the Sages taught that Do'eg did not purify his body of waste when he studied, and this was the reason for his perversity (See Likutey Moharan I, 61.) THE BENEFITS OF MADNESS In a further intensification of mystery and darkness, David was forced to flee to the territory of Israel's very enemies, the Philistines (v 11). The Midrash states that the attendants of Achish king of Gath were Goliath's brothers and wanted to avenge his blood by killing David. However Achish answered that Goliath himself had challenged David to kill him. If so, they replied, Goliath's stated condition was that whoever overcame him would rule the Philistines, in which case Achish should step down in favor of David. This is why they called David "king of the land" v 12. David – who was MASKIL ("intelligent") in all his ways (ch 18 v 14) – could not understand why God created madmen, until he found himself in mortal danger in Gath and discovered that the best cover was to make it appear as if he was crazy. The Midrash states that Achish's wife and daughter were both mad and would rant inside his house while David would rant outside. This is why Achish asked, "Am I lacking in madmen?" (v 16). David's true inner face in this moment of crisis is expressed in the Psalm he wrote at the time: Psalm 34, "David's prayer when he changed his personality before Avimelech and he sent him away and he went". Avimelech was a generic name for the Philistine king just as Pharaoh was the generic name of Egyptian kings (RaDaK on ch 21 v 11).

Chapter 22 Realizing he was unsafe with the Philistines in Gath, David went east to Adulam (where his ancestor Judah had also gone when he "went down" from his brothers Gen. 38:1). Adulam and nearby Ke'eela, which are among the places David went to escape as narrated in the present chapter and the earlier part of the next, are located in the hilly region a little south of present-day Beit Shemesh. Meanwhile Saul was in Giv'ah, a little to the north of the present-day Jerusalem suburb of Ramot, which is immediately south east of Ramah ("Nebie Samuel"), where Samuel lived. The town of Nob was further east, near the road to Ramallah. There in Adulam the charismatic David attracted a bedraggled band of what may have somewhat resembled today's Baal Teshuvahs, each in their tight corner with their debts, physical and spiritual, and each bearing their own pack of sorrows!!! From Adulam David went east of the Dead Sea into Moab, where he had a family connection with the king through his convert great grandmother, Ruth, who was daughter of Eglon king of Moab. Realizing that Saul was out to destroy him and his whole family, David sought to find a safe place in Moab for his parents, but as Rashi brings on v 4, the hoped-for haven was safe only while David was in Metzudah, but afterwards the king of Moab killed his mother, father and all his brothers except for one. It was the prophet Gad who told David not to dwell in Metzudah but to return to the Land of Israel to his native tribal territory of Judah (v 5). Unlike Saul, we see that David had scrupulous respect for the prophets and carried out their words to the letter. Likewise, he consulted with the Urim ve-Thumim on all critical questions and – unlike Saul – received answers from God, as we see in the ensuing narrative.

The Midrash states that Giv'ah and Ramah mentioned in v 6 as where Saul was located at this time are actually two separate places, and that Saul was physically in Giv'ah, but he lived there in the merit of the "Tamarisk (ESHEL) in Ramah", namely the prophet Samuel, who did not cease to pray for him (Rashi on v 6). Nevertheless, the divine decree against Saul was sealed and he descended everdeeper into his paranoid delusions, seeing conspiracies against him from all around. In Saul's eyes David was a MOREID BE-MALCHUS, a "rebel against the throne", a national traitor, particularly now that he was evidently attracting a growing following from among the disaffected. "AND DO'EG ANSWERED…" (v 9) Once again the sinister brilliant Torah sage Do'eg steps in to further stir the pot of evil by disclosing that he had seen David at the Sanctuary and that Achimelech the High Priest had fed and armed him. Do'eg's telling on Achimelech – which led to Achimelech's death and that of all the priests of Nov – is seen as the archetype of RECHILUS – "tale-bearing", one of the main categories of LASHON HARA, "evil speech". Even if the story is true, it is forbidden to tell it to anyone when this is likely to lead to any kind of harm to the person involved. From the interchange between Saul and Achimelech (vv 12-15) we learn that the main issue was why Achimelech had consulted the URIM VE-THUMIM for David. Do'eg maintained that only the king was allowed to consult the URIM VE-THUMIM, making Achimelech guilty of high treason, but the majority of the Sanhedrin followed the tradition that "they may be consulted for the king, the Sanhedrin, and for an individual who is needed by the community", and David came into the last category since his victory over Goliath. The other members of the Sanhedrin at this time were Avner and Amasa: they are the "runners" standing by the king in v 17: these are "the king's servants", who "DID NOT WANT TO PUT FORTH THEIR HANDS TO STRIKE THE PRIESTS OF HASHEM". They were not willing to strike because they did not believe it was justified. Since Do'eg was in the minority, when Saul challenged him to strike the priests and he did so, he became a ZOKEN MAMRE, an elder who maintains his ruling in face of the majority of the Sanhedrin, who incurs the death penalty (Deut. 17:12). The Midrash tells that Do'eg ended up forgetting everything he had ever taught his students, who realized he was "ruling the pure to be impure and the impure to be pure" and put chains on his legs and dragged him away (Midrash Yelamdenu). The consequence of Do'eg's evil words was that he ended up personally killing 85 Cohanim "bearing the linen EPHOD" (v 18, i.e. each was WORTHY to be High Priest) – from this we see Do'eg's strength – as well as the entire population of Nov, men, women, children and suckling babes, oxen, donkeys and sheep. In other words, Saul's regime, having FAILED to carry out God's command to completely destroy Amalek, now vented its frustration on the Israelites – the very holiest of them! In the words of Koheles (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17) "Don't be too righteous…" (in sparing Amalek) "…and don't be too wicked" (in destroying Nov; Talmud Yoma 22b). [The present day Israeli high court and successive governments since Oslo have mirrored this behavior – also on the basis of a chronic campaign of malicious slander – in favoring the enemies of the Jews while victimizing the settlers, the haredim and anyone who stands up for Toras Moshe and the Halachah, which is according to David.] Psalm 52 gives expression to David's response to Do'eg and his slander.

EVIATAR BEN AVIMELECH Only one son of Avimelech escaped the massacre of the priests of Nov and fled to David, who received him with his characteristic noble eloquence: "he that seeks my soul seeks your soul" (v 23), which can be understood to mean either "he who seeks to kill…" or "he who seeks the good of" both of us (Targum, Rashi). Thus the bond between the kings of Judah and the priesthood – which began when Aaron married Elisheva sister of Nachshon prince of Judah (Exodus 6:23) – was further strengthened in preparation for the building of the Temple.

Chapter 23 David was fleeing from his life against a murderous enemy, but as soon as he heard that Philistine marauders were fighting his brothers in Ke'eela and stealing all their hard-earned harvested produce (ch 23 v 1), he lost no time before consulting the new High Priest's URIM VE-THUMIM, not to ask if it was right to strike the Philistines – this he knew – but whether he would succeed. He repeated his question twice, not because he doubted the answer the first time, but in order to reassure his disheartened men (vv 3-4). David went to Ke'eela and delivered the city but in spite of his courageous campaign on their behalf, the "bosses" of Ke'eela showed treacherous ingratitude in their willingness to hand him over to Saul, who was mobilizing the entire nation for war against David. Again consulting the URIM VE-THUMIM, David vacated Ke'eela, and went with his expanded following of 600 men to the Wilderness of Zif. Thus the action now moves eastwards from Ke'eela, an inhabited agricultural area which, as stated in the commentary on the previous chapter, is a little south of present-day Beit Shemesh, into the mountainous wilderness region south east of Hebron in the direction of Arad. Saul "sought him all the days, but God did not give him in his hand" (v 14), and the one who was closest to Saul – Jonathan – never let his filial duty to his father make him lose sight of the truth. Jonathan, and even Saul himself (perhaps unconsciously) knew that David would rule (v 17). [David is at the opposite end of the spectrum from (LE-HAVDIL) Bin Laden, but if you are willing to make a certain gestalt flip, does the spear-wielding Saul and his army's chase after David in the wild mountains of Zif somehow conjure up images of the US president and army's long fruitless search in the mountains of Afghanistan/Pakistan for the elusive, charismatic Koran-touting rebel -- if he actually exists?] The people of Zif's betrayal of David by reporting his whereabouts to Saul is the subject of Psalm 54, which shows David's dauntless faith in God. Saul welcomed the men of Zif as being "blessed to HaShem", but although Saul spoke the LANGUAGE of faith and prayer, in ACTUALITY he used only TACHBULOS, mandevised strategies, while God was not with him but with David. Saul was rapidly closing in on David (v 26), but at the critical moment a MAL'ACH ("MAMASH" says Rashi on v 27, an "actual" angel) came to tell Saul that the Philistines were invading the entire country. Saul was divided in his own mind as to whether to go off to fight the national enemy or continue pursuing his own perceived demonenemy (Targum and Rashi on v 28), which is why the place was called SELA HAMACHLOKES ("the rock of conflict"). Similarly the present-day Israeli government is unable to make up its mind whether to fight the country's real enemies of continue persecuting Jews who are loyal to Israel and its Torah.

Chapter 24 Saul's massive military pursuit of David now moves to the wilderness of Ein Gedi, an area of enchanting natural beauty familiar to many visitors to the "Dead" Sea area, some of whom may in a quiet, still moment have caught sight of the nimble, exquisitely graceful but very shy mountain goats (ibex) that are to be found in the hills and rocky crags (v 2). When Saul modestly entered the recesses of a cave to attend to his bodily needs, it would have been permissible for David to kill him since "if someone is coming to kill you, you should kill him first" (Sanhedrin 72a based on Exodus 22:1). David must have been very tempted and his men were encouraging him, yet even after merely cutting the corner of Saul's garment, David was smitten by his own heart (v 5) – the sign of a truly humble Tzaddik who after doing something even only mildly improper feels deep contrition. David then "tore his men apart with words" (v 7), showing that he would not allow himself to be swayed by "public opinion", unlike Saul, who listened to the people when they told him to spare the Amalekite king and flocks. When Saul, having sinned by doing so, had gone after Samuel, "he took hold of the corner of his coat and it was torn" (ch 15 v 27). The text there is ambiguous and it is not clear whose coat was torn, Saul's or Samuel's (see Rashi ad loc.), but either way Samuel took it as a sign that "God has torn the kingship of Israel from you today": he gave Saul a sign that whoever would tear the corner of his garment would rule in his place. David's speech of self-defense before his persecutor, Saul (vv 9-15) is another example of David's outstanding nobility and eloquence. He would not set his hand against Saul even when he had the opportunity: he knew and trusted that God would vindicate him and that "as the proverb of the ancients says, Wickedness proceeds from the wicked and my hand shall not be against you". The "proverb of the ancients" (v 13) refers to the Holy Torah, which states that God Himself brings death upon the wicked (Exodus 21:13, see Rashi there and on our verse, I Samuel 24:13; see Talmud Maccos 10b). When Saul heard the actual VOICE of David (v 16), it was a "reality check" that temporarily put to flight the paranoid madness that constantly fed him with demonic fantasies about his imagined persecutor and his evil designs. The actual presence of David had from the beginning had the power to cure Saul of his evil spirit and bring him back to sanity and lucidity (see ch 16 v 23). For while Saul's soul was rooted in OLAM HATOHU, the "world of devastation", David was rooted in OLAM HATIKUN, the "world of repair", and he therefore brought healing wherever his true influence was felt. However, as soon as Saul left David's healing presence and went back to his home, his madness came to the fore again.

Chapter 25 Samuel had become old prematurely (ch 8 v 1) and he died at the age of only 52, in order that he should not see the first king that he had anointed die in his own lifetime. The death of Samuel thus opened the way for the death of Saul, which came only seven months later. David therefore now stood on the very threshold of kingship. Samuel was buried at his home in Ramah, and the hilltop mosque that marks his tomb is a prominent landmark until today and is clearly visible to travelers on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway near the entrance to Jerusalem.

NAVAL It is necessary to bear in mind throughout the narrative of Saul's reign that it lasted a total of only two years (see ch 13 v 1) and that the events described followed very closely on the heels of one another. Since Samuel had been born on Rosh HaShanah (the New Year) in answer to Hannah's prayer, he died on the same day, because God "completes the years of the Tzaddikim" to the very day. The rabbis dated David's request to Naval for sustenance to the eve of the same Rosh HaShanah (see Rashi on v 8), and thus Naval's "heart failure" (v 27) occurred on the morning of Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment, and his death ten days later came on Yom Kippur, when God's decree is sealed if the sinner does not repent. Naval's town of Ma'on and the "Carmel" where his affairs were concentrated (v 2) were both in the mountainous area west of Ein Gedi, some way to the southeast of Hebron . Thus the Carmel in our present text cannot be identified with Mt Carmel in the north of Israel by Haifa, the site of Elijah's challenge to the priests of Baal generations later. The Judean Carmel was a grazing region where Naval evidently became extremely prosperous: he is depicted as the archetype of the wealthy, selfish, arrogant, mean-eyed villain. The ARI states that the soul of Laban was incarnated in Naval: the Hebrew letters of the two names are identical. There are many parallels between Laban's attitude to Jacob and Naval's to David. Our text counterpoints the paradigm case of the EVIL EYE against the messianic David, who had "beautiful eyes and good vision" (ch 16 v 12). David's intrinsic nature was to see and reveal goodness everywhere, while his worst enemies (Saul, Do'eg and now Naval) had the opposite nature and saw only negativity and evil all around them. [The conceptual interrelationship between the evil eye and the death of the heart on the one hand and messianic goodness on the other is analyzed by Rabbi Nachman in Likutey Moharan I, discourses 54 and 55.] When David sent his emissaries to Naval he told them to open with a beautiful blessing for Naval's future prosperity and peace (v 6): this is included in the passages of blessing customarily recited on Saturday night after the departure of the Shabbos. Despite his gracious overture to Naval and despite the fact that David was indeed his relative since Naval was from the Judean house of Caleb (v 3), Naval contemptuously brought up the issue of David's "tainted" Moabite lineage and snidely dismissed him as yet another of the rash of upstart servants who in recent times had taken to rebelling against their masters (v 10, see Rashi). David and his men had heroically helped and supported Naval's shepherds, as testified by one of Naval's own "lads" (v 15-16), yet Naval found it offensive that he should be asked to give any of HIS OWN bread, HIS water and HIS succulent fresh meat "to men that I have no idea where they come from" (v 11). Many of the Jews forced to demean themselves by going from door to door to beg funding for needy Torah institutions from some of the rich "fat cats" of today can testify from personal experience that Naval's attitudes still persist. "And David said to his men, Let each one gird his sword, and each one girded his sword and David too girded his sword" (v 13). Naval's contemptuous refusal to help David and his "servant" smear made Naval a MOREID BE-MALCHUS (rebel against the kingship) because all Israel now knew that Samuel had anointed David to be king (RaDaK on v 13). Yet although this was a capital case, David girded his sword only AFTER asking his men to do so. From this we learn that in capital cases before a Beis Din (rabbinical court) the head of the court states his opinion only AFTER all the other judges have stated theirs, starting with the most junior. For if the head of

the court were to state his opinion first, none of the other judges would have the audacity to openly disagree with him (Sanhedrin 36a). AVIGAIL A bloody massacre was averted only through the shrewdness and presence of mind of Naval's wife Avigail, who is counted as one of the seven outstanding prophetesses of Israel together with Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Huldah and Esther (Megillah 14b). In our present text we see that Avigail prophesied the imminent death of Naval when she said that all David's enemies should end up like him (v 26). Just as Laban's daughters Rachel and Leah had no illusions about the character of their father (Genesis 31:14-15), so Avigail, despite being married to Naval, preserved her integrity and knew exactly how despicable he was. Matching David himself in the eloquence and subtle, tactful delicacy with which she deflected the threatening storm, Avigail saved him from unnecessary bloodshed that would have put a dark stain on his kingship. Avigail's blessing to David, "Let the soul of my master be bound up with the bond of life" (v 29) alludes to the life eternal, and a slightly modified version is customarily included in the form of the initial letters of each of the Hebrew words in the phrase "Let the soul be bound up with the bond of life" (TAV NUN TZADE BEIS HEH) as the last line of inscriptions on Jewish gravestones or dedications in memoriam. Likewise Avigail's curse that the soul of David's enemies should be "shot from the sling" (ibid.) is the foundation for the concept of the KAF HAKELAH (the "pouch of the sling") from which the souls of the wicked are slung by vengeful angels from one end of the universe to the other and back again (Talmud Shabbos 152b). Naval had what today would be called a massive heart attack on hearing the news of the gift given to David (one wonders if the epidemic of heart disease among today's fat and wealthy is related). Naval lingered for 10 days but still did not repent, and he died on the day of God's sealing of His judgments, Yom Kippur. David subsequently took the outstanding TZADDEKES-prophetess Avigail as his wife, as well as Achino'am from Jezre'el (who interestingly has the same name as Saul's wife, see ch 14 v 50). How Saul could have given his daughter Michal, who was already married to David, to Palti ben Layish, and how David could have taken her back afterwards is the subject of extensive discussion in the Talmud and commentaries (Sanhedrin 19a; see RaDaK on v 43) but we will have to leave the intricacies of this discussion for some other time!

Chapter 26 The men of Zif now betrayed David to Saul for a second time, and the king – instantly forgetting his earlier repentance and contrition – hurried off with 3000 choice soldiers in pursuit of his bugbear. The ensuing action once again took place in the barren mountain wilderness area southeast of Hebron towards the "Dead" Sea area. If David had spared Saul's life only the one time when he went to relieve himself in a cave, as narrated in Chapter 25, it could have been seen as some kind of fluke. However, his doing so a second time – even though he knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that Saul was out to kill him – makes it clear that David's forbearance stemmed from true nobility and perfect integrity. David "SAW that Saul was coming after him to the wilderness" (v 3) – his very SOUL saw it – yet he had the utmost

respect for the sanctity of the kingship and for the authority of his own teacher, Samuel, who had anointed Saul. Even when the latter was literally delivered into his hands, David would not strike God's anointed. Saul and all his men were all FAST ASLEEP. While it is said of David that, like a horse, he never slept for longer than it takes to breathe sixty breaths (Berachos 3b) – which is typical of the true Tzaddik, who is constantly awake, alert and advancing in his service – Saul and his top ministers had ceased moving forward and had fallen into deep spiritual slumber and complacency. On entering Saul's camp together with Avishai, David initially invited his companion to take the king's spear and water flask (v 11). However, David evidently did not trust Avishai not to give way to his desire to kill Saul and therefore David took them himself (v 12) in order to be able to prove his loyalty to Saul by showing him that he had stood right by the sleeping king yet still did not kill him. It was a veritable "slumber of God" that had fallen upon Saul and his men. One Midrash tells that David was actually saved by a stinging wasp. It is said that the stinging wasp was one of three creatures the purpose of whose creation had always puzzled David, the other two being the madman and the web-spinning spider. David had already discovered the benefits of madness when he used feigned madness for self-protection during his first stay with Achish king of Gath (ch 21 v 13). He discovered the benefits of spiders' webs when once forced to hide in a cave, over the entrance to which a spider spun a web, making those searching for David assume he could not have entered the cave. Now, as he entered the circle of Saul's sleeping henchmen, Avner moved his leg in his sleep, barring David's exit. Had anyone woken up while David was thus trapped, he would have surely been killed. There was no way for him to escape – until God sent a wasp that stung Avner in the leg, causing him to move his leg again while remaining fast asleep, thereby making a gap in the circle that enabled David to escape (Midrash). God was protecting David at every step of the way, but it was through the minute details of His all-encompassing providence that David had to learn to believe it. After snatching the spear and water flask and making his getaway, David called to Avner, chiding him for sleeping while supposedly being on duty "guarding" God's anointed. When Saul woke up and again heard the VOICE of the noble, saintly David, his sanity and lucidity returned once again and he knew that he had sinned (v 21). So great was David's power of TIKKUN that whenever Saul actually came into direct contact with him, his madness was immediately dispelled. Among David's complaints to Saul were that accursed men were seeking to "drive me out today so as not to be attached to God's inheritance, saying, Go serve other gods" (v 19). The rabbis asked, "Who ever told David to go and serve other gods? Rather, this comes to teach you [since they were trying to force David to live outside the Land of Israel, which he considered tantamount to "serving other gods"] that everyone who dwells outside Land is as if he had worshiped idols" (Talmud Kesubos 110b). I quote this not to upset readers who live outside of Israel, but only to encourage you to think carefully what your purpose is in being there. Saul relented and said he would do David no further harm (v 21) – and indeed the dire situation caused by the imminent massive Philistine war gave Saul no further opportunity to go after David even if he had wanted to. Nevertheless, while "David went on his way"(v 25) – continuing to ascend constantly, rising from level to level – "Saul went back to his place" (ibid.): not only was he not moving forwards, he was going backwards!

Chapter 27 Saul's end was rapidly approaching, and with it the dawn of David's kingship. In the period of barely more than four months before Saul was killed and David became king, the latter took one of those mysterious twists that characterize the dark clock of concealment which accompanies the revelation of Mashiach by going across to the Philistines and appearing to collaborate with them. [Could this mean that the puzzling behavior exhibited by certain "Neturey Karta" adherents in turning out for marches in London and Washington to demonstrate AGAINST Israel and FOR the "Palestinians" – which thoroughly disgusts many of their fellow Jews – is actually in some sense a sign of the imminence of Mashiach??? Likewise many Jews to the left and far left of the political spectrum can also be found supporting Israel's sworn enemies, but perhaps it is because they are so assimilated and hardly identify as Jews that they do not arouse the same disgust.] Thus David now returned to the territory of the Philistines to stay with Achish king of Gath . On his earlier visit he had felt so insecure that he resorted to feigning madness and fled soon afterwards (ch 21 vv 13ff and ch 22 v 1), but now he was no longer alone as he had been before. This time he arrived with an army of 600 men as well as his entourage of wives, and moreover, it was common knowledge that Saul and the whole army of Israel "abhorred" him (v 12) and had been chasing after him, and this was enough to persuade Achish that David was not a danger to the Philistines. Achish gave him the city of Tziklag where he could reside with dignity, but David preferred to spend his time operating as a kind of Israeli undercover agent, ostensibly protecting the Philistines from their enemies in the desert regions of the Negev but actually campaigning against Israel's own endemic enemies, including Amalek. David was wise enough to kill off all he fought against so that there would be no survivors to come and tell Achish what was really going on. Thus Achish thought he had David "in his pocket" (v 12), but the Philistine king was merely deceiving himself.

Chapter 28 "And it was in those days that the Philistines gathered their camps to go to war against Israel …" (I Samuel 28:1). The Philistines were mobilizing for what they intended as a full-scale invasion of the very heartland of Israel. It is noteworthy that David's imminent ascent to the kingship of Israel came at a moment of direst peril for his own nation in their very homeland – the Philistines certainly intended to enslave them -- and that precisely at this time of supreme crisis God's anointed king was actually present with one of the enemy Philistine rulers, ostensibly "helping" him! This mysterious twist may indicate that in our times too the arrival of Mashiach will be signaled by a situation of dire threat to the connection of the people of Israel with their land, and that Mashiach himself may turn out to be somewhere that no-one would ever have expected him to be. The Philistine assault was focused in the area between the Jezreel valley (between Haifa and the central mountain chain) and the valley of Beit She'an (south of Lake Tiberias west of the R. Jordan). Canaanite settlements still survived in these valleys, and the Philistines, entering from the Mediterranean coastal regions of the Land,

evidently intended to foment a Canaanite revolt against the Israelites and then march southwards into the central mountain chain in order to overwhelm and subjugate the Israelite settlements of Mount Ephraim (present day Shomron) and the mountains of Judea, which were the heartland of the country. While Saul's pursuit of David had been concentrated in the territories of Benjamin and Judah, he now marshaled his army, which comprised forces from all the Tribes of Israel as well as the king's standing army. This was a national war. Saul camped on the slopes of Mt Gilboa near the town of Jezreel, which was the key to the control of the Jezreel valley and the road to the valley of Beit Shean and Israelite settlements on the east bank of the Jordan. Prior to this critical battle Saul fully understood the seriousness of the situation. After only two years as king he could see that the entire future of Israel as a free nation in their land was threatened. After having killed the High Priest and a whole city of Cohanim, Saul could not expect any answers about his fate through the Urim Ve-Thumim, or from prophets or experts in asking "dream questions" (a skill that is known to certain kabbalists until today). There is deep pathos in the picture of Saul on the night before his death in battle turning to the very kind of forbidden sorcery that he had spent the two years of his reign trying to eradicate from Israel. (Although the narrative about Saul's reign concentrates primarily on his persecution of David, we can infer from various hints in our text that he succeeded in organizing Israel's first standing army and also sought to continue Samuel's work of weaning the people from idolatry and occult practices. Although Saul was afflicted by an evil spirit in relation to David, this should not be taken to imply that he was not sane or fit to govern in other respects.) The Torah states clearly that "any man or woman that has in them an OV… shall surely die…" (Leviticus 20:27, see also Deut. 18:11). The BAAL OV – "master of the Ov" – is a sorcerer who uses special rituals and incantations accompanied by certain bodily movements to divine the future by eliciting a low, almost inaudible voice allegedly coming from some dead soul to whom questions may be addressed (see RaDaK on v 24 for a detailed analysis of the different opinions among the sages about the Baal Ov). Members of the Sanhedrin were expected to be familiar with the various different forms of witchcraft, sorcery and divination and to understand exactly what is prohibited by the Torah. It is not that the Torah views such practices as inefficacious: the Torah recognizes that God has placed the power of witchcraft in the world, just has He has placed many other kinds of impurity in creation for His own inscrutable purposes. It is just that despite their possible efficacy, the Torah has forbidden Israel to resort to such methods. Somewhat paradoxically, RaDaK (on v 7) states that the surviving female BAALAS OV that Saul's men found for him in EYN DOR (="the eye of the generation") was none other than the wife of Tzefaniah, mother of AVNER – who was Saul's own chief of staff, and who was according to rabbinic tradition one of the two men who accompanied Saul on this eerie mission. After all Saul's cleansing efforts, impurity remained so close to the throne! She did what she did, "And the woman saw Samuel and she screamed with a great cry and the woman said to Saul why did you deceive me?" (v 12). How did she know that the man who had come to consult here was Saul? The rabbis explain that the woman knew her disguised questioner must be the king because normally dead

souls would rise up from beneath the earth feet first, while Samuel arose head first in honor of the king (Tanchumah). "And the woman said, "I saw ELOHIM ascending from the earth". While ELOKIM is one of the names of God, ELOHIM can also mean mighty angels or human judges (cf. Genesis 6:4 and Exodus 22:8). Here, since the verb OLIM is plural, it cannot refer to God. The rabbis stated that it refers to Samuel and a companion – no less than Moses – whom Samuel brought with him because when he was suddenly disturbed from his eternal rest he thought he was being raised for the final judgment and wanted Moses to testify that there was not a commandment in the Torah that he had not fulfilled (Chagigah 4b). The news was very grim for Saul, yet Samuel still told him that "tomorrow you and your sons will be WITH ME" (v 19) – i.e. within Samuel's own MECHITZAH (boundary of holiness) in Heaven (Rashi ad loc.), which at least meant that although Saul and his sons were being taken from OLAM HA-ZEH ("this world") they would have a glorious OLAM HA-BA ("world to come") in virtue of their great saintliness. Saul had sinned but he was still an outstanding tzaddik whose tragic end should make us weep. Despite having been told that he was to die the next day, Saul – to his credit – did not flinch from the call of duty. "When Avner and Amasa, his two companions, asked him what Samuel had said to him, Saul replied that he had told him he would be victorious and that his three sons would ascend to greatness. Said Reish Lakish: At that moment the Holy One blessed be He called to the ministering angels and said, See what a creature I have in my world. Normally a man won't even take all his sons to a party for fear of the evil eye, but this one knows he is going to be killed in battle yet he still takes his sons out to war and rejoices in the Attribute of Justice!" (Midrash Rabbah Vaykra 26).

Chapter 29 Meanwhile David was ready to go out with king Achish and the Philistines to war. We are not told how David intended to act as a "fifth column" in the war in order to subvert the Philistine plans. However, in the event he did not have to do so because Achish's Philistine co-patriots were much more suspicious than he was of David and told him to send David away. Thus the latter was saved from having to take part in a battle against his Israelite brothers and he returned to the land of the Philistines while the Philistines went up to Jezreel to fight Saul.

Chapter 30 Due to the suspicions of the Philistines that David was a fifth-columnist, Achish king of Gath had sent him away while Achish himself marched northwards together with the rest of the Philistine armies to Jezreel for the coming onslaught against Saul and his forces (chapter 29 v 11). Our present chapter thus narrates how David returned to the Negev to Tziklag, the city Achish had given him (which was between Gaza and Be'er Sheva in the region of present day Netivot, north of Ofakim) only to find that the city had been sacked by the ever-opportunistic national enemy of the Israelites, the Amalekites, who took advantage of Israel's present disarray to kidnap all the women and children that David and his men had left behind. It was only through God's mercy on David that the women and children were not killed despite the fact that David himself had left no survivors on his undercover missions against the Amalekites and the other tribes of the southern wilderness regions (ch 27 v 9, see RaDaK on ch 30 v 1).

As yet, however, David and his men had no information about the fate of their kidnapped women and children and could only fear the worst. This was a critical moment for David because the people wanted to lynch him out of grief and anger at David's "antics" in going off with Achish in the first place, which had left the unguarded women and children exposed to the kidnapping. The people's readiness to stone David is reminiscent of the people's readiness to stone Moses when they found no water in the wilderness at Rephidim, which was also one of the locations where Amalek attacked (Exodus 17:4). "And David was in very sore straits… but David strengthened himself in HaShem his God" (v 6). This was typical of the noble David, who immediately called for the High Priest to bring the Urim VeThumim to ask if he should pursue the Amalekites (v 78). It was through divine providence that David and his men found the starving Egyptian slave of an Amalekite who because of weakness had been left by his master to die in the wilderness – typical of hard-hearted Amalekite mercilessness. David found the Amalekites feasting and drinking in celebration of their predations (cf. the celebrating bands trying to get up the mountain in Rabbi Nachman's story of the Spider and the Fly). David was able to restore all those who had been kidnapped and take all the Amalekite booty and kill all the Amalekites except for 400 young men who rode off on camels and escaped (v 17). The Midrash comments that these four hundred survived in reward for the fact that the four hundred men that Esau brought with him against Jacob (Genesis 32:6) all slipped away and are not mentioned again in that narrative. They went off because they had the good sense not to want to get scorched by the burning coal of Jacob (Bereishis Raba 75). This Midrash seems to imply that the four hundred who escaped in David's time were incarnations of the four hundred who slipped away in the time of Jacob – indicating that history constantly revolves in interrelated cycles. Thus Saul's career as king had begun with his unsuccessful search for his father's ATHONOS ("donkeys") which according to ARI allude to the husks of Amalek (see commentary on I Samuel ch 9), while David initiated his career as king with the restoration of all that was lost to the Amalekites – because David's constant trust in God earned him His aid. DIVIDING THE SPOILS The Amalekites had been looting the Philistines as well as the Israelites (v 16), leaving an enormous booty to be divided up among David's victorious forces. "And every evil and worthless (BELIYA'AL) man spoke up from among the men who had gone with David and said, 'We shall not give any of the spoil to those who did not go with us'" (v 22). These "evil and worthless" men exhibited exactly the same kind of mean-eyed selfishness as Naval, who is described with exactly the same epithet of BELIYA'AL (ch 25 v 25): in not wanting to share any of the booty with those who were too weak to go out to war, they violated the fundamental Torah value of collective social welfare, which saves us from the cruel inequality that comes when the strongest take all. "And it was from that day AND ABOVE that he made it as a statute and a judgment for Israel …" (ch 30 v 25). The unusual phrase "from that day AND ABOVE (VOMAALAH)" where we would have expected "from that day ONWARDS" alludes to the fact that sharing the spoil equally between those who fought and those who stayed at home was not instituted by David himself but revived from the ancient practice

of Abraham, who after his victory in the war of the four kings against the five (Genesis ch 14) insisted that those who had stayed guarding the equipment should take a share in the booty just like those who had gone out to fight the enemy (ibid. v 24; see Rashi on I Samuel 30:25). In everything David did, he followed the Torah. "And David came to Tziklag and he sent from the booty to the elders of Judah …" (v 26). Thus David consolidated his leadership over his own tribe of Judah as he prepared to become the new king of Israel.

Chapter 31 The ascent of the Messianic David to the kingship came at a moment of cataclysmic national crisis. First the Philistine forces killed Saul's three sons, and their archers then cornered Saul. Seeing that the end was at hand Saul was deeply fearful of the Philistines, and knowing the vengeful cruelty they were sure to display against him, he preferred to end his own life first. RaDaK (on verse 5) points out that Saul did not sin in killing himself despite the fact that the Torah writes, "But I will require your blood for your souls" (Genesis 9:5), which means "I will require your blood if you kill yourselves". Nevertheless, Saul did not sin because he had already been told by Samuel that he was going to die in the battle and moreover, once he saw that he was surrounded by the Philistine archers and would be unable to escape, it was better that he should kill himself than allow himself to be abused by the uncircumcised Philistines (cf. Yalkut Shimoni on Genesis ch 8 Remez 61). DISASTER The death of Saul and his three sons on Mt Gilboa and the routing of the Israelite forces left the nation in total disarray. The Israelites in the Jezreel valley region and on the east bank of the Jordan felt so threatened by the Philistines that they simply abandoned their cities and fled, leaving the enemy to occupy strategic areas of the Land. Manifesting a blood-thirsty vengefulness that also typifies the Palestinians who have adopted their name in modern times, the Philistines gleefully mutilated the bodies of Saul and his sons, taking his skull to the temple of their god Dagon (I Chronicles 10:10) and hanging his body on the fortified wall of Beit She'an. The Israelite inhabitants of Yavesh Gil'ad (who were from the half tribe of Menashe that took their portion east of the river Jordan) had a special motive for their daring exploit in rescuing Saul's body and those of his sons from where the Philistines were exhibiting them on the wall of Beit She'an. This was because Saul's very first act as king had been to come to the rescue of the inhabitants of Yavesh Gil'ad when they had been presented with an impossibly cruel ultimatum by Nachash king of Ammon (I Samuel ch 11 vv 1-11). Because of the kindness of the men of Yavesh Gil'ad (CHESSED SHEL EMES – TRUE kindness), God said, "You have dealt kindly with Saul and his children, so shall I give your reward to your children. In time to come, when the Holy One blessed be He is destined to gather in Israel, the very first He will gather in will be the half tribe of Menasheh, as it is written, 'Mine is Gil'ad and Mine is Menasheh'" (Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer 17). [A little over a week before the writing of this commentary, it was reported in the Israeli media that about 250 members of Bney Menashe flew from the remote areas of eastern India near the border with Bangladesh where

they have been living for thousands of years and made Aliyah to Israel! This is surely a sign that the ingathering of the Ten Tribes is happening before our very eyes!] With the respectful burial of Saul's bones, the First Book of Samuel ends on the theme of the honor that must be shown to the king even after his death – for this book has traced the steady transition from a state in which "each man did what was right in his own eyes" to one in which Israel had a kingship. "And Samuel was dead" (ch 28 v 3). The rabbis asked how this squares with the tradition that Samuel wrote the book called by his name. They answer that the Book of Samuel (including what we call II Samuel, which tells the story of the kingship of David, whom Samuel had anointed) was completed by Gad the Seer and Nathan the Prophet (Bava Basra 15a).

Book of II Samuel Chapter 1 The norm today in the political life of most nations is that after a regime-change, the new ruler does everything possible to smear and destroy the reputation of his predecessor. Thus the Amalekite lad who came to announce to David that he had killed his greatest persecutor assumed that David would rejoice in the news. Not so: despite David's being surrounded by bloody conflicts on every side, he never lost sight of his noble aspiration for true peace and reconciliation. The Amalekite says "I CHANCED to be on Mt Gilboa…" (v 6). This is because Amalek denies the unity of God and His ubiquitous providence. Accordingly for him, everything is pure chance (cf. Deut. 25:18: Amalek "CHANCED upon you" – same Hebrew root as here). However Saul, who had already fallen on his sword and was in his death throes, realized that the presence of the Amalekite at this critical moment was no chance. The king asked the Amalekite to finish him off before the Philistines could get to him and abuse him (v 9 see Rashi) – as if Saul knew that he had to execute the divine judgment upon himself for his failure to wipe out Amalek when charged to do so by the prophet. The Amalekite stripped Saul of "the crown on his head and the ornament on his arm" (v 10) – i.e. his head and arm TEFILIN – and brought them to David expecting a rich reward. But far from rejoicing over Saul's death, David immediately rent his garments mourning over the slain head of the nation's Sanhedrin and his son Jonathan, David's dearest friend. He publicly eulogized them, and wept and fasted until the evening, after which he swiftly meted out fitting justice upon the head of this Amalekite, who had shown no respect for God's anointed king. DAVID'S LAMENT It was Saul who had "lost it" in persecuting David, but despite the pain and suffering David had endured at his hands, he never wavered in the slightest from his loyalty, love and devotion for his master, God's anointed king, who had been head and shoulders above the rest of the nation in sanctity and righteousness. David's immortal lament for Saul and David is the very height of sublime eloquence, expressing his pain at the death of two outstanding heroes who had been unflinching in their war against the uncircumcised Philistines and their idols. It was as if the "high places" of Israel had become an Altar of atonement through the slaying of these warriors: "How are the mighty fallen!" (v 19). The phrases of verse 23 of David's lament are included in the AV HARACHAMIM prayer in memory the Jewish martyrs in all ages recited in the Synagogue on Shabbos after the conclusion of the reading of the Torah and Haftara just before ASHREI.

"Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet…" (v 24). "Rabbi Yehudah says these are the actual daughters of Israel, for all of whose needs Saul provided when their husbands went out to war… Rabbi Nehemiah says, The Daughters of Israel are the sages of the Sanhedrin, and they should cry because when Saul would hear the explanation of the reason for a law from the mouth of a Torah scholar, he would rise and kiss him on his mouth!" (Talmud Nedarim 31b). Thus we see the greatness of Saul, the warrior king who organized Israel's first army so humanely and who showed constant honor, love and devotion to the Torah.

Chapter 2 Through the Urim Ve-Thumim of the High Priest, God told David to go up to Hebron to rule over Judah. It was necessary for David to reign for seven years in Hebron (v 11): this was because David is the "fourth leg" of the Throne of Glory, the three other legs being the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Before David – the RECEIVING vessel of Malchus – could reign over all Israel, he first had to attach himself to the Patriarchs (buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron) and receive from them the spiritual influence that he would bestow upon the people. David had to be in Hebron for SEVEN years, because the attribute of MALCHUS consists of SEVEN Sefirot of Building (Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Yesod, Hod and Malchut) and each had to receive the influence of the three Patriarchs. Although as yet David reigned only over his native tribe of Judah, he still acted as king over all Israel, as illustrated in his magnanimous message to the men of Yaveish Gil'ad who had buried the bodies of Saul and his son. "And now strengthen your hands and be men of valor, for your lord Saul is dead, and the house of Judah have anointed even me as king over them" (v 7). Metzudas David (ad loc.) explains that David was guaranteeing the men of Yaveish Gil'ad that he would be help them no less than Saul if they came under attack from Israel's enemies. CIVIL WAR & NATIONAL RECONCILIATION The people of Israel were teetering on the very brink of civil war. Avner ben Ner had been Saul's commander-in-chief as well as his first cousin, and Avner now saw it as obvious that Saul's successor should be his surviving son Ish-Bosheth (the Hebrew name means Man of Shame – shame in the sense of deep modesty, a virtue greatly treasured by Saul.) It is a Torah law that when a king is anointed, he gains the kingship for himself and his children for ever, because the kingship is hereditary" (Deuteronomy 17:20, Rambam, Laws of Kings 1:7). Although Avner surely knew that David had been anointed as king by Samuel, the rabbis teach that Avner darshened from God's promise to Jacob that "KINGS will go out from your loins" (Genesis 35:11) (a promise that was given when only Benjamin still remained to be born) that at least TWO kings were destined to come from the tribe of Benjamin, i.e. Saul and Ish-Bosheth (see RaDaK on v 8). Ish-Bosheth emerges as a weak and rash-minded figurehead. Avner first took him to Machanayim, a strategic town east of the River Jordan (safe from the Philistines) on the very boundary between the territories of the tribes of Gad and Menasheh. Although the places to which subsequently Avner took his candidate for the kingship are enumerated in only a single verse – v 9 – in fact the spread of IshBosheth's regime took place in successive stages over a period of several years. Gil'ad is the collective name for all of the Israelite territories east of the Jordan. The ASHURI most probably refers to the territory of the tribe of Asher in the western Galilee, while the successive spread of Ish-Bosheth's regime southwards to Jezreel, Mt Ephraim and the territories of Benjamin brought his kingship to the very heartland of Israel .

Just as Saul's commander-in-chief Avner was also his close relative, so too David's commander-in-chief, Joab son of Tzeruyah, was his own nephew: Tzeruyah was David's sister (I Chronicles 2:16). A superficial reading of our narrative may leave the impression that Avner on the one side and Joab and his brothers on the other were some kind of swash-buckling warriors, but in fact their internecine battles were not necessarily purely physical but also spiritual: embedded in our present narrative is the prehistory of the later MACHLOKES (conflict) over the general contours and details of the Halachah as conducted among the Tannaim (sages of the Mishneh) and Amoraim (sages of the Talmud). Thus when Avner invited Joab to allow twelve representatives of each side to engage in a gladiatorial struggle to the death, "each one took hold of his fellow's HEAD" (v 16). This seems to indicate that this was on one level an intellectual battle between potential representatives of the Twelve Tribes for spiritual dominion over the nation. "For the race is not won by the swift" (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Asa'el was reputed to be so fleet of foot that he could run over the very tips of the ears of corn in a field without breaking them. Even so, his swiftness did not help him on the day he chased after Avner (Koheles Rabbah 9). The latter offered him to make an honorable getaway, but when Asa'el refused, Avner speared him through the rib into his liver and gall bladder and killed him. This put Asa'el's brothers Joab and Avishai into the role of GO'EL HA-DAM, "avenger of the blood" (Deut. 19:12 etc.) of their slain brother. This in itself threatened the nation with a vicious spiral of bloodshed (vv 24-25) but Avner had the good sense to make an overture for peace – "Shall the sword devour for ever?" (v 26) – and although he himself had initiated the bloody violence (v 14), Joab still agreed to call a halt for now, and the two parties returned to their respective bases. "And the light shone to them in Hebron" (v 32): with the Messianic king now installed in Hebron, there was hope that despite the potential for a protracted bloody civil war, it would indeed be possible to forge true peace and national reconciliation.

Chapter 3 Before continuing with the account of the decline of the house of Saul, our text (vv 2-5) lists the sons who were born to David during the seven years that he reigned in Hebron. Of these sons, Amnon, Avshalom (Absalom) and Adonoiah all play leading roles in the ensuing narrative of the life of David. In verse 3 we learn that Avshalom – who was later to rebel against and almost snatch the very kingship from his father – was David's son from Ma'achah daughter of Talmi ("Ptolemy"?) king of Geshur. The rabbis teach that Ma'achah was captured in war (I Samuel 27:8 refers to David's campaign against the Geshurites) and was thus in the category of EISHES YEFAS TO'AR, the "beautiful captive woman" that her Israelite captor is permitted to marry under certain conditions (Deuteronomy 21:11). However, written directly after this mitzvah in the Torah is the law of BEN SORER U-MOREH, the "rebellious gluttonous son" (ibid. vv 18-21), who must be stoned to death. Avshalom is the prime exemplar of the case of the rebellious son born to the YEFAS TO'AR. The rabbis taught that EGLAH the wife of David mentioned in v 5 is none other than Michal daughter of Saul, whom he betrothed with 100 Philistine foreskins and who

was beloved to David like a favorite calf (cf. Judges 14:18 where Samson alludes to his wife as a calf). DECLINE OF THE HOUSE OF SAUL The civil war between the House of Saul (Benjamin) and the House of David (Judah) was part of a protracted historical process which began in the time of Joseph in Egypt when Judah stepped forward to become protector and guarantor of Jacob's youngest son, Benjamin (Genesis 43:9; 44:18ff). Benjamin was unique among the twelve tribal founders inasmuch as he was the only "Sabra" – he was the only one of Jacob's children who was actually born in the Land of Israel (Genesis 35:16). Home-born Israelis are called Sabras after the prickly, thickskinned desert cactus fruit that is so sweet and refreshing inside! The tribe of Benjamin showed their prickly nature in their war against the other tribes in the aftermath of the gang-rape of the Pilegesh in Giv'ah (Judges chs 19-21), while Saul showed similar tough-skinned Gevurah ("might") throughout his reign. Nevertheless, as explained by the ARI, the House of Saul was rooted in Olam HaTohu, the "World of Devastation", and their kingship could not endure, for the TIKKUN ("repair") was to come about only through the House of David. Indeed, later on, it was only through identifying himself with Judah that Saul's Benjaminite descendant Mordechai – known as HeYehudi, "the Judah-ite" (Esther 2:5)– was able to rectify Saul's flaw by destroying Haman the Amalekite. (YEHUDAH has the connotation of denying idolatry, see Likutey Moharan I, 10.) The conflict between the House of Saul and the House of David was later expressed in the conflict between Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel. The fall of the House of Saul in David's time came about through the rashness of his son Ish-bosheth, who vented his suspicions that Avner was involved with Saul's concubine. If this was true, it was forbidden by Torah law (Rambam, Laws of Kings 2:1-2), which prohibits anyone else marrying a dead king's widow (see RaDaK on II Samuel 3:7). Avner greatly resented these suspicions after he had resolutely stood up for the House of Saul, and this gave him a strong motive to go to make peace with David and bring over the rest of Israel to support his kingship. David made his acceptance of Avner's overtures conditional on the return of his wife Michal, whom Saul had given to Palti son of Layish (I Samuel 25:44). As indicated briefly at the end of the commentary on the above-referenced chapter, the halachic ramifications of Michal's "marriage" with Palti are very complex as normally a woman who marries a second husband is thereafter forbidden to return to her previous husband (Deut. 24:4), although Saul had no right to take Michal from David and give her to another man. In any event, the rabbis taught that Paltiel understood that he was not free to be with Michal as a husband, and that he drove a sword between himself and her in bed in order to remind himself that if he so much as touched her the sword of divine punishment would be unleashed against him. Paltiel's going out after Michal weeping (I Samuel ch 3 v 16) is darshened as referring to his weeping over having lost the great mitzvah of abstention from a tempting but forbidden relationship that was now being taken from him (see Rashi ad loc.). Although Avner had a personal motive for ceasing to support the House of Saul, he showed great courage and true statesmanship in setting national unity above any partisan interests he may have had as Saul's commander-in-chief. When Avner visited David in Hebron to talk about national reconciliation, Joab was absent fighting and pillaging the Philistines. On hearing of these negotiations on his

return, Joab suspected that Avner had ulterior motives and had come to Hebron to spy on David and check out the weak points in his regime (v 25). Joab had good reason to mistrust Avner, who had killed Joab's brother Asa'el as told in ch 2 v 23. Thus Joab and his brother Avishai were under Torah law in the role of GO'EL HADAM, "avenger of the blood". Joab succeeded in assassinating Avner by waylaying him inside the gate of Hebron. The "gate" alludes to the Sanhedrin, where Joab challenged Avner as to the legality of his killing of Asa'el. Avner is said to have replied that he was justified in doing so since Asa'el had been pursuing him and thus came into the category of a RODEIF ("pursuer"). Joab replied that where possible a person being pursued should strike the RODEIF only hard enough to deflect him but not to needlessly kill him. Avner replied that he had not been able to aim sufficiently accurately, at which point Joab asked him how come he was able to aim for Asa'el's fifth rib. Avner had no reply to this. The text states that Joab took Avner aside "to speak to him BASHELI". This unusual Hebrew word has the connotation of "innocently" – indicating that Joab did not let Avner understand what he was intending to do. The rabbis state that Joab asked Avner a complex halachic question (which as deputy leader of the Sanhedrin in the time of Saul, Avner had the authority to answer). The question was how a girl with a stump-arm can carry out the mitzvah of HALITZAH (removing the sandal of her dead husband's brother if the latter does not want to perform the levirate marriage with her, see Deut. 25:9). Avner crouched down to demonstrate how such a girl could release the straps of her brother-in-law's sandal using her teeth, at which point Joab took his opportunity to drive his sword into Avner's fifth rib to avenge his brother's blood. [In Exodus 3:5, God's command to Moses to REMOVE his shoes uses the word SHAL, "take off", which according to the drush is alluded to in the word BA-SHEL-I in our present verse. See RaDaK on II Samuel 3:27.] David immediately dissociated himself from the assassination of Saul's commanderin-chief, and went on to curse Joab very severely, although the latter remained his commander-in-chief almost to the end of David's life. It is ironic that the curses called down upon Joab and his descendants by David – who as king embodies the attribute of MALCHUS, associated with severe Judgment – were all visited on David's own descendants. Rehaboam was a ZAV (a man suffering a morbid flow from his member); Uzziah was a leper; Asa went with a stick because of illness in his legs; Josiah died at the sword while Jehoachin was lacking bread. These curses fell on David's descendants because David intended to kill Joab and should not have cursed him as well (RaDaK on v 29). A king does not normally attend funerals (Rambam, Laws of Mourning 7:7; Laws of Kings 2:4) but David made an exception in the case of Avner to demonstrate publicly that he had had no hand whatever in his assassination and wanted to avoid any further escalation of the civil war and on the contrary was anxious to bring it to a close. David's statesmanlike behavior indeed found favor in the eyes of all the people (v 36) and contributed greatly to the resolution of the conflict.

Chapter 4 With the death of Avner, the House of Saul was further weakened, and besides Saul's son Ish-bosheth, the only surviving member of any significance was the young son of Jonathan (who had been Saul's "crown prince") – MEPHI-BOSHETH, who as a child escaping from the Philistines after Saul's defeat had fallen and become lame. Mephi-bosheth appears again in the narrative later on (ch 9 etc.).

The perpetrators of the bloody daytime assassination of Saul's son Ish-bosheth during his afternoon rest thought that their act would win them favor in the eyes of David, whom they perceived as being no different from the normal run of new rulers, who are anxious to "neutralize" all possible rivals. However David's eyes were always to God (v 9), and he had no more patience for this kind of murderous criminality than he had shown to the Amalekite who prided himself on having dispatched Saul (ch 1 v 15-16). David had no intention of founding the kingship that was to lead to the building of the Temple and the establishment of the Sanhedrin by its side upon the bloody assassinations of all perceived opponents. (It would greatly benefit the world if today's political assassins would learn the lesson.) David made a gory public example of the killers of Ish-bosheth in order to deter others, and had the severed head of Ish-bosheth buried in the grave of Avner in Hebron. The site of the grave of Abner is just a few minutes walk from the graves of the Patriarchs in Hebron and can be visited until today.

Chapter 5 With the death of Ish-Bosheth there was no other serious contender for the kingship besides David, who had already won the love of the nation when he killed Goliath. There was no prophet of the stature of Samuel to publicly "crown" David similarly to the way in which he had publicly appointed Saul, but everyone knew that in his lifetime Samuel had already anointed David, and the latter's public acceptance by all the Twelve Tribes (ch 5 vv 1-3) was the final seal on his kingship. "AND THE KING AND HIS MEN WENT TO YERUSHALAYIM" (v 6) David was in Hebron when he was accepted as king by all the tribes. His very first move without delay was to go to Jerusalem. In our present text, it says that David "AND HIS MEN" went up to Jerusalem, making it appear that David's main support was coming from his existing following. However, this was not at all the case: in I Chronicles 11:4 speaking of the move to Jerusalem, it says, "And David AND ALL ISRAEL went…" In other words, ALL ISRAEL were now David's men: he was king without any opposition. (The overall purpose of the Book of Chronicles is not merely to repeat historical narratives but primarily to establish the primacy of the House of David, yet it does contain numerous parallel accounts of the events described in Samuel I & II and Kings I & II, often with important supplementary details.) It was now necessary to conquer the citadel of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, because the Israelites had a tradition that Zion would be the capital city of the kingdom of Israel and that it would only be captured by one who was king over all Israel. Until that time no-one had been truly king over all Israel, because Saul's kingship did not endure (RaDaK on verse 6). As discussed in the commentaries on Joshua and Judges, "the children of Judah were NOT ABLE to drive out the Jebusite inhabitants of Jerusalem" (Joshua 15:63) NOT because they did not have the power to do so but because they were still constrained by the oath of Abraham to Avimelech (from whom the Jerusalem Jebusites were descended) not to harm his grandchildren or great grandchildren. This oath had been extracted by the Canaanites in exchange for agreeing to sell the Cave of Machpelah to Abraham – his first acquisition of property in the Holy Land . When David tried to enter Jerusalem, the Jebusites taunted him that he would have to remove "the blind and the lame" (v 6). One explanation of this is that the

Jebusites had placed their idols on the walls of their city for protection – idols are called "blind" because "they have eyes but they do not see" and "lame" because "they have legs but they do not walk" (Psalm 115:5 & 7). The Midrashic explanation is that the Jebusites had placed great copper statues on the wall – one of them blind to represent Isaac (Genesis 27:1) and another lame to represent Jacob (Genesis 32:31) – with scrolls coming out of their mouths inscribed with Abraham's oath to Avimelech. However, since the oath was limited to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, it had already expired and David was free to capture the city. I Chronicles 11:6 relates that it was Joab who actually succeeded in getting up onto the fortified wall and destroying the idols ("detested by the soul of David" v 8). The Midrash relates that he got up onto the wall by driving a tall poplar tree into the ground outside the city, pulling its top branch down onto the ground, climbing up on David's head and using the tree as a kind of catapult to shoot himself up onto the wall (see RaDaK on vv 6-8). Something as important as the capture of Jerusalem – eternal City of David from which the word of God will ever go out to the whole world – could not but come about with a great leap! "AND DAVID KNEW…" (v 12) David knew that God had given his kingship a firm foundation when he saw his miraculous success over Israel 's endemic enemies. The gift by Hiram king of Tyre of timber together with craftsmen in wood and stone to build David a house was a sign of the growing international recognition of the House of David that would culminate in the time of Solomon, whose Temple Hiram also helped to build and to whom all the kings of the earth came to pay their respects. Although Solomon is mentioned in our present chapter in the list of David's sons born in Jerusalem (v 14) the circumstances of his birth are narrated in detail later on. "AND THE PHILISTINES HEARD…" (v 17) Although the Philistines had defeated the Israelites at Gilboa and subsequently occupied many of their abandoned cities, they do not appear to have made serious efforts to press their military advantage thereafter: perhaps they saw the conflict between the House of Saul (Avner and Ish-bosheth) and the House of David as one that would automatically weaken the Israelites, and in any case, when in flight from Saul, David had ACTED as some kind of "ally" of the Philistines, or at least of Achish king of Gath. But now that David had taken Jerusalem from the Canaanites, causing a great arousal of holiness, it was inevitable that there should be a corresponding arousal of the forces of unholiness (for "God has made the one against the other" Eccles. 7:14). Similarly, the ingathering of Israel to their land in the last few hundred years has been accompanied by a steadily growing arousal of enmity on the part of those who see themselves as the successors of the Canaanites and Philistines. From the accounts in our present text and other texts in II Samuel and I Chronicles, it can be inferred that in David's reign there were three major battles between the Israelites and the Philistines with a number of secondary skirmishes. The first two battles took place in EMEK REFA'IM ("valley of the giants") which is south west of the Citadel of Jerusalem and which is familiar to those who know the present-day Jerusalem, being the name of one of the city's most important arteries leading from the Baka district, where the old Jerusalem Railway Station is located, to the

southern suburbs. This road actually runs through the valley after which it is named. The south west end of EMEK REFAIM joins Nachal Shorek, through which the railway passes on the way to Beit Shemesh. It would appear that the Philistines came up from their habitations in the coastal and lowland regions through Nachal Shorek in order to advance on Jerusalem and were massed in Emek Refa'im when David -- on the instructions of the Urim VeThumim – successfully struck them and destroyed their idols (vv 17-21). This defeat did not deter the Philistines, who advanced a second time (vv 22-25). This time the Urim VeThumim answered David that he was NOT to attack them "until you hear the voice of treading on the heads of the mulberry trees" (v 24). According to the Midrash, the Philistines were within four cubits of the Israelites but still David would not allow them to advance even if it meant they would die ("better to die righteous and not die wicked"). This showed enormous faith in God (unlike Saul, who did not carry out God's words to the last detail), and at last the Israelites saw the mulberry trees waving – protective angels were walking on the foliage – and successfully attacked the Philistines (Yalkut Shimoni).

Chapter 6 David's foremost goal was to build the Temple in Jerusalem in fulfillment of Jacob's prophetic dream of the Ladder on that very site. The Hebrew word for "ladder" is SULAM, the letters of which have the same numerical value as those of SINAI – for the very center point of the Temple was the EVEN SHESIYAH ("Foundation Stone") upon which Jacob had rested his head, and this was the destined resting place of the ARON – Ark of the Covenant – which contained the Tablets of Stone Moses received at Sinai. The Temple is not only a place of worship but one from which Torah is to shine forth to all the world. Thus after the conquest of Jerusalem, it was now necessary to bring the Ark of the Covenant up from Kiryat Ye'arim (= Baaley Yehuda in v 2) where it had remained ever since it had been brought up there from Beit Shemesh after its return from captivity among the Philistines (I Samuel chs 6-7). DAVID'S ERROR "David erred in something that even little school-children know, that the Ark must be carried ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE LEVITES (Numbers 7:9) and not on a wagon. However, David said "Your statutes have been SONGS to me in the house of my sojourns" (Psalm 119:54) – this was considered somewhat too light-hearted an attitude to God's laws, and David was penalized by making the mistake of transporting the Ark on a wagon, thereby indirectly causing the death of Uzza when he thought it was about to fall and put out his hand to steady it" (see Rashi on v 3). This harsh blow on what was supposed to be an occasion of consummate national joy (parallel to the deaths of Aaron's sons Nadav and Avihu on the day of the consecration of the Sanctuary in the wilderness, Leviticus 10:1-2) made David's face "change into a charred oven-cake" (Sotah 35a) – he was ashen with fear of God. By putting out his arm to "steady" the Ark, Uzza betrayed a fundamental misconception – that man needs to protect the Ark, whereas the truth is that the Ark protects itself. It appears that man carries the Ark, but in fact the Ark carries those who carry it – and the same applies to the entire Torah. While it appears that we have to "carry" the Torah through our observance of its commandments, in fact the Torah carries us every day of our lives.

On the great blessing that came to Oveid-Edom when the Ark was in his house for three months (his wife and eight daughters-in-law each had sextuplets, which is why he had a household of 62 = 8 sons + 9 x 6 babies, I Chronicles 26:8) the Talmud comments: If this is the reward of one who takes in the Ark, which neither eats nor drinks, how much more is the reward of one who gives hospitality to a Torah sage in his home and gives him to eat and drink…" (Berachos 63b). MUSIC AND DANCE Many secrets of the Temple music are embedded in this chapter, which enumerates some of the Temple instruments. When the Philistines returned the Ark in a wagon drawn by nursing cows, contrary to nature the cows and even their calves began to sing – because the Ark creates music everywhere: the music of God's providence, where everything is interconnected. Likewise David accompanied the taking up of the Ark to its resting place in the eternal city of Jerusalem with ecstatic music and dance. David's own dancing was far superior to that of any dervish, yet it elicited the sarcastic derision of his wife Michal, Saul's daughter, who saw it as undignified. Similarly since the beginnings of the Chassidic movement, which gave birth to an explosion of fervent devotion accompanied by much dancing, some have tended to look scornfully upon the "antics" of the Chassidim as lacking in dignity. (Thus when Rabbi Avraham Kalisker, who had been outstanding student of the Gaon of Vilna, became attached to the Baal Shem Tov and began dancing for joy in the streets of Vilna, the Gaon never spoke to him again – yet Rabbi Nachman, who saw R. Kalisker in the latter's old age, described him as the only truly perfect Tzaddik he had ever seen.) The House of Saul were indeed modest in the extreme, and the rabbis in the Midrash said that Michal told David that no one in her father's house would let so much as a tiny portion of a hand or foot be exposed. However, David replied that her father's house ignored the glory of Heaven and were mainly concerned with their own glory, while his dancing was purely to glorify God (see RaDaK on v 20). Let us abandon our concerns about our own dignity and take a lesson from David about how to throw ourselves into the service of God with true fervor. * * * The sections in II Samuel 6:1-23 and 7:1-17 are read as the Haftara of Parshas Shemini, Exodus 9:1-11:16 * * *

Chapter 7 * * * The sections in II Samuel 6:1-23 and 7:1-17 are read as the Haftara of Parshas Shemini, Exodus 9:1-11:16 * * * "AND IT WAS WHEN THE KING SAT IN HIS HOUSE…" (v 1) "…And God gave him rest from all his enemies roundabout" (v 1). David's victory over the Philistine invaders at the battle of Emek Refa'im (ch 5) brought to an end the wars that had afflicted the Israelites in their own home territories since the beginning of the period of the judges. Although David still fought many wars (as we see in Chapter 8), from now on all the battles were in enemy territory, and this was the "rest" that God gave David "from all his enemies roundabout". The Torah commands that "when He will give you rest from all your enemies roundabout and you dwell securely. And it shall be that the place that the Lord your

God shall choose to cause His Name to dwell therein ..." (Deut. 12:10) – that place "…shall you search out" (ibid. v 4). From these verses David learned out that as soon as peace came to the Land, it was a sign that it was time to fulfill the mitzvah to build the Temple. David felt uncomfortable living in his own magnificent house built with timber sent by Hiram of Tyre while the Holy Sanctuary in Giv'on was merely a temporary structure and the Ark newly brought up to Jerusalem had no proper home. (Those who live in extravagant homes while the Temple remains in ruins should take note.) David therefore consulted Nathan the prophet – for all David's actions were based on the guidance of the prophets or the Urim VeThumim – and Nathan felt that the logic of David's understanding of the passage in Deuteronomy was compelling and told David to go ahead. Notwithstanding this logic, Nathan's INTUITION proved incorrect, and God sent him PROPHECY that very night telling him to put the brakes on David. The rabbis taught that David was so eager that without this immediate prophecy he would have started building the Temple at once and David was the type who could well vow not to eat or drink until it was completed (cf. Psalm 132:2). Since David was not destined to build the Temple, he would have lost out badly had not God immediately sent Nathan to stop him (see RaDaK on v 2 & Rashi on v 4). Nathan's prophecy centers on the appointment of David and his offspring for ever as the true royal house of Israel (vv 8-11), and prophesies the birth of Solomon, to whom God would be a "father" while he would be God's "son" and would actually build the House to His Name (vv 12-15). In verse 12 God announces to David that "I will establish your seed after you THAT WILL COME FORTH FROM YOUR LOINS…" This is the sign that the son who would build the Temple was not Absalom or Adoniyah since they had already been born in Hebron, while the builder of the Temple had yet to come forth from David's loins. The story of the mysterious chain of events whereby the soul of the wisest man that ever lived came into the world will begin in chapter 11. "AND KING DAVID CAME AND SAT BEFORE HASHEM…" (v 18) In response to Nathan's eloquent prophecy about the glorious destiny of the House of David, the king "sat before HaShem" – i.e. he sat in meditation and prayer before the Ark of the Covenant (only kings of the House of David are permitted to sit in the AZARA, which is the main Temple courtyard, while all others, including even the High Priest, must stand) – and there he poured forth his equally eloquent, humble prayer of praise and thanks and his supplication for future divine protection. "AND THIS IS THE TORAH OF ADAM…" (v 19) While David's literal meaning in these words may be understood to be that he humbly recognized that his destiny as spelled out in Nathan's prophecy was fit for a great man and not a lowly one such as himself (Metzudas David, RaDaK), his words also imply that he was granted a vision of all the future generations just like Adam (Rashi on v 19), and also that David was comparable to Moses (RaDaK on v 19). Just as Moses was the greatest of the prophets, so David was the greatest of the kings. Moses took Israel out of Egypt while David released them from servitude to the nations. Moses split the Red Sea, while David split the waters of Aram Naharayim (Psalms 60:2). Moses gave Israel the Five Books of the Torah, while David gave us the Five Books of Psalms… (RaDaK ibid.)

David's prayer, with its many memorable phrases (v 23 is included in the Shabbos afternoon Amidah prayer) concludes with his supplication for God's future blessing and help – all to enhance the glory of His Name. David had been planning the Temple since his initial flight from Saul (I Samuel 19:18 as darshened in Zevachim 54b). From this time on he studiously gathered in all the booty from his wars to Jerusalem, as described in the next chapter, in order to amass all the necessary materials to enable Solomon to build the Temple without delay on ascending to the throne.

Chapter 8 In the last decades the Jewish people have witnessed the alarming tendency for historians to rewrite and revise established history in order to suit later opinions and points of view. Thus holocaust denial has been a favorite theme of anti-Semitic writers and publicists until this very day, while the actual history of the birth and growth of the Jewish YISHUV ("habitation") in the land of Israel hundreds of years before the Zionist Congress of Basle and the 1917 Balfour Declaration until today has been totally distorted by the Arabs and their supporters in the mass media and academia worldwide. Likewise it appears that the true greatness of the Israelite empire and sphere of influence as established by David and Solomon, which stretched "from the river [Nile] to the river [Euphrates]" and endured for much of the period of the later kings, was long ago willfully erased from the annals of history as presented by the chroniclers of the nations. Yet despite what seems to have been deliberate revisionism on the part of Israel's enemies, it is possible to reconstruct a picture of the true extent and nature of this glorious empire with its sphere of spiritual and cultural influence from various passages in II Samuel, I & II Kings and Chronicles, including our present chapter. All of the wars described in this and the ensuing chapters took place outside the boundaries of the Israelite's existing habitations. METHEG HA-AMAH in verse 1 is identified by the commentators with Gath (see RaDaK on v 1), which was the leading Philistine city since it was the only one whose ruler was called "king" (such as MELECH Achish) as opposed to "captain" (SEREN). Gath was indeed part of the tribal territory of Judah but had for centuries fallen under Philistine occupation until the time of David. His campaign in Moab and the harsh punishment he meted out there (v 2) were in revenge for the killing of his parents by the king of Moab (see Rashi here and on I Samuel 22:4). The people over whom king Hadad-ezer (vv 3ff) ruled were Arameans – descendents of Noah's son Shem – who originally dwelled in eastern Turkey and Armenia and subsequently migrated in waves southwards into Mesopotamia and westwards from the Euphrates in the direction of the Mediterranean. The Arameans comprised a number of different streams (including the family of Abraham's brother Nahor and of Laban and Bilaam), and their language, Aramaic, was the lingua franca of the entire region. Laban's agreement with Jacob as described in Genesis 31:44-53 was a covenant demarcating their respective spheres of influence. It was only during the period of the Judges that the Arameans migrated into what is now Syria and Lebanon, where they rapidly built up their city-based principalities into strong metropolises that wielded power over extensive belts of territory.

Throughout the period of the kings of Israel, the Arameans were one of the main scourges from which the nation suffered. From various verses in our present text and in the parallel account in Chronicles we can piece together a picture of David's wars against Hadad-ezer, whose home-base of Tzova was in the BIK'A ("valley") of Lebanon, while his sphere of influence extended to Damascus . David's breaking the legs of the Aramean horses (v 4) was designed to make it impossible for them to use their main military resource in future as well as to avoid taking the horses for himself, which would have violated the Torah prohibition against the king's "multiplying horses" (Deut. 17:16). David placed Israelite garrisons in the Aramean territories in Lebanon and Syria, thereby turning them into Israelite colonies (v 6). These territories (including the Golan heights) had large Israelite populations throughout the periods of the First and Second Temples and well after the Jewish exile from Israel. In the language of the Mishneh and Talmud, these territories are collectively called "Suria" (= Syria). Had David conquered them AFTER completing the conquest of all the territories comprising the actual Promised Land, Syria would also have been incorporated into the Land and all of the MITZVOS TOLUYOS BA-ARETZ (agricultural and other commandments that apply in The Land) would also have been applicable in Suria. However, since David's conquest of Suria came BEFORE the conquest of all of the Promised Land, these laws do not apply there in full but only partially. The roots of the present conflict between Israel and Syria over the Golan Heights and Lebanon lie in David's conflicts with the Arameans millennia ago. As indicated earlier, David transported all the gold, silver and copper and other booty captured in his wars to Jerusalem in readiness for the building of the Temple. "And David made a NAME when he returned from striking Aram …" (v 13). The rabbis taught that the NAME that made David famous among all the surrounding nations came in virtue of his unique behavior in his foreign wars (long before the "Geneva Convention"). Whereas other nations would leave their slain enemies lying on the battlefield for the vultures to eat, David had his generals BURY them with dignity (see I Kings 11:15), just as the Israelites are destined to bury the fallen hordes of Gog and Magog in time to come (Ezekiel 39:13). David's placing of garrisons in the territory of the Edomites and his turning them into a subject nation (verse 14) signifies the end of the World of Devastation in which the kings of Edom (= the "broken vessels" of Sheviras HaKelim) ruled before there was a king over the Children of Israel (Genesis 36:31), thereby initiating the order of TIKKUN (repair). "And David ruled over all Israel …" (v 15). "…And David practiced justice and charity to all his people" (ibid.) It was precisely this "justice and charity" that constituted the repair. The Talmud asks what kind of justice it is that involves charity – surely strict justice and kind charity are opposite attributes? The answer is that a legal PESHARAH ("compromise" = WIN/WIN) is a judgment that is sweetened with kindness and charity (Sanhedrin 49a). Instead of fighting one another, people were willing to make concessions, and this is what leads to true peace within the nation.

Chapter 9 The rabbis advised to "be careful of the government, because they only reach out to a person to serve their own need and appear to show him love only so long as they have benefit from him but do not stand up for him in his hour of hardship" (Avos 2:3). King David showed himself a notable exception to this mode of government, displaying his truly royal nature in searching for any surviving

members of the House of Saul that he might be able to help despite the fact that he had nothing whatever to gain from showing them favor. David remained loyal to the covenant he had struck with Jonathan at the very beginning of their acquaintance (I Samuel 18:1-3) and which had been renewed several times with both Jonathan (I Samuel 23:18) and Saul himself, to whom David had promised that he would never cut off his seed (I Samuel 24:21-2). Tzeeva, the "servant of the House of Saul" whom David called for information about surviving members of Saul's family, evidently had the status of EVED KENA'ANI, a "Canaanite slave", who according to the law of the Torah remains a slave unless his master frees him and who is part of his master's estate, passing on his death into the possession of his inheritors (see Leviticus 25:44-6 and RaDaK on II Samuel 9:2). Unless he or she is freed, the Canaanite slave is not permitted to marry a free Israelite and enter the Kahal ("Assembly"), but is nevertheless a member of the Covenant and is bound by all of the commandments that Israelite women are obliged to fulfill. (Thus the Canaanite slave must observe Shabbos, eat kosher, share in the Paschal lamb, etc. but does not wear Tefilin or pray the set daily prayer services etc.) With the death of Saul and his three sons in the war against the Philistines and the subsequent assassination of his fourth son, Ish-bosheth, the only male survivor of Saul's house was the son of his first-born Jonathan – Mephibosheth -- who had been a small child at the time of the Philistine war and who while being evacuated by his nursemaid had fallen and injured both legs, leaving him permanently lame (II Samuel 4:4, see RaDaK there). His lameness is symbolic of the collapse of Saul's house. It appears that Saul's family estate now legally belonged to king David because Saul's son Ish-bosheth was MOREID BE-MALCHUS, a "traitor against the kingship", since with Avner's encouragement he had acted as king despite the fact that all Israel knew that Samuel had anointed David to be king after Saul. Under Torah law, the estate of a traitor falls to the crown, and thus David's kindness to Mephibosheth lay in returning the estate to the family, which he was not legally obliged to do (see RaDaK on v 7). David thus appointed Tzeeva as APOTROPUS ("adult executor" or "guardian") over Saul's estate for the benefit of the young Mephibosheth. Tzeeva and Mephibosheth will enter the narrative again in II Samuel ch 16.

Chapter 10 After the death of Nahash king of Ammon, David wanted to "practice kindness" with his son Hanoon – i.e. to send a delegation to comfort him in his mourning – because "his father practiced kindness with me" (v 2). Nahash's "kindness" to David lay in taking in the one member of his family who survived when the king of Moab killed all the others after David had taken them there when he fled from Saul (I Samuel 22:1-6; see Rashi on II Samuel 10:2). The Torah commands Israel not to seek out the peace and goodness of the Ammonites or Moabites "all your days forever" (Deut. 23:7) because far from hospitably coming out with bread and water to help their Israelite cousins in their journey from Egypt through the wilderness to their land, they even hired the Aramean Bilaam to come and curse them. The rabbis criticized David for showing kindness to those who were intrinsically unkind, pointing out that it led only to a humiliation for David and his delegation

that escalated into a full scale war (see RaDaK on ch 10 v 2). [Similarly, contemporary attempts to appease angry terrorists and their supporters have only led to escalating terror and violence.] The new Ammonite king's advisors convinced him that David – whom they presumably perceived as a menacing expansionist – was seeking to spy on them in order to prepare to incorporate them into his growing empire. In view of the history of Jewish costume in the last few hundred years, it is interesting to note that the humiliation which the Ammonites chose to inflict on the Israelite delegation was to shave off their beards and cut their garments in half over the buttocks. Similarly, in 19 th century Germany, the first acts carried out by Jews wanting to dissociate themselves from traditional European Jewish culture were the removal of their beards and the drastic shortening of their coats, turning them into jackets that barely covered their buttocks, earning for Jews of German origin until today the nickname of YEKERS ("short jackets"). Realizing that their blatant provocation of David was likely to elicit a very firmhanded military response, the Ammonites repeated their ancestral ploy of calling in help from Aram . Since the times of Bilaam, the Aramean clans had spread westwards from Mesopotamia into the territories of modern-day Syria and Lebanon, and the Ammonites summoned Aramean mercenaries from there to attack David's forces from the rear when they advanced against the capital city of Ammon . HOW DAVID'S MEN MADE WAR The serious military crisis in which David's commander-in-chief Joab found himself in the war with the Arameans and Israel's other enemies is reflected in Psalm 60. The Ammonites intended to coordinate with the Arameans in order to stage a pincer attack on the Israelite forces, who saw the war closing in on them "from in front and from behind" (v 9). It is noteworthy that Joab did not merely raise his hands to God and hope for the best: first he carried out his HISHTADLUS ("effort in the world of practical action"), dividing the Israelite forces into two, sending his brother Avishai against Ammon while he himself marched against the Arameans, who because of their numbers and training were the more serious threat. Only after making a pact of mutual support with Avishai (v 11) and giving him a powerful "pep talk" on being courageous "for the sake of our people" (that they should not be captured) and "for the sake of the cities of our God" (that they should not be sacked) did Joab then entrust the outcome of their efforts into the hands of God (v 12). This trusting believer's way of making war met with a positive outcome, and the Arameans fled from Joab while the Ammonites fled from Avishai (v 13-14). Hadadezer, the king of Aram Tzova (in the BIK'A of Lebanon) now sent for Aramean reinforcements from east of the Euphrates, but David went out against them with the entire Israelite army and forced the Arameans into submission (v 19). This gave David's kingdom supremacy in the entire region, opening the way for the conditions of peace in which the future builder of God's Temple in Jerusalem could be born through the mysterious chain of events that is the subject of the ensuing chapters.

Chapter 11 "AND IT WAS AT THE RETURN OF THE YEAR…" (v 1) Unlike traditions whose saints are presented as totally flawless halo-wearing supermen, the Torah does not seek to hide the sins of even a Moses or a David. The Torah testifies that Moses sinned once – and once only – by striking the rock for water instead of speaking to it, for which he was strictly penalized by not being allowed to lead the Children of Israel into their land (Numbers 20:12; Deut. 32:51). Likewise the prophet does not spare even David, the Messianic king, who is not some kind of perfect angel having no connection with the material world but a real man of flesh and blood with very human desires and impulses. David is Messiah not because he never sinned but because having sinned, he acknowledged his wrongdoing and repented completely, and then went on to teach all mankind the path of true repentance. If David sinned, it was not the kind of gross carnal sin that average people stumble into time and again. In the words of the rabbis, "Anyone who says that David sinned is simply mistaken" (Shabbos 56a). We cannot expect to understand the true nature of what for David on his level was a "sin", any more than we can clearly understand anything else about the fathomless depths of the soul of Messiah. It was in order for David to teach the world the path of repentance that there was some kind of heavenly necessity for David to sin. Before trying to get a glimpse of where his sin may have lain, let us first understand what it was NOT. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov remarked that someone who does not understand why the Land of Israel had to be in the hands of the Canaanite nations before it came into the hands of the Children of Israel will also not be able to understand why Batsheva had to be married to Uriah the Hittite before she was married to David (Sichos HaRaN). From these words, we may infer that Batsheva was intended for David – for it had been prophesied to him already that he was destined to have a son who would build the Temple (II Samuel 7:12-13), and only a unique woman could mother the wisest man that ever lived. (Batsheva proved her strength of character in various ways, see I Kings 1:15ff; moreover, the Midrash says she had no compunction about chastising Solomon even after he became king.) The greatness of the TIKKUNIM ("repairs") that were destined to result from the union of Batsheva with David was such that the two could only come together in a manner overshadowed with darkness and mystery. David's sin was not the common man's sin of going into a woman who is NIDDAH ("menstruant"), because Batsheva was purifying herself in the Mikveh ("ritual pool") at the very moment when David saw her (v 2). Nor does the fact that the text makes it appear she was married to Uriah the Hittite mean that she was simply in the category of EISHES ISH ("a man's wife"). Although on the surface it looks as if David was guilty of adultery, this is not so. In David's time it was the practice of all men prior to going out to war to give their wives a GET ("bill of divorce"). The purpose was to ensure that if the husband went missing in the war, his wife would not become an AGUNAH ("anchored women", unable to marry anyone else) and that if he was killed and left no children, she would not be subjected to the humiliation of YIBUM or HALITZAH (levirate marriage). Soldiers could thus wholly throw themselves into fighting the war without having to worry what might happen to their wives if they lost their lives. The formula of the GET followed the standard formula of a GET AL TENAI ("conditional divorce") that made the divorce retroactive to the time of the giving of the GET in the event that the husband died in the war (Rashi on v 4; Talmud Kesuvos 9b; Rambam, Laws of Divorce ch 8).

When Batsheva informed David that she had conceived, he sent for Uriah and ordered him to go into Batsheva (v 8) so that when the child was born Uriah would think it was his own, which would help cover up the scandal. It was only when Uriah refused to go into Batsheva while his brother Israelites were fighting a war that David contrived to have him killed. The death of Uriah in the war would cause his GET to Batsheva come into effect retroactively, as explained above, meaning that at the time of David's relations with her she was technically NOT a married woman. If the sin was NOT that Batsheva was a Niddah or a married woman at the time of the relations, what was it??? Did David sin in ordering Joab to send Uriah to a battle-position in the continuing Ammonite war in which he would certainly be killed? Our rabbis teach that Uriah was indeed guilty of a capital offense in refusing to carry out David's order to go into Batsheva. This made him MOREID BEMALCHUS ("a traitor to the kingship") the penalty for which is death. Where David sinned was in contriving for Uriah to be killed in such a way as to make it seem that he was merely a war casualty, whereas in fact David should have taken Uriah before the Sanhedrin and had him publicly condemned to death (Shabbos 56a). However David did not want to do this as it would have drawn public attention to the questionable circumstances of his relations with Batsheva. It was not that Batsheva was not meant for David and that he took what was not his. The sin was that having caught a glimpse from his roof-top of the mother of Solomon, he took her by force and tried to hide what he was doing instead of waiting for God to bring her to him in the course of time. In this respect there is a certain parallel between David's sin and that of Moses' impatiently striking the rock for water instead of speaking to it.

Chapter 12 The real meaning of Nathan's reproof for David personally is not even our business. The average individual cannot expect to grasp the exact nature of David's sin. The prophet's reproof to the saintly David is directed at US, the average readers, who are to learn from it how to recognize our own sins and how to repent in order to rectify them. From verse 4, which successively refers to the rich man's visitor as a HEILECH ("passer-by"), then an ORE'AH ("visitor") and finally an ISH ("man of stature"), the rabbis learned out that the nature of the evil inclination is first to drop in casually as a passer-by, then to install himself within us as a long-term guest, until he finally takes over the entire house and acts as the BAAL HABAYIS ("owner of the house"; Succah 52b). Nathan the prophet used the parable of the rich man's taking the poor man's lamb in order to prompt David to see for himself where his sin lay and how he should be punished. Had Nathan simply asked David to consider his behavior and ask himself if he had done anything wrong, the king may have tried to rationalize away his actions. Instead, Nathan told David a graphic story about somebody else's gross behavior and asked him to give a quite impartial evaluation of this kind of behavior that would not be colored by the need to justify himself. Rabbi Nachman (Likutey Moharan I, 113) teaches that this is the method whereby God consults sinners about how they should be punished. If He were to ask them directly about their own behavior, they would never give an impartial reply and would always judge themselves too leniently. He therefore shows them someone else's behavior which is parallel to their own and then asks them how they judge it. According to their evaluation of the other person's deeds and how they should be penalized, so God judges and penalizes their own, and this is the meaning of the rabbinic statement

that "a person is punished with his knowledge (MI-DAATO) yet without his knowledge" (SHELO MI-DAATO)" (Avos 3:16). We should be very careful when looking at and judging the behavior of others in case we are unknowingly being invited to decide our own fate. In angrily demanding that the rich man pay fourfold, David sealed his own fate: he suffered by losing four children – Batsheva's first baby, Amnon, Tamar and Absalom (Rashi on v 6). "Why have you despised the word of God to do evil in His eye?" (v 9). As explained above, the evil was not that Batsheva was already married or that she was not intended for David. The evil was that while knowing Batsheva was intended for him, David still contrived to take her using subterfuge. If Batsheva had not been intended for David, why after punishing him with the death of the baby did God allow Batsheva to conceive and bear a child of whom our text states that "HaShem LOVED him" (v 24)? According to the Midrash based on the KSIV "HE called" and the KRI of "SHE called" in v 24, it was not Batsheva but God Himself who called the child's name SHLOMO, which is also the Name of God throughout Song of Songs. If David's relationship with Batsheva was inherently evil, how could it be that the one who built God's very Temple was born as a result? David acknowledged that he sinned (v 13), and he fully repented: Psalm 51 is eloquent testimony to the depth and sincerity of David's repentance and his ability to turn the very sin into merit by using it to teach others the path of repentance. Whereas king Saul's sins led to his deposition from the kingship, David's kingship was not undermined by his sin, which indeed added a new dimension to David's Torah, showing that even a Tzaddik can sin and that even a Rasha (wicked person) can repent. With the birth of Solomon (who does not enter the narrative again until the very end of David's life), the protracted war against the Ammonites came to an end with David's capture and destruction of the capital city and his cruel punishment of the Ammonites (v 31). This was particularly severe because the Ammonite god alluded to in verse 30 ("the crown of MALKOM") and in the KSIV of verse 31 (MALKON as opposed to the KRI of MALBEIN) is none other than MOLEKH, whose worship through passing children through the fire is strictly proscribed by the Torah (Leviticus 18:21, see RaDaK on II Samuel 12:1). How David could have placed the crown of an idol on his own head when the appurtenances of idolatry are normally strictly forbidden is explained by the rabbis as having been made possible through the prior nullification of the Ammonite idol by a non-Israelite (Talmud Avodah Zarah 44a). How David could have balanced a such a heavy crown on his head (it weighed a talent of gold) is also discussed by the rabbis, some of whom say that it had a magnet in it that caused the crown to be self-suspended in the air! This is by no means the least of the weighty mysteries embedded within the fathomless allegory of these chapters.

Chapter 13 After David's sin in taking Batsheva, Nathan the prophet had told him: "For so says God: behold I will raise up evil against you from your HOUSE" (I Samuel 12:11). Immediately afterwards and for the rest of his reign, David was afflicted with a succession of intrigues, scandals and rebellions from within the royal household itself. The rabbis said: "Harsher is the effect of bad upbringing of children in a man's house than even the war of Gog and Magog" (Talmud Berachos 7b). The rabbis learned this from king David's expression of pain in Psalm 3, "A song of

David when he fled from Absalom his son", while there is no similar expression of pain in Psalm 2, which speaks of the war of Gog and Magog. The rape of Absalom's sister Tamar, narrated in our present chapter, set off the chain of events that eventually led to Absalom's later rebellion against David, in which the latter came very near to losing the throne. After we heard in the previous chapter about the birth of Solomon, what we see in the ensuing episodes in David's life is how three of Solomon's older brothers excluded themselves one after the other from the succession. In raping and then rejecting Tamar, Amnon, who was David's first-born son from Achino'am the Jezreelitess (II Samuel 3:2), earned him Tamar's brother Absalom's implacable hatred, resulting in Amnon's death. It was David's rejection of Absalom in the aftermath of his killing of Amnon that led him to rebel and try to seize the throne. Later on, at the very end of David's life, his fourth son Adoniyahu tried to take the throne but was thwarted. Thus all other serious contenders to the throne were rejected from the succession in favor of Solomon, who was born out of the highly questionable union of David with Batsheva. Having tried to cover over his own private scandal, David now had to face a succession of public scandals. According to Torah law, Amnon would have been permitted to marry Tamar, because according to rabbinic tradition, Tamar was born from David's first union with Ma'achah, daughter of Talmai king of Geshur (II Samuel 3:4). Ma'achah was a YEFAS TO'AR (the "beautiful captive woman", Deut. 21:11), with whom an Israelite warrior is allowed to have relations one time when he first captures her, but thereafter he must abstain from all further physical relations with her until he converts her and marries her as his full wife. Ma'achah had conceived Tamar from her first union with David (and thus Tamar was not "born in holiness" and was not an Israelite woman but had to convert), while Tamar's brother Absalom was Ma'achah's son from David AFTER Ma'achah's conversion and formal marriage, making Absalom a home-born Israelite. Amnon, who was David's son from his first wife, Achino'am, was still permitted to marry Tamar despite the fact that they both had the same father, because Tamar's mother was in the category of a captive slave woman when she conceived Tamar, and "slaves have no YICHUS" (pedigree), i.e. even the closest incest prohibitions do not apply to freed slaves who convert even when biologically related with the exception of the prohibition of a son marrying his mother or her immediate blood relatives. The same technically applies to all gentile converts (Rambam, Laws of Forbidden Relationships 14:13). Thus even though it was known that David was Tamar's biological father, it still was halachically permitted for Amnon to marry her. The rabbis taught: "In any case where love depends on something in particular, when that something is no longer present, the love also goes away, whereas when love is not conditional upon anything, it never goes away. What is an example of love that depended on something? The love of Amnon for Tamar, while the example of unconditional love is that of David and Jonathan" (Avos 5:16). Despite the permissibility of Amnon's marrying Tamar, this was not what interested him. He was infatuated with her beauty – she was, after all, the daughter of a YEFAS TO'AR – and just as David had taken Batsheva by force, so Amnon contrived to take Tamar by force. Rambam writes (Hilchos Yesodey HaTorah, "Foundations of the Torah" 5:9): "If someone has set his eyes on a woman and becomes so sick as a result that he is in mortal danger, even if the doctors say he will not be able to be cured until he has relations with her, he should die and she must not be allowed to have relations with

him even if she is unmarried. One may not even permit him to speak with her from behind a barrier, and he should die rather than be permitted to speak to her in order that the Daughters of Israel should not be HEFKER ('free for anyone to grab') resulting in the breakdown of the incest prohibitions." Thus it was very evil for David's nephew Yonadav to advise Amnon to contrive to get Tamar to prepare him BAGELS (boiled-fried doughnuts) as a cure for his sickness in order to be alone with her and rape her. Yonadav was "very wise" (v 3) – "to do evil" (Avos d'Rabbi Nathan 9:4). Unfortunately cases of cruel rape have today become so common that they have ceased to cause shock and horror. However in earlier, more innocent times, the Biblical account of Amnon's rape and subsequent betrayal of Tamar was considered so shocking that in the days when the Bible was publicly studied in the Synagogues and a METURGEMAN ("translator") would explain the text to the assembled people in the Aramaic vernacular, he would refrain from publicly translating the story of Amnon and Tamar (Rambam, Laws of Prayer 12:12). The only time the story would be read publicly was in the Temple, when it was read to the SOTAH (a wife whose loyalty had been called into question) to show her that sexual impropriety can take place even among royalty in order to encourage her to confess (Rambam, Laws of Sotah 3:2). The only one who comes out clean from this story is Tamar herself, who was a model of modesty. As an unmarried girl she would normally stay cloistered in the home and it was precisely because Amnon knew he would never catch her alone that he manipulated his father into ordering her to come to him to tend him in his illness. The rabbis say that after having raped her, the reason why Amnon suddenly hated her more intensely than he had ever loved her was because during the act he caught his member on one of her hairs and it was partially severed, disqualifying him from entry to the Assembly (Deut. 23:2; Sanhedrin 21a). Thus Tamar was ruined and Amnon was ruined, and "when king David heard all these things it made him very angry" (v 21). Our rabbis taught that at that very hour, king David and his BEIS DIN ("court") decreed the laws prohibiting YICHUD ("being alone together in private") between men and women even where both are unattached and not forbidden to one another through incest prohibitions (Sanhedrin 21a; Rambam, Issurey Bi'ah 22:3). Thus we see how a Biblical passage – the story of Amnon and Tamar – throws light upon the reason for an institution that is one of the pillars of Torah sanctity and modesty. Although the prohibition against YICHUD is MI-DERABANAN ("instituted by the rabbis"), it is necessary to understand that the "rabbis" who instituted it were not some kind of dark-coated medieval clerics: they were none other than king David and his BEIS DIN! Tamar's brother Absalom had good reason to feel aggrieved over the despicable treatment of his sister by Amnon, but instead of making a public complaint to the king over the matter, he hid his feelings and now contrived to take vengeance on his older half-brother. We learn in the next chapter (ch 14 v 25) of Absalom's perfect physical beauty – he too was the son of the same YEFAS TO'AR as Tamar – and through his endearing presence combined with his skill in manipulation, he succeeded in persuading David to send Amnon to take part in Absalom's forthcoming sheep-shearing celebrations (ch 13 v 27). It is interesting that Absalom ordered his servants to kill Amnon while the latter was drunk with wine,

because Absalom himself was a Nazirite (ch 14 v 26) and was not allowed to drink wine himself. The public assassination of the king's oldest son during a sheep-shearing celebration caused consternation among the other members of the royal household, who fled on their mules (see Bartenura on Mishneh Kil'ayim 8:1), while Absalom fled to his mother's native country of Geshur, where his grandfather was the king.

CHAPTER 14 David longed for Absalom even more than a normal father longs for a son, because David was king of Israel, and while Solomon's wives later "led him astray", David surely hoped that his own fulfillment of the Biblical commandments, including that of marrying the YEFAS TO'AR, would lead to the glorification of God and bring righteous gentiles into the community. All the time that Absalom was back in his mother's native, idolatrous Geshur, it was an affront to the very kingship of heaven that David hoped to establish on earth. THE WISE WOMAN OF TEKO'A Joab had already been in trouble with David over the very same kind of cycle of bloodshed and revenge that now afflicted the king, since Joab had killed Avner in revenge for his having killed Joab's brother Asa'el, thereby invoking David's curse for continuing the bloody war against the House of Saul. Seeing that David was torn with longing for Absalom, Joab wanted to persuade the king to re-instate him but felt unable to approach him directly (it cannot have been easy to try to counsel a king David). Joab therefore turned to the mysterious Woman from Teko'a in order to take Nathan the Prophet's method of clothing reproof in allegory one step further. In Chapter 12 we saw how Nathan told David the story of the Rich Man who stole the Poor Man's only lamb in order to reprove him over his having taken Batsheva. Now Joab calls on a wise woman (rather differently from the way Abner had taken Saul to the woman who raised the ghost of Samuel) and Joab coaches her in pretending to be involved in a saga carefully calculated to touch David's compassionate heart. The appearance of this Wise Woman is reminiscent of certain other mysterious women who appear in the Bible having the good sense to take dramatic action in order to reverse serious cycles of violence in Israel . Another case is that of the woman who stopped the rampages of Avimelech son of Gideon by smashing his head with a millstone (Judges 9:53): that woman was specifically mentioned by Joab himself in II Samuel 11:21. The town of Teko'a is in the territory of Judah south of Jerusalem a short distance east of Efrat/Bethlehem. Teko'a was noted for its wonderful olive trees, and because the locals habitually consumed the excellent olive oil, wisdom was found among them (Menachos 85b). The main point of the claim of the woman of Teko'a to David was that even though one of her fictitious sons had killed the other, it was not legal for other members of the family – as GO'EL HA-DAM ("avenger of the blood") – to continue the bloody cycle by killing the killer, because as she pointed out, "there was no one to save between them" (v 7) i.e. there had been NO WITNESSES to the original killing (see RaDaK on v 6). She implied that the only reason why the other family members wanted to kill the killer was to eliminate all her late husband's direct heirs and thereby get their hands on his estate!

Having presented her parable in the form of the case of her two purported sons and manipulated David into swearing he would save the "killer" (v 11), the Wise Woman of Teko'a went on to use her artful eloquence to show David that Absalom should likewise be reinstated without being punished for the killing of Amnon, because there had been no witnesses to prove that he was responsible. "For we shall surely die, and like the waters that are drawn down towards the ground and cannot be gathered again, so God will not take bribes but He thinks up thoughts so that even one rejected will not be rejected by Him" (v 14). The Wise Woman of Teko'a was appealing to David to leave Absalom alone and let God decide whether he deserved punishment or not. Having sworn to her, David could not backtrack from his oath and agreed to allow Joab – whose hand he quickly recognized in all this – to recall Absalom to Jerusalem, although he would not admit him into his presence. The return of the aggrieved Absalom laid the ground for his subsequent rebellion against David, for which he patiently and skillfully prepared by nagging Joab repeatedly for several years to give him admission to David. When Joab did not respond, Absalom showed his manipulative skills by telling his servants to burn Joab's barley crop (v 30), forcing him to go to David to plead for Absalom's reinstatement, to which David agreed. In verse 27 of our present chapter we learn that Absalom had three sons, while in II Samuel 18:18 we are told that he had none. The rabbis reconciled this apparent contradiction through the tradition that Absalom's sons died as a punishment for his burning Joab's crops, because "anyone who burns his neighbor's crops does not leave a son to inherit him" (Sotah 11a).

Chapter 15 Verse 7 of our present chapter dates Absalom's rebellion "AT THE END OF FORTY YEARS". This cannot mean at the end of forty years of David's reign, since he reigned for only forty years altogether while the ensuing narrative deals with numerous events that took place after the quelling of the rebellion. Thus our rabbis stated that this verse means "forty years from the time the Children of Israel first asked Samuel for a king" (Talmud Temurah 15a). For one year thereafter Samuel reigned jointly with Saul, after which Saul reigned alone for 2 years. "At the end of forty years" thus brings us to the thirty-seventh year of David's reign, three years before he died. The closing years of David's reign were thus wracked with troubles, of which Absalom's rebellion was one of the most serious, coming very close to succeeding. Absalom was the archetype of the self-seeking, power hungry narcissist whose evil eye was turned against his father's kingship (see Likutey Moharan I, 55). Absalom built his power-base in precisely the same way as a populist politician, telling everyone exactly what they wanted to hear. He would give everyone who was aggrieved and disenchanted the feeling that he was totally on his side and would give him his full support, subtly smearing the established regime as being indifferent to people's suffering (vv 3-4). Like present day political campaigners, Absalom literally went around hugging and kissing the crowds (v 5). This was how "Absalom stole the heart of the men of Israel ". "Stealing the heart" is the same as what in rabbinic literature is called GENEVAS DA'AS, "stealing the mind" by craftily deceiving other people into thinking exactly what one wants them to think. The Talmud comments that Absalom "stole" THREE hearts: that of his father David, that of the Beis Din (the court of law) and that of all Israel , and he therefore died having THREE stakes driven into his heart Sotah 9b).

Absalom deceived his unsuspecting father into allowing him to go to Hebron , the very heartland of Judah , where he staged a carefully contrived plot to spring a sudden coup d'etat on everyone. Rashi (on v 11) brings a midrash from the Jerusalem Talmud Sotah stating that Absalom asked David to give him a written slip ordering any two men that he invited to go with him to do so. Absalom kept showing the same slip to more and more pairs of men, until he ended up with a most impressive band of men following behind him. Absalom's greatest "catch" was Achitophel, who emerges as another mysterious, sinister, outstanding Torah genius somewhat reminiscent of Doeg HaAdomi in his power to cause harm. Not only was Achitophel the leading sage and counselor of the time, whose advice to Absalom – had it been followed – would certainly have led to the defeat of David. Even more surprising is that Achitophel was actually the grandfather of David's own wife, Batsheva! Batsheva's father, Eli-am (II Samuel 11:3), was the son of Achitophel (II Samuel 23:34). The rabbis taught that it was Achitophel's own MAZAL ("destiny") that deceived him into siding with Absalom. Achitophel thought that he himself was going to be king, and intended to trick Absalom into killing David in order that Achitophel would be able to condemn him in the Sanhedrin and thereby depose him. What Achitophel did not understand was that the kingship was not destined to come to himself but to his daughter Batsheva's son Solomon. DAVID'S FLIGHT Absalom's "coup d'etat" put David in extreme danger. Realizing that Absalom's flaw was that of turning MALCHUS, "kingship" into ARROGANT SELF-SEEKING, David took refuge in the opposite quality of supreme humility, taking his entire household on foot from Jerusalem into self-imposed exile. David evidently did not believe that he had the power to overcome Absalom's nation-wide rebellion even in his own capitol city. Instead he made for the east bank of the Jordan (Gil'ad) where the Israelite population owed a debt of gratitude to David for providing them with security through his successful campaigns against the neighboring peoples of Mo'ab and Ammon. David went into exile accompanied by a sizeable contingent including his "mighty warriors (ch 16 v 16), "all the KEREISY ('archers') and all the PELEISI ('slingers')" and "six hundred men that came on foot from Gath ", who may have been Philistine mercenaries. The rabbis state that the KEREISY and PELEISI actually allude to the Urim VeThumim (Talmud Berachos 4a): even in his hour of dire crisis, David sought guidance only from God. The rabbis teach that David first turned to Eviatar the High Priest to ask guidance from the Urim VeThumim, but Eviatar received no answer and was thus deposed from being High Priest. This was in accordance with God's decree, as Eviatar came from the rejected line of Eli the Priest, who was descended from Aharon's fourth son, Ithamar. It was then that Tzadok, who was from the line of Aharon's third son, Elazar, became High Priest (RaDaK on v 23). David ordered Tzadok to take the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, where in fact the priests would be able to spy on Absalom for David's benefit. And "if I find favor in the eyes of God, he will bring me back and show me the Ark and its resting place. And if He says thus, 'I do not desire you', here I am, let Him do to me as is good in His eyes" (vv 25-26). Thus David surrendered himself to God completely, praying that He should thwart Achitophel's counsel (v 31).

Chapter 16 Even in his hour of supreme crisis, David had certain allies and helpers who proved themselves true friends in his time of need. One who was less than truthful, however, was Tziva (ch 16 v 1), who certainly owed a debt of gratitude to David for having appointed him manager/director over all the estates of Saul for the benefit of the late king's only surviving grandson, Mephiboshes, as told in I Samuel ch 9. When Tziva now arrived in the wilderness with badly needed supplies of food for David and his men, he answered David's question about the whereabouts of Mephiboshes by accusing him of having stayed in Jerusalem with the intention of using the upheaval caused by Absalom's rebellion to take back the throne for the House of Saul. According to the rabbis, this was LASHON HARA (unwarranted slander) on the part of Tziva, yet David accepted it (Talmud Shabbos 56a). Under the influence of this slander, David awarded Mephiboshes' estate to Tziva (which is presumably exactly what the latter intended), but later Mephiboshes was to come to David to argue that he was innocent (II Samuel 19:25). THE CURSES OF SHIMI BEN GERA Shimi ben Gera , who came out cursing David in his flight and throwing stones and mud on the king and his men, was far from being some lowly foul-mouthed ruffian. He was a prominent member of the family of Saul as well as head of the Sanhedrin (Rashi on ch 16 v 10). He execrated David as "a man of blood" (v 7), accusing him of having engineered the deaths of Saul's son Ish-Bosheth and his commander-inchief, Avner as well having killed in order to take Batsheva (see RaDaK on v 7). Shimi ben Gera's insults were intended to further increase David's pain and humiliation, yet when Avishai asked David for permission to strike him down, David refused, teaching that even though this humiliation was coming to him through the instrumentality of a human being, in fact it was God who had put Shimi ben Gera up to it and that it would be better for David to bear the humiliation with patience than to rebel against God's chastisement. It is indeed a great level to be able to discern the hand of God in the suffering that comes to us through other people. David prayed that God would see his humble resignation and pay him back with goodness in exchange for bearing these curses (v 12). HUSHAI THE ARCHI Various characters enter our narrative about whom we have little or no supplementary information from other sources. Among these are Hushi HaArchi (ch 15 v 32), who was apparently one of David's leading advisors yet succeeded in entering into Absalom's innermost circle of advisors as David's "plant", and in that position he was indeed able to thwart Achitophel's counsel, thus saving David's kingship from collapse (Yalkut Shimoni). ACHITOPHEL'S ADVICE When Achitophel advised Absalom to go into his father's concubines, he was not telling him to commit an actual sin. Under the Torah laws of forbidden incest relationships, for Absalom to have relations with his father's concubines was not technically a sin, because it is only a woman who is formally married to a father that is forbidden to his son: the prohibition of marrying a father's wife does not apply to a woman RAPED or SEDUCED by the father (ANUSAS or MEFUTAS AVIV)

and the PILEGESH ("concubine") comes into this category (Yevamos 11:1, see RaDaK on II Samuel 12:11). The reason why Achitophel advised Absalom to go into his father's concubines was because only a public demonstration of this order would convince the people that Absalom was fully determined to carry his rebellion through relentlessly to the very end. Had people thought that he was not serious, they would have abandoned him. The Torah law of kings forbids anyone except the new king from taking the wives of a former king for himself. Going into David's concubines was thus Absalom's way of publicly asserting his ascent to the throne, which was an act so treasonable that David would never be able to make peace with him.

Chapter 17 Having advised Absalom to go in to his father's concubines in order to force an allout conflict, Ahitophel now offered his second piece of advice – that Absalom should send him with a strong army to hunt down David IMMEDIATELY before he had a chance to get far away and muster more forces. Ahitophel promised a swift, decisive operation that would avoid unnecessary bloodshed – and his advice would have been accepted and would undoubtedly have proved effective except that "God commanded to thwart the counsel of Ahitophel" (v 14), for God was with David, despite chastising him so sorely. As we read in ch 15 vv 32ff, David had planted his other outstanding advisor, Hushi Ha-Archi, in Absalom's court, and Hushi skillfully undermined Ahitophel's plan for IMMEDIATE action by proposing a far larger operation LATER ON, thus gaining time for David to make his escape from the Jerusalem region. Carefully reminding Absalom of David's great strength and courage and raising specters of a set-back for the pursuers that could radically demoralize Absalom's army, Hushi appealed to his vanity in proposing that the entire nation should gather so that he would be able to march proudly at the head of a great Israelite army (see Rashi on v 11). This idea was highly attractive to Absalom, who went cold on Ahitophel's idea of going off himself immediately to finish the job in a low-profile way. Thus while Absalom began to dream of his coming glory, Hushai sent inside information from Absalom's court using the sons of the two high priests as runners. Having heard Ahitophel's advice to go in hot pursuit, Hushai urged David to make as quick a getaway from the region as possible in case Absalom changed his mind again. Having much earlier in his life had to flee from the persecutions of King Saul, David once again found himself in flight – this time to escape his own son! Chapter 15 vv 23-30 traced David's escape from the city of Jerusalem prior to Absalom's arrival there. David had then crossed over the Kidron Valley (directly to the east of the Temple Mount) and climbed up the Mount of Olives (from where he could still gaze back upon the Tent of the Ark of the Covenant). Chapter 16 then narrated his journey to Bahurim, a Benjaminite town a little south of Jerusalem, from which Shim'I ben Gera went out to curse and stone him. During this time Absalom had arrived in Jerusalem and went into David's concubines, after which Ahitophel wanted to go straight after David. This was when Hushai advised David to flee the Jerusalem area altogether, and David now went eastwards past Jericho to the Jordan, which he crossed as told in our present chapter v 22. He then advanced northwards into Gil'ad (the generic term for the territories of the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half Menasheh east of the Jordan) to the city of Mahanayim . The mark of a wise man is that he sees what is developing (Avos 2:9), and Ahitophel saw that with his own advice unheeded, Absalom would be unable to

overcome the mighty warrior David. Ahitophel realized that as soon as David was restored to the kingship, he himself would be first in the firing line for treason. He therefore went to his home in Gilo (after which the present-day south-Jerusalem suburb of Gilo is named owing to its proximity to the original town), delivered his last will and testament to his children (telling them to keep out of MAHLOKES, "conflict", not to rebel against the kingship of the House of David, and to use the sign of a clear summer's day on the festival of Shavuos to know that the wheat crop will be successful, Bava Bastra 147a) and then hanged himself. David's escape to Gil'ad forced Absalom to take his forces out of the Land of Israel proper to the less favorable territories east of the Jordan, where David was receiving reinforcements and abundant supplies of food (vv 27-29).

Chapter 18 In Mahanayim, David marshaled his forces and followed the classic strategy known from the times of the judges of dividing them into three. David was ready to go out to battle (v 2) but the people would not hear of this, advising him to stay in the city to pray for their success. We suddenly see a picture of David at the age of 67 – the old king – no longer going out to battle but yielding to the will of the people and watching over their fortunes from the city. David's love and compassion for Absalom despite his having rebelled and now being in hot pursuit of him – defy reason, just as does the love of any father for a miscreant son. David no doubt saw to the very roots of Absalom's soul and still hoped a way could be found to rescue him from the hell awaiting him because of his rebellion, so that, in the words of the Wise Woman of Teko'a, "even the rejected shall not be rejected from Him" (II Sam. 14:14). Thus David begged his generals to go easy with Absalom if they found him (v 5). "And the war was in the Forest of Ephraim" (v 6). Rashi (ad loc.) asks, "How come Ephraim had a forest on the east bank of the Jordan when the only tribes who received a share there were Gad, Reuven and Menasheh? The answer is that one of the conditions on which Joshua gave the tribes their portions in the Land was that anyone from any tribe could graze their flocks in any forest. The forest in question was near to the territories of Ephraim except that it was on the other side of the river Jordan, and they used to graze their animals there, which is why it was called the Forest of Ephraim ." From the description of the forces gathered on both sides, we can build a picture of the magnitude of this civil war between David and his supporters on the one hand and Absalom and all Israel, including Judah, on the other. As Absalom's commander-in-chief to replace Joab (who was with David), he had appointed Amasa, who was married to David's OWN SISTER (ch 17 v 25, where Nahash = Yishai/Jesse, who was so called because he was one of the four who died not because of sin but purely because of the "bite of the serpent": Nahash = "serpent", Talmud Bava Basra 17a). Despite Absalom's impressive line-up of all Israel and the leaders of Judah, God was against him and his forces were ravaged by the wild animals of the forest (Targum on v 8).

One of the most famous scenes in the Bible is the specter of the mule-riding Absalom getting his Nazarite's long hair hopelessly entangled in the branches of a great tree, leaving him "suspended between heaven and earth as the mule passed on from under him" (v 9). Had Absalom taken his sword to cut his hair, he might have escaped, but only at the cost of violating his Nazirite vow. The rabbis stated that he drew his sword and saw Gehennom open underneath him! (Sotah 10b brought by Rashi on v 9). The very hair about which Absalom had been so vain now proved to be his undoing! (RaDaK on v 9) David – the distraught, loving father – had pleaded with his generals to go easy on his rebel son, but Joab had no patience for the aged king and his illusions that Absalom might somehow be rehabilitated. Joab knew that Absalom would be a terrible danger to David as long as he was alive. When the soldier who found Absalom refused to kill him, Joab himself went and drove three stakes into his heart (in revenge for Absalom's having stolen the hearts of David, the Law Court and all Israel) while Joab's ten attendants (corresponding to the ten concubines of David whom Absalom went into) finally put him to death. Yad Avshalom – the Monument of Absalom mentioned in v 18 -- is identified with the famous, impressive and much-photographed carved stone monument that can be seen in the Kidron valley until today. The news of Absalom's death, which spelled the end of the rebellion, had to be taken to David, but Joab knew that he would take it very hard, and in trying to dissuade the swift-footed priest Ahima'atz from going to tell the king (vv 19-23), Joab teaches that one should avoid telling bad news and always strive to relay good news.

Chapter 19 "And the king raged" (v 1). David was beside himself with grief over the loss of Absalom, whom he still loved in spite of everything. The rabbis state that with the first seven of his eight repetitions of "My son, my son" (verses 1 & 5), David elevated Absalom's soul from all seven levels of hell, and with the eighth, he brought him to the life of the world to come (Sotah 10b brought by Rashi on v 1). David's grief put a complete damper on the joy that should have accompanied his restoration to the kingship, and when the people returned to Mahanayim from the battlefield, they slunk back into the city feeling like exposed thieves. Joab, who had born the main brunt of the actual battle against Absalom, had no patience for David's orgy of grief over a son who had not only rebelled against him but had almost killed him. Joab berated the king for "loving your enemies and hating those who love you" (v 7). Joab threatened David with a far worse rebellion if he refused to pull out of his mourning and pacify the people. David acceded and held his peace against his ever-more assertive commander-in-chief, but already had in mind to replace him and immediately prior to his own death ordered Solomon to take vengeance on Joab (I Kings 2:5-16). With the collapse of Absalom's rebellion, the tribes of Israel and the tribe of Judah – neither of which had exactly given their support to David – now began bickering over who should have the honor of restoring him to the kingship. The people were returning to their senses, realizing that David had been the national savior while Absalom had contributed nothing and was now dead (v 10). Nevertheless, as we

will soon see, these new-found feelings of loyalty to David were to prove short-lived, showing the people's great fickleness. David sent Tzadok and Eviatar, (who had been serving as High Priests concurrently after Eviatar's failure to elicit an answer from the Urim Ve-Thumim) to sue for reconciliation with his own tribe of Judah after their having gone after Absalom. True to character, David particularly sought reconciliation with Amasa, despite his having served Absalom as commander-in-chief (ch 17 v 25). David now wanted to appoint him as his own commander-in-chief in place of Joab. As the tribe of Judah accompanied David back across the Jordan into the Land of Israel proper, he was greeted with a succession of delegations. First came Shimi ben Gera , the Benjaminite who had cursed and stoned David on his flight from Jerusalem (ch 16 vv 5ff) and who now wanted to apologize in order to save his own skin. Joab's brother Avishai wanted to kill Shimi ben Gera, but once again David dissociated himself from the "trigger-happy" sons of Tzeruyah and forgave Shimi – though he later instructed Solomon to take vengeance on him (I Kings 2:8-9). The Midrash states that David saved Shimi because he saw with holy spirit that Mordechai was destined to come forth from Shimi's loins and save Israel from extermination. From Esther 2:5 we see that Mordechai was descended from Shimi! (Yalkut Shimoni). Following Shimi came Tziva, the servant of the House of Saul whom David had appointed executor/manager of Saul's estates for the benefit of his grandson Mephiboshes, and who had slandered Mephiboshes to David claiming that he failed to join David in his flight because he was hoping to seize the throne for himself (ch 16 vv 1-4). The lame Mephiboshes now came to greet David literally disheveled because of his consternation over David's plight, and claiming that Tziva had deceived him. When David ordered that the estate be divided between Tziva and Mephiboshes, a heavenly voice declared that his own kingdom would therefore be torn apart and divided between his grandson Rehaboam and the rebel king of the Ten Tribes, Jeraboam (Talmud Yoma 22b). Barzilai the Gil'adite who escorted David across the Jordan had no need to make any apologies to David, having been one of his chief supporters when he fled to Mahanayim (ch 14 v 27). Yet when David invited Barzilai to accompany him back to Jerusalem and live in the court, Barzilai argued that he was too old to enjoy the life of the court because he longer felt any taste in his food and couldn't hear the singing properly. The Talmud cites Barzilai as the exemplar of senility but states that senility jumped on him prematurely owing to excessive self-indulgence (he mentioned the female singers) yet is not inevitable in old age, citing the case of an old maid in the house of R. Judah the Prince who even at the age of 92 still regularly checked the taste of the food as it cooked in the pot (Talmud Shabbos 152a). Having crossed the Jordan into the Land of Israel proper, David arrived in Gilgal, where arguments broke out between the men of Israel (the Ten Tribes) and the men of Judah over whether the latter had been justified in being the first to escort David back. Considering that neither side had given David their support against Absalom, their arguments seem somewhat fatuous: each side was hurt and ruffled over being upstaged by the other, and the Israelites' protestations of loyalty to David soon proved disingenuous when they angrily went after Sheva ben Bichri instead, as narrated immediately afterwards.

Chapter 20 "And all the men of Israel went up from going after David and went after Sheva ben Bichri" (v 2). Although the rebellion of Sheva ben Bichri, who was a relative of King Saul, takes up far less of the narrative than that of Absalom, David considered it to be potentially far more serious (v 6). There is some evidence of cracks in the unity of David's supporters. Having sent his new candidate for commander-in-chief, Amasa, to muster the tribe of Judah, David soon discovered that Amasa had no intention of rushing into action because he failed to bring troops within the three day time-limit he had been given. David immediately dispatched Joab's brother Avishai against Sheva ben Bichri. Joab saw this as a further step towards his own displacement and personally went out with the troops after the rebels, intending to take matters into his own hands. Meeting the unsuspecting Amasa on the way, Joab once again demonstrated his "triggerhappy" attitudes and killed him in vengeance for his having supported Absalom and in order to secure his own position. With David's men in pursuit, Sheva ben Bichri advanced towards the north of Israel , arousing all the tribes against David as he went. The town of Aveil Beis Ma'achah where Joab caught up with him (v 14) is near the northern border of present-day Israel between Metulla and Kfar Giladi, while the "Beirim" whom he recruited to his cause (ibid.) are thought to have lived in the town of Biryiah immediately north of Safed. THE WISE WOMAN OF AVEIL BEIS MA'ACHAH Once again a mysterious wise woman suddenly appeared just in time to save Israel from needless bloodshed by calling to Joab from the walls of Aveil Beis Ma'achah as he laid siege to the town in order to capture Sheva ben Bichri. The sages identified this wise woman with Serah, daughter of Asher the son of Jacob, who is credited with having sung to Jacob that Joseph was still alive and with having helped Moses discover where Joseph's coffin had been hidden in the Nile when the time came to take it up out of Egypt. Serah daughter of Asher was among those who entered the Land with Joshua, and would now have been very many hundreds of years old. Those who find their belief being stretched beyond limits may rationalize that the ancient SPIRIT of the wise Serah spoke through the lips of the mysterious wise woman of Aveil Beis Ma'achah. "ANOKHI SH'LOOMEY EMOONEY YISRAEL" – "I am from among the complete believers of Israel" (v 19). This woman was the inner soul of the long-suffering people, appealing to Joab for an end to the cycle of bloodshed. She wanted him to understand that the inhabitants of the town harbored no traitorous feelings against David. In her words to Joab in v 18 – "Let them surely ask in Aveil and they would certainly make peace" – she alluded to the Torah law that when an Israelite army makes war against a gentile city, they should first offer them peace (Deut. 20:10). How much more so, then, should Joab invite the Israelite inhabitants of Aveil to make peace! The wise woman persuaded the inhabitants to deliver Sheva ben Bichri to Joab because otherwise the entire town would be killed. Normally if someone threatens to kill all the members of a group unless they hand over one of their number, it is forbidden to do so, because "we do not cast off one soul in order to save another". However, "if the designated individual deserves the death penalty like Sheva ben Bichri, they should give him over, though we do not issue such a ruling from the outset. However, if he does not deserve the death penalty they should all die rather than hand over a single Israelite soul" (Rambam, Yesodei HaTorah 5:5).

With the delivery of Sheva ben Bichri's head to Joab, the revolt was at an end and now that David's kingship was reestablished, our text concludes by enumerating his principal officers.

Chapter 21 Our present chapter is highly opaque allegory which can be unraveled only partially with the help of the Midrash of the Rabbis. "And there was famine in the days of David for three years" (v 2). As the narrative draws towards the conclusion of the history of David, it shows how he settled all outstanding accounts in his lifetime. David understood that the cause of the famine lay in some national moral flaw and sought out God to show him what it was. According to the rabbinic interpretation of v 1 as brought by Rashi, the flaw related to Saul but had two somewhat different sides to it. On the one hand, Saul had never been properly buried and eulogized because of the national panic that followed his defeat by the Philistines. This was a flaw in the honor due to the kingship. On the other hand, Saul himself had caused a flaw through his "killing" of the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites were the Canaanite inhabitants of the town of Gibeon , who had tricked Joshua and the princes of the Tribes into making an oath to protect them even though they were forbidden to make a covenant with the Canaanites (Joshua ch 9). On discovering the trick, Joshua turned the Gibeonites into a caste of Temple wood-hewers and water-drawers, but he was unable to nullify the oath of protection because of the desecration of God's Name that would be caused by Israel's failure to keep an oath even if extracted by trickery. Some rabbis held that when Saul slaughtered the Cohanim (priests) of Nov for aiding David (I Samuel ch 22), this cut off the livelihood they provided to the Gibeonites, which was considered tantamount to killing them. Other rabbis held that during the massacre in Nov, Saul actually did kill two Gibeonite hewers of wood, two drawers of water, an attendant, a manager and a scribe (Rashi on v 1). Either way, this was considered a breach of Israel's oath of protection of the Gibeonites, and now the Gibeonites demanded justice. They were in the position of GO'EL HADAM ("redeemer of the blood") of their fallen compatriots – and they were implacable. They demanded to be given seven members of Saul's household to kill in vengeance for the seven dead Gibeonites, and because of their cruel insistence, verse 2 says that "the Gibeonites were not from the Children of Israel" – implying that they lacked the three defining characteristics of Israel: compassion, bashfulness and kindness (Talmud Yevamos 79a). David agreed to give over seven members of Saul's house in order that justice should not only be done but should also be seen to have been done. Although our text states that five of the seven were the sons of Michal, Saul's younger daughter, our rabbis taught that they were actually the sons of his older daughter Meirav, since it was she and not Michal who was married to Adri-el (v 8, see I Samuel 18:19). However, since Michal foster-mothered these children after the death of Meirav, they were accounted as Michal's children, teaching the great merit of fostering orphans (Talmud Sanhedrin 19b). The Torah forbids leaving the bodies of hanged criminals overnight, let alone for six months (Deut. 21:23), but in this case a great KIDDUSH HASHEM ("Sanctification of God's Name") came about when gentile passers-by saw the bodies and asked why they were there. When they were told that they had been hanged to make amends for Saul's breach of the Israelite covenant with the Gibeonites, the gentiles

were so impressed by the Israelite respect for their oath that 150,000 converted (1 Kings 5:29, Talmud Yevamos 79a). Through the righteousness of Saul's concubine Ritzpah daughter of Ayah in camping out by the bodies and driving away the predatory vultures, the bodies were preserved intact for over six months from the time of the barley harvest (Nissan) until the rains came (Heshvan). The downfall of rain after three years of famine showed that the flaw had been rectified (Metzudas David on v 10), and the bones of the seven members of Saul's house were taken for burial together with the bones of Saul and Jonathan. The state funeral that was now held for the latter rectified the affront to their honor in not having been properly buried and mourned immediately after their death on the battlefield. We may thus infer that although Saul fell because he failed to extirpate Amalek, this did not make him a "bad" king. On the contrary, Saul had been an outstanding Tzaddik, a mighty warrior and a savior of his people, and the establishment of David's kingship was only complete when the proper respect was shown to Saul and any remaining flaws were rectified. As for the Gibeonites, while Joshua had banned them from marrying into the Assembly of Israel only when the Temple stood, David added to the ban and forbade them to marry into the Assembly even when there was no Temple (RaDaK on v 1). Because of their display of cruelty, they were thus permanently excluded from the Assembly of Israel. "And there was more war with the Philistines" (v 15). "And it was afterwards that there was more war in Gov with the Philistines" (v 18). "There is no before and afterwards in the Torah": these wars with the Philistines had taken place earlier in David's reign (Rashi on v 18) and are mentioned here in order to complete the story of the killing of the four giant sons of "Harafa" (="the giantess"), whom the rabbis identified with Orpah, daughter-in-law of Naomi and sister-in-law of David's great grandmother, Ruth (Talmud Sotah 42b; see commentary on I Samuel ch 17). These four giants allude to impure kelipos ("husks") which Mashiach has to crush. "…and David was faint. And Yishbi in Nov…" (vv 15-16). Some rabbis said that the actual name of this giant was Yishbi BeNov, while others said that David had to face Yishbi BECAUSE OF NOV – i.e. because he himself had been responsible for Saul's slaughter of the priests of Nov since he had fled to the Sanctuary there, causing the priests to be accused of treason. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 95) has a lengthy and very colorful aggadah about David's mysterious encounter with Yishbi, in which he was very nearly killed. Through a kind of telepathic message, Avishai realized that David was in extreme danger and went rushing off to save. On the way he succeeded in killing Orpah, which devastated Yisbhi, and Avishai then rescued David through the invocation of God's name. Although verse 19 attributes the killing of Goliath to "Elhanan ben Ya'arei Orgim", the Rabbis identify the latter with David himself, who was said to be "son of the forests of the weavers" because his family wove curtains for the Temple, which is called a "forest" (Rashi on v 19). Since we know from I Samuel ch 17 that it was David who killed Goliath, the use of another name for him in our present passage is an indication that cryptic verses such as this were included in the text for the sake of the midrashic teachings that derive from them.

Chapter 22 "And David spoke the words of this song on the day God saved him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul" (v 1). David had enemies all around him throughout his life, but none of them was more formidable than Saul, because

of his very saintliness. Nevertheless, God saved David from all his enemies, and at the end of his days he sang this paean of praise over his complete delivery. Our present text is virtually identical with Psalm 18 except for a number of very minor differences in phraseology. This is the song of the soul of Mashiach, which endures the most terrible protracted danger and darkness, being subjected to the breaking waves of death itself and the terrifying floods of wickedness (v 5). Nevertheless, God is his "rock, fortress, refuge, mountain, shield, horn of salvation, high place, place of succor and savior from HAMAS" (v 3) [HAMAS=violent injustice, as in the case of present-day HAMAS.] David fortifies himself with expression after expression signifying his unshakable faith in the rock-solid saving power of God. Out of his pain, Mashiach CRIES OUT to God, and God HEARS and RESPONDS. All of the elements of creation surge forth to protect Mashiach: the EARTH rages and foams with volcanic fury (v 8). The skies rage with smoke and FIRE (v 9). God rides and swoops on the wings of the WIND=AIR (v 11) and swathes Himself with thick clouds of WATER (v 12). All creation fights on behalf of the soul of Mashiach, for whom the very Red Sea had split (v 16, see Rashi). David testifies that God saved him because of his great purity and righteousness. He has the attributes of the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who are alluded to in verse 26. God himself teaches David how to fight and conquer all his enemies. This is because "I hate those who hate You" (Psalms 139:21). David hated falsehood and loved God's Torah (Psalms 119:163). It is this that brings David victory until all the world will come to serve him – for to serve Mashiach is to work for the glory of God. This song is David's, but it is said for every one of us, giving expression to the Messianic "point" contained within each one of us, which prompts us to pursue justice and righteousness for the sake of God and for the repair of the entire world. * * * II Samuel 22:1-54 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Ha-azeenu, Deuteronomy 32:1-52, and also as the Haftara on the Seventh Day of Pesach * * *

Chapter 23 "AND THESE ARE THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID" (v 1) This verse is rendered by the Targum as: "These are the words of the prophecy of David that he prophesied about the end of the world and the days of comfort that are destined to come…" David testified that his words came not through his own wisdom and intelligence but through "prophecy" – holy spirit. This final prophecy of David (vv 1-7) is very dense and highly allusive. In effect it is David's own selfcomposed "epitaph" summarizing his status and achievements. In the same breath he calls himself "David son of Yishai" and "the anointed one of the God of Jacob " (v 1), as if to say that prophecy never left him from the time that he was David the lowly shepherd until he became God's anointed Mashiach (Metzudas David). "Says the man that was raised up (HOOKAM ' AL)" (v 1). The Talmud darshens that David raised (HEIKIM) the yoke ('OL) of repentance, because having repented even after his serious sin with Batsheva, he showed the wicked that anyone can repent no matter how serious his sins (Avoda Zara 5a, Yalkut Shimoni). The word ' AL in the verse has the numerical value of 100 (Ayin 70 + Lamed 30), corresponding to David's institution of the requirement to recite 100 blessings every day. (These include all the daily morning blessings, the blessings over Psukey DeZimra and over

the morning and evening Shema, the thrice-repeated Shmonah Esray, the blessings before and after eating, etc.) David instituted these blessings in order to rectify the ignorance of the people of his generation about the Temple that had to be built (Bamidbar Rabbah 18) – for the Temple is "built" out of prayers and blessings. This ignorance was the root cause of the terrible plague described in the next chapter. David's whole concern was to prepare for the Temple, and he merited being the "sweet singer of Israel" (v 1): it was the songs of David that were sung ever after in the Temple services. As ruler over his people, David was unique, because the purpose of his rule was to instill in everyone the fear of God (v 2). God made an eternal Covenant with David because David based his own life and that of his household only upon the Torah (Rashi on v 3). "THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE MIGHTY WARRIORS OF DAVID" (v 8) Our text's registry of David's mighty warriors and some of their outstanding exploits is also extremely dense and highly allusive. These were not merely swordwielding fighters in the literal sense: they were mighty warriors of the Torah, forerunners of the Tannaim and Amoraim of the Mishneh and Talmud. Verse 8 which speaks of "Adino Ha-Etzni" is interpreted as alluding to David himself, who would sit with the utmost wisdom in the Sanhedrin and was ROSH HASHOLISHI (lit.="leader of the three") in the sense that he was first in beauty, wisdom and might (Rashi) as well as being head of the chain (SHALSHELES) of the three patriarchs (RaDaK), i.e. David is the fourth "leg" of the throne. The name Adino HaEtzni alludes to the way David would "delight himself" (ME-ADEN) like a worm whilst studying the Torah yet harden himself like a mighty tree (ETZ) when going out to fight in war. The leading mighty warriors of David are listed in sets of three. In verses 9, 13, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 24, the words SHELOSHAH (=3), SHELOSHIM (=30) and SHALISHIM (="captains", as in Ex. 15:4) keep recurring. While "the text does not depart from its simple meaning", the arrangement of David's warriors in sets of three also alludes to the way in which the attribute of Malchus, the "receiving vessel", is built through receiving a balance of the influence descending to it from the hierarchy of triads of attributes above it. The mysterious exploits of Shamoh ben Ogei in the field full of lentils (v 11) are midrashically connected with the three captains who came to David during his wars against the Philistines and who, in response to his craving for water from the wells of Bethlehem, risked their lives to bring him the water despite the presence of the Philistine garrisons there. The midrash teaches that what David wanted was Torah (=water) from the Torah wellsprings at the gate (=Sanhedrin) of Bethlehem. The Philistines were hiding behind sheaves of lentils in the field, and David wanted to know if he was permitted to destroy sheaves that belonged to Israelites in order to "flush out" the enemy. Even though, as king, he was permitted to do so without asking, "he did not want to drink from the waters" – he did not want to have any benefit from his fellow Israelites if there was even a question about its legality (see RaDaK on v 16). Benayah son of Yehoyadah (v 20) was later to become Solomon's commander-inchief. His smiting of the "two mighty lions of Moab" is explained allegorically to mean that he was so outstanding in Torah wisdom that he had no equal in either the first or second Temples. (Ariel is an allusion to the Temple, which was built through the efforts of David, who was descended from Ruth the Moabite – Berachos 18b).

There is merit in simply reading the names of David's warriors as listed in this chapter, since these were the outstanding Tzaddikim of his generation, who prepared the way for the building of the Temple.

Chapter 24 This very mysterious chapter is a fitting climax to the story of David, because it describes the chain of events that led him to discover the site of the Temple, to the preparation for whose building his entire life had been devoted. Rashi on I Kings 3:7 provides a detailed chronology of the last twelve years of David's life from the birth of Solomon onwards. Solomon had been born immediately prior to Amnon's rape of Tamar, two years after which Absolom held the sheep-shearing celebration at which he had Amnon assassinated. Thereafter Absolom spent three years in exile in Geshur before returning to Jerusalem for two years before his rebellion. This was followed by the three years of famine that were rectified through the reburial of Saul's bones together with those of his 7 grandchildren slain by the Gibeonites (II Sam ch 21:1). This was in the tenth year after the birth of Solomon. It was thus in the eleventh year after Solomon's birth that David ordered his count of the population, while in the twelfth year – which was the last year of David's life – he reorganized the priestly Temple duty-rota, after which he died. (Solomon was 12 years old when he came to the throne.) David's census was apparently carried out for "military" purposes since the numbers given in verse 9 are of "sword-wielding men", but this also alludes to the "sword" of prayer. It is not clear exactly what David had in mind when he insisted on holding a census despite the fact that the Torah expressly teaches that Israel must not be counted directly in order not to suffer a plague (Exodus 30:12). From David's later contrition for having sinned (v 10) it is clear that he knew very well that it was wrong to count the people. The fact that he was able to persuade himself to do so indicates that he allowed himself to fall prey to some kind of rationalization that justified the census. The mind can play tricks on even the greatest of people. It was evidently through this rationalization which God planted in his mind that He "incited" David to sin (v 1). It is said that He did so in retribution for David's having introduced the same concept when he much earlier said that God had "incited" Saul against him (I Samuel 26:19). The paradox is that despite the fact that the census was a mistake and led to a terrible plague, it did, nevertheless, lead indirectly to David's discovery of the site of the Temple in Jerusalem . Joab was opposed to the census, arguing eloquently that Israel can be greatly blessed numerically by God without having to count them – Joab's blessings for Israelite population growth are compared favorably with those of Moses (Deut. 1:11). Joab's opposition to the king here is noteworthy since he actually rebelled against him at the very end of David's life one year later. Yet in spite of his reservations, Joab journeyed around the entire Israelite settlement east and west of the River Jordan. From Jerusalem he crossed over to the east bank of the Jordan and started his mission in the city of Aro'er , the southernmost settlement of the Reubenites. There "he camped" (v 5) – i.e. he took his time, hoping all along that the king would relent. Then he worked his way up northwards through the territories of Gad and Menasheh in Gil'ad, before going up to Dan (in the north of present-day Israel), further north to the "new" settlements in Syria and the BIK'AH (valley) of Lebanon, and then westwards to the Mediterranean coast, where he counted the Israelite populations in Sidon, Tyre and all the settlements further

south, returning thereafter to Jerusalem. We thus have biblical evidence of Israelite settlements in Syria and Lebanon back in the time of David. As soon as Joab returned with his report, David was smitten with remorse and contrition for having counted Israel – because Israel are beyond the concept of number, which is finite. Putting a "number" on Israel puts finite limits on the people and their ability to receive blessing. Souls cannot be counted, because each one is totally unique and has infinite potential. Counting the people lays them open to the Evil Eye, which views abundant blessing with mean-eyed hostility. It was the prophet Gad who brought God's grim decree to David: until the very end of his life, David conducted himself in all his affairs in accordance with the prophets, unlike Saul, who had disobeyed them. Gad offered David three alternatives in order to expiate his sin: seven years of famine, three months of defeat in war or three days of plague. (Similarly, David had said that Saul would die in one of three ways, I Samuel 26:10). In a famous verse that is part of the Tahanun supplications in the daily prayers (v 14), David threw himself upon God's mercy – reasoning that famine would hurt the poor more than the rich and war would hurt the weak more than the mighty, while a plague would strike indiscriminately, thus spreading the suffering more fairly (RaDaK on v 14). "Through the very wound, God sends the medicine". The plague was mercifully short – less than the three days originally announced by the prophet (v 15, RaDaK), and when David saw the angel with his sword drawn over Jerusalem, he prayed for compassion. According to the midrash on v 16 (BA-AM RAV, lit. "with many people"), the dead included Avishai son of Tzeruyah (Joab's heroic brother): the loss of a sage who was the equivalent of more than half (ROV) of the Sanhedrin brought atonement (Berachos 62b). With this, the Angel stopped the slaughter – and David saw that the Angel was standing by the side of the Threshing-floor of Aravna (RaDaK on v 16). Aravna was the "Jebusite" Prince of Jerusalem – though not one of the Canaanite Jebusites, but a Philistine descendant of Avimelech in the time of Abraham. According to Metzudas David (v 16), he was a righteous convert. Since it is prayers in the Temple that save Israel from plagues and other evils, David knew that the site at which he prayed successfully for the cessation of the plague was none other than the location of the Temple, which God had promised He would choose from among the territories of the tribes (Deut. 12:14). Aravna was willing to GIVE David the site to build his altar together with the ox for the sacrifice and the wood to burn it (v 22) but David protested, "I shall surely ACQUIRE them from you for a PRICE and I will not offer up to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost nothing" (v 24). There is a discrepancy between the fifty shekels of SILVER mentioned as the price here and the sum of SIX HUNDRED shekels of GOLD mentioned in I Chronicles 21:25. This is resolved through the fact that David collected fifty golden shekels from each of the twelve tribes to buy the site of the Temple ("from all your tribes" Deut. 12:4; 50 X 12 = 600) while he paid for the ox and wood for his altar with fifty silver shekels (Talmud Zevachim 116b). Just as Abraham had PURCHASED the Cave of Machpelah as the burial place of the patriarchs with GOOD MONEY, similarly David PURCHASED the site of the Temple with GOOD MONEY, which means that all those who claim that Hebron and the Temple Mount do not belong to the people of Israel are guilty of blatant slander. "The rabbis taught that all the thousands who fell from the plague in the days of David died because they did not demand the building of the Temple. If people who had never had a Temple built or destroyed in their lifetimes fell in the plague

because they had failed to demand the Temple, how much more are we, who have already had a Temple and had it destroyed, obligated to demand the rebuilding of the Temple. Therefore the elders and prophets instituted the planting of prayers three times daily in the mouths of Israel for the return of the Divine Presence and Kingship to Zion and the order of Your service to Jerusalem, Amen." (Radak on v 25).

Book of I Kings Chapter 1 Although the Book of Kings is divided for convenience into I Kings and II Kings, it is really all one book spanning a period of over four hundred years from the last days of David and the golden age of Solomon's glory through the split of his kingdom into two and the succeeding eras of decline, revival and further decline leading eventually to the exile of the Ten Tribes, the destruction of the First Temple and the exile of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to Babylon. The simple moral of the Book of Kings is that only through faithful obedience to the Torah of Moses can the people of Israel survive and flourish in their Land. DAVID'S LAST DAYS David never had a moment of rest and tranquility from the beginning of his career until the very end of his life, when new troubles broke out with the attempted seizure of the throne by Adoniyahu. Old age had jumped upon David – he was only seventy years old – because of the long series of exhausting wars he endured. The coldness from which he suffered is said to have resulted from his having been chilled by the specter of the sword-wielding angel he had seen in Jerusalem at the time of the plague, while his inability to be warmed even when covered with garments is attributed to his having shown disrespect for clothes when he tore the corner of King Saul's garment (I Chronicles 21:30; Talmud Berachos 62b). David's "coldness" also signifies his ascent to a supreme level of contemplative understanding, for "Cold of spirit is the man of understanding" (Proverbs 14:27). Our text attributes Adoniahu's rebellion to a pedagogical failure by David, who never properly disciplined his handsome, personable son, who went in the ways of Absalom (v 6). David's commander-in-chief Joab supported Adoniahu's bid for the throne because he knew that David was angry with him for having killed Avner, Amasa and Absalom and would make sure that Solomon took revenge on him if he ever came to the throne. Eviatar the Priest had taken refuge with David when Saul killed the priests of Nov and had served as High Priest thereafter until the time of Abasolom's rebellion, when he failed to elicit an answer from the Urim Ve-Thumim and was deposed in favor of Tzadok. Eviatar was from the ill-fated house of Eli the Priest who had been rejected from serving in the Temple that Solomon was to build, and thus Eviatar had an interest in siding with Adoniahu. The reason why Nathan the Prophet rather than Gad intervened on behalf of Solomon was because Nathan himself had prophesied to David that Solomon would reign (II Samuel 7:12; I Chronicles 22:9). It is said that when Batsheva's first child from David died, she refused to agree to any further relations with David unless he swore to her that her child would reign – in order to dispel the aura of scandal that surrounded David's marriage with her (II Samuel 12:24; I Kings 1:17). Batsheva concluded her demand to David to fulfill his oath to her by pointing out that if he failed to assert Solomon's rights to the throne and Adoniahu reigned, "I and my son Solomon will be LACKING". The use here of the Hebrew word HATA'IM,

which in other contexts is translated as "sinning", throws considerable light on the Torah concept of HEIT, "sin". The root HATA is explained by Rashi (on v 21) as "missing the mark", as when an archer misses his target. In other words, if we "sin", we FALL SHORT of what we could and should have attained. THE ANOINTMENT OF SOLOMON God had given the kingship over Israel to David AND HIS SEED forever, and according to the Torah law of kings, a son who succeeds his father as king is not normally anointed because the kingship is his by inheritance (Talmud Shekalim 16a). However, David saw that it was necessary to have Solomon ceremonially anointed in the presence of the High Priest together with the Urim Ve-Thumim as well as the prophet Nathan and David's new Commander-in-Chief Benaya ben Yehoyada in order to publicly reject Adoniahu's counterclaim to the kingship. Riding on David's own mule was itself a sign that Solomon was king, since nobody but a new king is permitted to use any of the appurtenances of the previous king. (Since a mule is a hybrid of a horse and donkey, it would normally be forbidden to ride on one because of the prohibition of KIL'AYIM, "forbidden mixed species", but there is a tradition that David's PERED was a unique animal dating from the six days of creation, Yerushalmi Kil'ayim 8:2). Solomon was anointed with the anointing oil prepared by Moses in the Wilderness. The ceremony took place at the spring of Shilo'ah, which is also called Ha-Gihon from the Hebrew root GI-AH meaning "to flow, be drawn", signifying that Solomon's kingship would continue forever. Benaya was not afraid even in David's presence to bless Solomon that he should be even greater than his father, because Benaya knew that "a man is not jealous of his son's success" (Rashi on v 37). Thus David gave over the throne to Solomon in his own lifetime with great joy (compare the opening section of Rabbi Nachman's Story of the Seven Beggars), and Adoniahu was put under house arrest. * * * The passage in I Kings vv. 1-31 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Chayey Sarah Gen. 23:1-25:18 * * *

Chapter 2 DAVID'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT David called Solomon and reminded him of the inevitability of death: "I am going the way of all the earth…" (v 2). In his final will and testament to his son, David instructed him to follow the essential formula for all Israelite success: to go in the ways of God and guard His statutes and commandments "as written in the Torah of Moses" (v 3). SETTLING OLD SCORES Joab had been David's loyal commander-in-chief almost to the very end, staying with him even during the supreme challenge of Absalom's rebellion (though it is said that Joab very nearly went after Absalom). Nevertheless, David was unable to forgive Joab for having assassinated Saul's commander-in-chief Avner precisely when David wanted to bring an end to the civil war with the House of Saul, and also for having killed his own beloved son Absalom contrary to his specific orders as well as assassinating Absalom's commander-in-chief Amasa. Yet despite the fact that Joab had wielded the sword of Judgment even more implacably than David, he was head of the Sanhedrin and a most formidable Torah sage as well as a man of kindness who made his home like a wilderness in that it was constantly open to all

the poor people (see Rashi on v 34). Thus David did not want to wreak vengeance on Joab forever. When he told Solomon, "Do not bring his hoary old age down to She'ol=Hell", what he meant was that Solomon should ensure that Joab would not die a natural death in order that his being killed in this world should atone for him, save him from hell and bring him to the life of the world to come (Rashi on v 6). While Barzilai the Giladite and his sons had supported David when he fled from Absalom and were to be rewarded, Shimi ben Gera – head of the Sanhedrin and a leading member of the tribe of Benjamin – had come out cursing and stoning David in his flight. His curse is described as NIMRETZETH ("extremely strong"): the letters that make up this Hebrew word are the initial letters of all the unpleasant names that Shimi ben Gera called David: NO'EF ("adulterer"), MOAVI ("Moabite", i.e. a "sheigitz"), ROTZEAH ("murderer"), TZORER ("persecutor"), THO'EYVA ("abomination"). David said to Solomon that Shimi is "WITH YOU" (v 8), because – paradoxically – Shimi, an outstanding Torah sage, was actually Solomon's TEACHER (Talmud Berachos 8a). ADONIAHU'S PLOT It is said that David never had relations with Avishag the Shunamite (I Kings 1:4), and accordingly she was not technically forbidden to Adoniahu as his father's concubine. Nevertheless it was seditious of Adoniahu to ask Batsheva to intercede with her son Solomon to give him Avishag, because "a private individual is forbidden to have any benefit from the scepter of the king". By requesting Avishag, Adoniahu was plotting to get his foot inside the door of the kingship. Solomon displayed all the proper KAVOD ("honor") to his mother Batsheva when she innocently went in to put this request to him (v 19). The Midrash states that when Solomon "placed a chair for the mother of the king", this was actually for "the mother of the kingship", i.e. David's great grandmother Ruth who was still alive (Bava Basra 91b; Rashi on v 19). Yet with all his show of maternal respect, the young Solomon (who was only 12 years old at the time, Rashi on I Kings 3:7) was far from being a tender softie and understood much more clearly than his own mother the real implications of Adoniahu's little request, sending his commanderin-chief Benaya to dispatch him as a traitor. EVIATAR As indicated in the commentary on the previous chapter, Eviatar the former High Priest was "sent home" by Solomon (v 26) not only because he had joined Adoniahu's rebellion but also because the time had come to build God's eternal House in Jerusalem, while the line of priests descending from Eli (who traced their lineage to Aaron's fourth son Ithamar), had because of their corruption been deposed from serving in the Temple in favor of the priests who came from the line of Aaron's third son, Elazar, and his son Pinchas. JOAB'S FLIGHT TO THE ALTAR On hearing the reports of how Solomon was settling scores with those who had fallen foul of his father David, Joab fled to the Sanctuary Altar, whose power to give succor to unwitting killers is learned from the verse in Exodus 21:14: "When a man intentionally plots against his neighbor to kill him craftily, even from My altar shall you take him to die". This verse indicates that the Altar has the same power as the Cities of Refuge to give succor to unwitting killers.

Joab's killing of Avner, Amasa and Absalom had in fact been intentional and Solomon would have been permitted to have him taken from the Altar and killed. The rabbis discussed at length what Joab had to gain from being killed at the Altar rather than being executed after due trial as a traitor. They answered that while those executed by the court are buried in a special "criminals" section of the cemetery, by being killed at the Altar Joab could be buried in his family plot together with his ancestors. Although the text states that he was buried in his home "in the wilderness", it would be ridiculous to take this literally, and the phrase is darshened as explained above – that Joab's house was open to the poor like a wilderness – and also as indicating that after his death Israel was left like a barren wilderness (RaDaK on v 34). By putting Shimi ben Gera under permanent house arrest and making him swear to remain there, Solomon craftily contrived to ensure that Shimi would be responsible for his own death when circumstances would arise – as they surely would – to induce him to leave his home. Despite Solomon's having sent Benaya to perform yet another in his series of bloody executions of David's foes, the text states that "the kingship was established in the hand of Solomon" (v 46) in order to indicate that he was not punished for this and that his kingship was ordained by God. * * * I Kings 2:1-12 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Vayechi, Genesis 47:2850:26 * * *

Chapter 3 SOLOMON'S MARRIAGE TO PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER Our chapter opens with the very surprising news that Solomon married the daughter of the king of the very nation that had ignominiously enslaved and been forced to release Israel hundreds of years earlier. Rashi (on v 3) notes that the verses in this chapter are not in historical sequence, for Solomon's dream in Giv'on (vv 5ff) took place at the very beginning of his reign, whereas it was not until three years afterwards that he made his marriage alliance with Pharoah. This was directly after the death of Solomon's teacher, Shimi ben Gera (narrated out of sequence at the end of the preceding chapter in order to complete the account of Solomon's settling David's outstanding scores). From the proximity of verse 1 of our present chapter to the last verses of the previous chapter, our rabbis taught that as long as his teacher was alive, Solomon did not make this questionable move of intermarriage, deducing that a person should always live close to his teacher in order to stay on the right track (Rashi on v 1). Solomon's move was questionable because the Torah states that "you shall not intermarry with them [i.e. the other nations]" (Deut. 7:3). Some rabbis held that intermarriage would only be forbidden if the non-Israelite party to the marriage does not convert, but others held that converting them in order to marry is also forbidden. Another factor raising questions about Solomon's move is the tradition that no converts were accepted in the times of David and Solomon because the prestige of Israel was so great that potential converts would all have had ulterior motives. However the Talmud explicitly states that this did not apply to the daughter of Pharaoh, who had enough wealth not to need to marry Solomon for money (Talmud Yevamos 76a). A further question is how Solomon could have converted and then married an Egyptian woman when the Torah states that an Egyptian convert may not enter the Assembly until the third generation (Deut. 23:9). However, this objection is countered by a tradition (not accepted halachically) that the referenced verse

applies only to an Egyptian male but not to a female (which would make the law of the Egyptian parallel to the law forbidding a Moabite but not a Moabitess from ever entering the Assembly. Despite the many questions that surround it, we do not find Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter criticized in our text as being intrinsically sinful: verse 3 does implicitly criticize Solomon for sacrificing at many high altars but does not criticize him for marrying Pharaoh's daughter. It was only in his old age, when Solomon took many wives, that he was criticized for allowing them to turn his heart aside from God. It stands to reason that the exact intent of the supremely wise Solomon in marrying the daughter of Israel's former persecutors would be beyond the ability of simple people like ourselves to grasp. Since PHARAOH represents the OREPH ("back of the neck", same Hebrew letters as Pharaoh) of creation as opposed to its inner face, the conversion of his daughter by Solomon and her integration into the holy edifice that he was building was a "coup" similar to the conversion of Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh who drew Moses out of the water. The "daughter of Pharaoh" represents the source of all the different kinds of worldly wisdom (which are her "handmaidens"). By "converting" and "marrying" her, Solomon was perhaps very daringly and ambitiously striving to deepen and enhance the revelation of God's unity on all levels of creation. If so, it was apparently still over-ambitious, because Solomon proved unable to hold his "catch" within the bounds of holiness, and indeed he himself strayed beyond them. In retribution, said the rabbis, at the very moment when Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, the angel Gabriel (GEVURAH, "might", withholding and concealing) descended and drove the first stake into the sea in the very place where more and more sediment eventually collected to form the foundation of what was to become Israel's nemesis: the city of Rome (Talmud Shabbos 56b). "AND SOLOMON LOVED GOD" (v 3) Prior to his heart-enticing marriages with foreign women, Solomon passionately followed the Torah of his father David. If he was criticized, it was only for "sacrificing in the high places". This was actually permitted as long as the Temple was not built in Jerusalem. Since the sacking of the Sanctuary of Shilo by the Philistines in the time of Ely and the slaughter of the priests of Nov by Saul, the Sanctuary with the vessels of Moses had been in Giv'on, except for the Ark of the Covenant, which David had taken to Jerusalem. Whereas David had sacrificed only at the "great" Altar in Giv'on (this was the copper Altar made by Moses) or at an altar that he erected before the Ark in Jerusalem, Solomon also sacrificed in other high places (until the building of the Temple), and while this was still permitted, it was seen as a deviation from David's path and as needlessly delaying the building of the Temple in Jerusalem (Rashi and RaDaK on v 3). THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON Whereas David's kingship was founded on the sword of prayer and faith – he had to fight throughout his life – Solomon's kingship was founded on the very WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING which he had the good sense to request when God offered him anything he wanted. At the tender age of 12 (Rashi and RaDaK on v 7) when many intelligent youngsters tend to be highly arrogant, the wise young King Solomon had the humility to understand he would need divine help in judging the busy, quarrelsome Israelites – for kingship (MALCHUS) is founded on Judgment (MISHPAT=TIFERES, the center column, balance) and the repair of Judgment depends upon BINAH, "understanding". Solomon thus asked God to "give Your

servant a LISTENING heart" (v 9) in order to HEAR and UNDERSTAND, while God responded even more generously by giving him a heart that was WISE as well as UNDERSTANDING (v 12). CHOKHMAH, "wisdom", is the ability to GRASP, know and remember what one learns, while BINAH, "understanding", is the ability to ANALYZE what one knows in order to make new inferences, "understanding one thing from another" (RaDaK on v 12). When Solomon awoke from his dream he knew that his request had been granted, because "he heard a bird chirping and understood its language, and he heard a dog barking and he understood what it was saying" (Rashi on v 15). COT DEATH: WHOSE IS THE LIVING CHILD? Solomon's first dramatic demonstration of his divinely-granted powers of judgment came with the arrival of the two "whores" who were quarreling about which of their two babies died and to whom the surviving child belonged. The Talmudic teacher Rav held that these two "whores" were actually spirits. Rabbi Simon in the name of R. Yehoshua ben Levi said they were literally prostitutes. A third opinion, offered by unnamed sages, is that they were actually a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:10). This third opinion immeasurably sharpens the dispute between them on the assumption that the aggrieved mother who started pleading before the king saying that she had been the first to give birth (vv 17-18) was the mother-in-law. If the second woman – her daughter-in-law, who gave birth three days later – lost her husband AFTER the birth of her mother-in-law's baby and subsequently lost her own baby (an only child), it would mean that according to the law of the levirate marriage she would have to marry her mother-in-law's baby, the brother of her dead husband, her YAVAM, since with the death of her own baby her dead husband left no living issue. In any event she would have to wait thirteen years until her mother-in-law's baby became a legal adult in order to either carry out the mitzvah of YIBUM by marrying his dead brother's widow or release her from their bond through HALITZAH, "removal of the brother-in-law's sandal" (see Deut. 25:5ff). Having to wait for thirteen years as a stranded AGUNAH before she could regularize her status would give the daughter-in-law a very strong incentive to take her mother-in-law's baby as her own, because if she could make it appear that her dead husband did have surviving issue this would release her from the bond of YIBUM with any of his brothers. Likewise, it would not bother her in the least if the king sliced the living child in half, because if he was indeed the sole surviving brother of her dead husband, his death would automatically release her from any bond of YIBUM in the absence of any YAVAM, leaving her free to marry anyone she wanted. Before Solomon delivered his judgment, he first made sure to repeat the claims of each woman in his own words (v 23) to make it clear that he had understood exactly what they were saying. In this he provided a model for every good DAYAN ("judge"), who must review the claims made by the rival claimants before delivering judgment. Solomon's brilliant bluff ordering a sword to be brought immediately elicited the natural motherly compassion of the true mother and exposed the lying baby-thief for what she was. "And all Israel heard the judgment that the king decided and they were in awe before the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment" (v 28).

* * * The passage in I Kings 3:15-28 and 4:1 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Miketz, Genesis 41:1-44:17 unless this parshah is read on Shabbos Chanukah * * *

Chapter 4 "AND SOLOMON WAS KING OVER ALL ISRAEL" (v 1) David had been king over Judah in Hebron before he was accepted as king over all Israel. It is a tribute to David's lifelong struggle that the entire nation was now able to unite in accepting one king. They did so because they saw Solomon's divinelybestowed wisdom and everyone rejoiced in his kingship (Rashi on v 1). Listed first and foremost among Solomon's officers is the Priest – because the entire national agenda was now focused on building a functioning Temple. Solomon had scribes to write down his governmental decisions and dispatch them for execution; he had a MAZKIR (lit. "one who makes you remember") i.e. a "secretary" to make records of events and archive them. Like Saul and David, Solomon had his commander-in-chief. Listed among his officers is also "the king's friend" – presumably one who was likewise very wise indeed and with whom Solomon doubtless loved to fathom the depths of wisdom. THE TWELVE PROVIDING OFFICERS Solomon's kingship is portrayed as a model of good order, in which twelve NETZIVIM, "appointed officers", were in charge of collecting all the provisions, materials and other needs of the royal household and army from twelve regions into which the Land of Israel was divided. These regions did NOT correspond to the territorial portions of the Twelve Tribes, which were uneven both in area and in the kind of land they comprised. Rather, these twelve regions represented a fair division of the entire land into portions each one of which could sustain the royal household for one of the twelve months of the year (Radak on v 8). The twelve months of the year correspond to the twelve possible permutations of the holy "essential" name of God, "HaVaYaH" (YKVK). These are discussed at length in SEFER YETZIRA, the earliest kabbalistic text, attributed to our father Abraham. This was certainly known to Solomon (whose Proverbs contain certain allusions to the wisdom of Sefer Yetzirah). Just as the "sun" of the Name of HaVaYaH (=Zeir Anpin) shines month by month with different permutations to the "moon" of MALCHUS, "kingship" (=Nukva), so King Solomon (MALCHUS, the receiving vessel of Zeir Anpin=Chochmah) received his PARNASSAH ("livelihood") from TWELVE different regions of Eretz Israel, which itself corresponds to the Partzuf of Malchus. "Judah and Israel multiplied like the sand of the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing" (v 20). "In the time of Solomon they were blessed with the fruit of the womb and they multiplied, as did the fruits of their animals and their land, and they ate and drank and rejoiced, for they had no fear of any enemy" (RaDaK on v 20).

Chapter 5 SOLOMON'S EMPIRE Abraham had been a truly international figure, having traveled throughout the "Fertile Crescent" from Babylon to Aram Naharayim, throughout the Land of Israel and down into Egypt. Jacob too traveled to Aram and to Egypt. However, since the time of the entry of the Israelites into their Land, their main preoccupation had been to battle against their immediate neighbors – the Canaanites, Philistines, Moabites and Ammonites – in order to maintain their hold over the Promised Land. It was through the victories of David over all Israel's enemies that an entirely new international vista opened up in the time of Solomon, whose "empire" or "sphere of influence" extended over the entire swathe of territory promised to Abraham "from the river of Egypt to the Great river, the Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18; cf. I Kings 5:1 & 3). Our text evokes Solomon's opulent royal lifestyle (vv 2-3) including his ownership of multiple thousands of horses (v 6), which despite being prohibited to the king by the Torah (Deut. 17:16) remain a mark of royalty until today. While the various nations that comprised Solomon's empire paid taxes and gifts, this was not an exploitative colonial empire or one that kept its grip through military force alone. For "he had PEACE on all sides around" (v 4) – a situation that modern Israel can only envy, having experienced no peace for a single moment since the inception of the state and for years and years before it. Our text testifies that the very key to Solomon's influence over this great area of territory as well as over the neighboring foreign powers lay in his unique, Godgiven WISDOM, which "exceeded the wisdom of all the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. And he was wiser than every man (ADAM), than Eitan the Ezrahi and Heyman and Khulkol and Darda the sons of Mahol…" While the simple explanation is that these last names are those of the leading Levite Temple singers of the time, the Midrash identifies "every man" with ADAM, Eitan with Abraham, Heyman with Moses, Khulkol with Joseph and Darda with the Generation of the Wilderness (DOR DE'AH, "generation of KNOWLEDGE), who were "children of forgiveness" (MEHILA). Most of the narrative in the book of Kings portrays Solomon and his achievements from the outside, but his true wisdom shines forth in his surviving literary creations alluded to in verse 12: Proverbs, Song of Songs and Koheles (=Ecclesiastes). Most translations render ALAPHIM and ELEPH in this verse as "thousand(s)", but Rashi relates them to the same root as in ULPAN meaning "education": the verse thus speaks of three EDUCATIONAL ORDERS of Proverbs (the expression MISHLEY SHLOMO appears three times in the book of Proverbs); these, together with Song of Songs and Koheles constitute the FIVE orders of Solomon's "song". According to the simple meaning of ELEPH as 1,000, Rashi brings the Midrash that Solomon taught three thousand parables on every single verse of the Torah and gave 1,005 explanations of each parable (see Rashi on vv 11-12). "He spoke about the trees from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that comes out of the wall" (before God, the highest and the lowest are equal, Bamidbar Rabba 13). According to Rashi this verse means that not only did Solomon understand the healing properties of all the different trees and plants and exactly how to cultivate them, but that he also explained why the purification of the leper involves the cedar and the hyssop (Lev. 14:4). "He spoke about the animals and birds and creeping creatures and fish…" (v 13): not only did he understand all their different qualities, but also why the SHECHITAH of animals requires the cutting of both the windpipe and the gullet,

while that of birds requires the cutting of only one, and why locusts and fish do not require SHECHITAH at all… (Rashi on v 14).

HIRAM KING OF TYRE The tragic history of modern Lebanon has overshadowed the one-time greatness of this very beautiful country with its once very extensive forests. While Sidon was established by the firstborn son of Canaan (Gen. 10:15), the city of Tyre to its south was an immensely powerful city state built up by the Phoenicians, whose prosperity was founded on the magnificent tall trees out of which they built the ships they used to develop a trade empire throughout the Mediterranean area and beyond. While Hiram king of Tyre is a legendary figure (particularly in the lore of freemasonry, where he is seen as the "father" of the Temple), Ibn Ezra (on Genesis 1:10) views Hiram as the generic name of all the kings of Tyre just as Pharaoh was the generic name of all the kings of Egypt . In later Biblical times Tyre saw Jerusalem as a dangerous rival and hoped to benefit from its destruction (cf. Ezekiel 26:2, "I shall be filled from her destruction"), but the Hiram who befriended King David and King Solomon was – from the testimony of our text – a believer in the One God who (unlike the nations of today) REJOICED when he heard that Solomon wanted to build Him a Temple in Jerusalem (v 20). Hiram struck a Covenant with Solomon (v 26) inaugurating the first ever venture in international cooperation to build God's Temple. Hiram provided the timber and stone that were the building materials for the Temple in return for very ample supplies of choice wheat and olive oil that were the specialty of Israel. The lumber was tied up to form rafts that were floated down the Mediterranean from the coast of Lebanon to the point nearest to Jerusalem on the Israeli coast. From there it was transported by land to the site of the Temple. The 70,000 "porters" and 80,000 "excavators" who extracted and transported the massive stones for the Temple were GERIM GERURIM – would-be converts who were not admitted into the Assembly of Israel (as no full converts were accepted in the time of Solomon, see commentary on I Kings ch 3) but were nevertheless allowed to participate in the enterprise of building of God's House of Prayer for all the Nations.

Chapter 6 The building of the Temple commenced in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, 480 years after the Exodus from Egypt and 440 years after the people's entry into the Land. The actualization of this project to join Heaven and Earth took a total of seven years (vv 37-8). In his work on the "Secrets of the Future Temple " (Mishkeney Elyon) the outstanding 18 th century Kabbalistic sage R. Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto explains that creation has two roots: the "revealed root" of HOKHMAH ("wisdom") and the "concealed" root of KETER ("the crown"). The two roots are alluded to in the first letter of the first word of the Torah, the Beis (=2) of Bereishis, "In the beginning". "Know too that the sin of Adam spoiled everything and caused all perfection to become concealed, with the result that the world was not even able to return to its previous state [i.e. the level of Wisdom] except in the days of Solomon, when the Temple was first built. Thus it is written: 'And God gave wisdom to Solomon' (I

Kings 5:26). For then Wisdom was revealed in all its beauty and radiant glory, enabling all the lights to shine with great strength and joy. In those days, on every level in all the worlds there was only holy power and delight the like of which had never been seen. Even so, because everything was based only on Wisdom and did not reach the ultimate goal [of Keter], this peace and tranquility came to an end and the Temple was destroyed. But in time to come, when the hidden beginning I mentioned [Keter] is revealed, the happiness will be far, far greater, and it will never cease" (Ramchal, Secrets of the Future Temple). Although Ramchal's work – which explains in detail the "sacred geometry" that underlies the design of the Temple – is primarily concerned with the FUTURE Temple as depicted by Ezekiel (chs 40ff), the principles on which it is based apply also to the Temple of Solomon, all of whose chambers, walls, gates and courtyards in all their various dimensions allude to and EMBODY IN STONE the various divine attributes as they relate to one another. Besides the information about Solomon's Temple contained in our text, we have detailed supplementary information in Maseches MIDDOS, the Mishnaic Tractate of "Measurements", which deals with the design of the Second Temple, which was mostly modeled on the first. The rabbinic commentators wrote entire treatises about the structure of the Temple. The Temple had very distinctive features, such as its windows, which were "wide open from the outside but closed and narrow on the inside" (v 4). This was because the Temple had no need for the light from the outside, since it was lit from within (both by the Candelabra and by the spiritual light that shined in it): on the contrary, light emanated FROM the Temple windows OUTWARDS. Another distinctive feature was that as the very center of world peace, the Temple was a place where it was not fitting for the sound of metal hammers and axes to be heard (v 7) since metal is the material of weapons of war. All the stones were cut and dressed outside the Temple, and Solomon also miraculously found the Shamir worm, which would silently eat its way across a stone so as to split it just as it had cut the stones of the gems in the High Priest's breastplate in the days of Moses. (This is not a worm that is easy to find; Sotah 48b, Gittin 68a). Most distinctive of all was that the survival of the Temple was entirely conditional upon Israel's keeping the Torah, as God promised to Solomon (vv 11-13): "If you go in My statutes and carry out My laws… I shall dwell amongst the Children of Israel and I will not abandon My people Israel." The main Temple building, a structure of 60 x 20 cubits (on the inside) was divided into two unequal parts: the HEIKHAL (40 x 20) containing the Menorahs (Candelabra) Show-bread Tables and Incense Altar, and within, the Holy of Holies (20 x 20) containing the Ark of the Covenant with the wooden figures of two Cherubs overlaid with gold standing with their wings outstretched over it and filling the entire inner chamber. Across the entire front of the HEIKHAL stood the OULAM ("Vestibule"). Around the walls surrounding the Heikhal and Holy of Holies on three sides were a series of cells banked up in three stories one on top of the other. These cells may have been used to store the Temple treasures. Esoterically, they allowed the SHEFA (divine influence) emanating from within the Temple to be concentrated intensely prior to its flowing outwards to nourish the outside world.

The ceiling and roof of the Temple were made of wood, and its stone walls were entirely paneled with wood from top to bottom. The wood (which alludes to the TREE of life) was carved with the forms of cherubs, palms, garlands and flowers. All the walls and all the carvings were overlaid with gold, as was the ceiling and the floor, the effect of which must have been absolutely stunning. Through God's providence, we have reached the description of the building of Solomon's Temple just as we are celebrating the festival of Chanukah in commemoration of God's miracles for Israel in the Second Temple. In the merit of our studies, may He quickly bring peace to our troubled world and speedily build the Temple we are now awaiting, from which the love and fear of God will spread forth to all the world. * * * The passage in I Kings 5:26-32 and 6:1-13 is read as Haftara of Parshas Terumah, Exodus 25:1-27:19 * * *

Chapter 7 The account of the building of the Temple is interrupted briefly at the beginning of our present chapter in order to describe the building of Solomon's royal palace, which took thirteen years. According to most opinions Solomon did not build his own palace until AFTER the completion of the Temple, which took only seven years: Solomon displayed commendably greater alacrity in building for God's glory than he did for his own, yet his palace too was clearly very magnificent. The "House of the Forest of Lebanon" (v 2) was a cool, airy, most elegantly proportioned summer house with rows upon rows of windows. It was the many wooden columns that made it seem like a forest [which was perhaps conducive to Hisbodedus]. In the same complex was the king's throne-room where he sat in judgment (v 7) as well as his own private apartments (v 8). From verse 12 we see that the walls of Solomon's palace were built in the same style as those of the Temple (see Metzudas David on this verse), indicating that great thought was lavished on the harmonious appearance of the Holy City of Jerusalem. HIRAM THE CRAFTSMAN Some Bible readers have assumed that the Hiram mentioned in our present chapter (v 13) is identical with Hiram king of Tyre mentioned in ch 5 vv 15ff, but this is highly unlikely. Hiram the craftsman was an Israelite whose father was from the tribe of Naftali while his mother was from the tribe of Dan (see II Chronicles 2:13). He was living in the prosperous city of Tyre , where perhaps the opportunities to apply his expertise had been greater than they were in his native tribal areas before the time of Solomon. Hiram the craftsman is compared with Bezalel, who constructed the Sanctuary in the Wilderness – prototype of the Temple in Jerusalem. One of the reasons why Hiram's tribal origins are specifically mentioned is to show that Rachel was answered when she prayed, "With great wrestlings (NAFTULEI) have I wrestled with my sister" (Genesis 30:8). Bezalel, builder of the wilderness Sanctuary, was from the tribe of Judah (Leah's son) – yet he could not build it alone and had to have help from Oholiav, who was from the tribe of Dan (son of Bilhah, RACHEL's handmaiden). Likewise Solomon (Judah-Leah) required the help of Hiram, who was from the tribe of Naftali, also Rachel's foster-son through Bilhah. Thus the Partzufim of Rachel and Leah were both involved in the construction of the Sanctuary and the Temple.

Chapter 6 described the construction of the Temple buildings themselves out of stone (Malchus), wood (Tiferes) and gold (Binah). Our present chapter describes the ornaments and vessels of the Temple, which were made out of copper/bronze (Nechoshes), corresponding to Netzach and Hod, the "legs" (cf. Daniel 2:32). Thus the account of Hiram's work begins with the two great columns named Yachin ("He will establish") and Bo'az ("in Him is strength") that stood on the two sides of the entrance to the OULAM ("Vestibule") of the Temple building. These columns, with their very beautiful ornate "crowns", are the "legs" supporting the Temple , channeling its light downwards. The copper "Sea" of Solomon was an enormous circular copper pool supported by twelve copper oxen and containing sufficient water to fill 150 Mikvehs ("purificatory ritual pools"). The Cohanim-priests would immerse here before beginning their service in the Temple. As our text states, the pool had a diameter of ten cubits, and "a line of thirty cubits would go around it" (v 23). In various Talmudic discussions involving the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference, this verse is cited, although the commentators do point out that the figure of thirty cubits given here is only approximate, since the actual ratio is "Pi" – 3.14 (Eiruvin 14a Succah 8a etc.). The MECHONOS and KEERAYIM described in vv. 27ff were respectively the bases and lavers from which the priests drew water to ritually wash their hands and feet prior to Temple service (Ex. 30:17-21).Verse 26 describes how the MECHONOS – the bases on which the lavers stood and could be wheeled around – were engraved with cherubs, lions and palms KE-MA'AR-EESH VE-LOYOS SAVIV. The standard biblical translations do little justice to the mystery of this verse, where MA'AR has the connotation of attachment, as does the word LOYOS. Rashi commenting on the same word LOYOS in v 29 states that they were "a kind of male and female attached one to the other". This clearly relates to the basic mystery of the Temple, which is the attachment of the Holy One blessed be He with His Indwelling Presence – the Shekhinah. This gives special point to the Gemara (Yoma 54a), which tells that "when the alien foreigners entered the Sanctuary and saw the Cherubs embracing one another, they took them out into the market place and said 'Is this what these Israelites, whose blessing is a blessing and whose curse is a curse, keep busy with?' Immediately they despised them, as it is written, 'All those who honored her despised her because they saw her nakedness (ERVASAH, from same root as MA'AR)' (Lam. 1:8)." As our text narrates, all these copper vessels were cast in the Jordan valley, where the earth was particularly suitable for making the earthenware moulds into which the molten metal was poured (RaDaK on v 46). There was so much copper that it was simply impossible to calculate the exact quantity (v 47). Verse 49 tells us that Solomon made TEN golden Menorahs (Candelabra). He did not put away the Menorah made by Moses in the Wilderness, but arranged five of his new ones on each side of that of Moses, which stood to the south of the Sanctuary. Although they are not mentioned in our present text, we learn from II Chronicles 4:8 that Solomon also made TEN Showbread Tables, which were likewise arranged on each side of Moses' Showbread Table, which stood to the north of the Sanctuary (see RaDaK on I Kings 8:6). All Solomon's innovations in the Temple were based on specific instructions which he received from his father David, "everything in writing from the hand of HaShem upon me" (II Chronicles 4:8): everything in the Temple was based upon prophecy.

"And all the labor was complete (VA-TI-SHLAM)" v 51. "VA-TEHI-SHALOM – 'it was all PEACE': Not one of the craftsmen that built the Temple died or became sick during the work and none of their tools ever broke" (Psikta Rabasi 6). * * * The custom of the Sefardim is to read I Kings 7:13-26 as the Haftara of Parshas Vayakhel Exodus 35:1-38:20 * * * * * * The custom of the Ashkenazim is to read I Kings 7:40-50 as the Haftara of Parshas Vayakhel, Exodus 35:1-38:20 * * * * * * In years when the first and last days of Chanukah fall on Shabbos, I Kings 7:40-50 is read as the Haftara on the second Shabbos of Chanukah * * *

Chapter 8 With the completion of all the work it was time to inaugurate the new Temple. Solomon brought up the Ark from where David had taken it to rest temporarily on Mount Zion, and he brought up the Sanctuary from where it had been in Giv'on ever since the destruction of Shilo and Nov. Some of the Sanctuary items that would no longer be in use were now honorably hidden away in GENIZA, presumably under the Temple Mount, which Solomon apparently designed with an intricate secret subterranean network. A new stage had arrived in the revelation of God's glory with the completion of the Temple rooted in HOKHMAH, "wisdom". Now that everything was complete and in place, the Glory of God, His Indwelling Presence, "came down", as it were, into the building. It was then that Solomon, who was then 23 years old, addressed the entire nation of Israel assembled at the Temple, after which he turned to the Altar, got down on his knees and raised his arms to the heavens to offer his most eloquent prayer for God to bless His House and fulfill its intent. Many phrases from this prayer are incorporated into the prayers and supplications in the Siddur and Selichos etc. Having erected the building, Solomon now came to teach its true function and purpose – to reveal how God governs the whole of creation with direct providence over every detail (HASHGACHAH PROTIS). It is a revelation of the complete unity of God when people pray in the Temple or even "through" it from a great distance away, because embodied in the actual courtyards and buildings and vessels of the Temple are attributes of God, attached to one another in unity KE-MA'AR-EESH VELOYOS SAVIV. Thus Solomon details the many different needs for which people must pray. Verses 31-2 speak of people's prayers for justice in the face of wrong-doing they have suffered from others (including adultery, which can take a man's wife from him or vice versa and destroys the sanctity of the family, and is specifically alluded to here, see Rashi). Verse 33 teaches that it is our own sins that cause our enemies to strike us, and that we must repent and pray for salvation. Verse 35 deals with drought; verse 37 with famine, which may be caused by bad winds, crop failure, locusts etc., and with illness. Verse 38 teaches that each person must pray about the afflictions he feels in his own heart and that he must understand that "You give to a man according to all his ways". This implies that if we are unworthy, we cannot expect God to answer our prayers (though in His mercy, He may!)

From vv 41ff we learn that God will also listen to the prayers of the NOCHRI, the non-Israelite, who hears of His great Name and comes to pray at the Temple. Indeed Solomon asks God to "do according to all that the NOCHRI cries out to You in order that all the peoples of the earth should know Your Name to fear You…" (v 43). The NOCHRI may not understand that God does not always answer the undeserving – he may not even realize that he is undeserving, and if he receives no answer from God at the Temple he may not blame it on himself but on the Temple. This is why Solomon asks God to answer the NOCHRI for the sake of His great Name (Rashi on v 43). From verses 46-50 we learn that even when Israel are in exile and captivity far from their Land, their prayers to God are efficacious when they pray to God "by way of their Land that You gave to their fathers, the city that You chose and the House that You have built for Your Name" (v 48). This implies that everyone should direct his or her prayers to God through the Temple in Jerusalem, no matter where in the world they are. (This is why Jews turn in the direction of the Temple to pray the daily AMIDAH prayer.) According to the Rabbis, the inauguration of the new Temple took place in the month of Tishri from the 8 th to the 14 th of the month and was followed immediately by the celebration of the festival of Succos. This was such an important event that according to most opinions, fasting was suspended that year on Yom Kippur in order for the people to partake of the SHELAMIM (peace offerings) – see RaDaK on v 65. May we very soon know what it is to celebrate HANUKAS HABAYIS, the inauguration of the new Temple that we are eagerly awaiting. * * * I Kings 7:51 and 8:1-21 are read as the Haftara of Parshas Pekudey, Exodus 38:21-40:38 * * * * * * In Diaspora communities, II Kings 8:2-21 is read as the Haftara on the Second Day of Succos, and I Kings 8:54-9:1 is read as the Haftara on the Festival of Shemini Atzeres * * *

Chapter 9 "MY EYES AND MY HEART WILL BE THERE..." (v 3) The entire face of Israel was changed with the completion of Solomon's Temple and his other magnificent building projects in Jerusalem together with the development of a network of international diplomatic and trading links that brought a flood of gold, silver, exotic woods, spices and other luxuries into the Land. Solomon took the first twenty-four years of his reign to build the Temple and his palace, while David had previously reigned for forty years. This means that it was little more than sixty-five years since Saul had become king at a time when the Israelites were so poor and technologically dependent on the Philistines that they didn't even have blacksmiths of their own to repair their farm implements (I Samuel 13:19-22). For almost five centuries since their entry into the Land, the Israelites had been a nation of small farmers living a very simple life. Now suddenly, through the genius of Solomon the peace-maker and bridge-builder, Israel and its glorious capital of Jerusalem were at the very center of the economic and cultural life of the entire

Fertile Crescent and way beyond. The nation that once slaved to build store cities for Pharaoh (Exodus 1:11) now had helot slave nations of their own to build them "store cities, cities of chariots and cities of horse riders and whatever fancy that Solomon fancied to build in Jerusalem and Lebanon and in all the land of his rule" (I Kings 9:9). In a sense Solomon's marriage with Pharaoh's daughter can be seen as his attempt to wed and subordinate the material grandeur represented by Egypt to the Torah of Israel. The question was whether he could succeed – or would the pull of materialism turn Israel aside from their adherence to the Torah. Therefore God's message to Solomon when He appeared to him for the second time following the completion of his building projects (v 1) was strictly conditional: "IF you will go before Me… I shall establish the throne of your kingship over Israel forever" (vv 4-5). At the very moment when the Temple had just been consecrated, God was already threatening that it would be destroyed if Israel were to go astray and that the people would then become an international byword for the terrible consequences of sin (vv 7-8, cf. Deut. 29:17-27). In certain ways the test faced by Solomon and the Israel of his times was similar to the test faced by modern Israel since the reestablishment of the Jewish settlement in the Holy Land within the last few hundred years and particularly since the establishment of the State. At the time of the War of Independence in 1948 the Israeli army was a makeshift affair that was victorious not because of superior weaponry but through a combination of heroism and divine miracles, as in the times of Saul and Jonathan. Less than 20 years later in June 1967 the Israeli army saw stunning successes in the space of only six days, extending the tiny country by many times its original size. Since then Israel has attained a prosperity and technological sophistication unimaginable only sixty years ago, and is at the center of an international nexus of diplomatic and commercial relations. However in the eyes of many, this very material success has been accompanied by a tragic decline into decadence, corruption and loss of national vision. Can Israel reverse this decline and return to the Torah ideals that give meaning and purpose to its existence? The way to reverse this decline is given in our text: "My eyes and My heart will be there..." (v 3). Targum Yonasan renders this verse: "My Indwelling Presence (=eyes) will dwell in it IF My will (=heart) is done". "My will" is the Torah: the moral of the Prophet is the same as the moral of the Torah in whose voice he speaks: "And it shall be if you will surely listen to My commandments…" (Deut. 11:13; Second paragraph of Shema). SOLOMON'S COVENANT WITH HIRAM Solomon's treaty of peace, cooperation and reciprocal trading with Hiram of Tyre is emblematic of the international diplomatic policy through which Solomon laid the foundations for Israel's prosperity. It is therefore somewhat strange to discover that Solomon "gave" Hiram twenty cities in the Galilee which found no favor with the latter, who contemptuously dismissed the region as being "barren" or "fruitless" (vv 11-13; KAVUL literally means "chained", implying that the land was full of bogs from which it was hard to pull up one's feet when trying to walk there). How Solomon could have "given" even a small part of Israel 's God-given inheritance to a foreign king is explained by some commentators with reference to a parallel passage in I Chronicles 8:2, which says that it was Hiram who gave Solomon a number of cities that were then populated with Israelites. This would indicate either that Hiram returned the cities

given by Solomon, or that each country's making some of its land available to the other was some kind of reciprocal leasing arrangement. Some say that Solomon intentionally gave Hiram inferior land so that he would not be able to make use of it. Despite the "diplomatic rumpus" caused by Solomon's unattractive gift, Hiram continued lavishing friendship upon his wise Israelite ally, sending him huge amounts of gold (v 14) and cooperating in ambitious naval ventures that brought even more gold and exotic treasures into Israel (vv 26ff; cf. ch 10 vv 11 etc.). SEEDS OF LATER TROUBLES The very account of Solomon's glory includes references to factors that were later to prove disastrous. Verse 20-21 describe how the remaining Canaanites "whom the Children of Israel were unable to drive out" were effectively transformed into disenfranchised serf helots who performed menial labors for their masters (somewhat reminiscent of Israel's Palestinian workforce of today) while the Israelites were a free elite manning the king's army and government. While our present text voices no explicit criticism of this arrangement, it is clear from elsewhere that it was the Israelite failure to drive out the Canaanites that was the root cause of their later exile, because they adopted the Canaanite idolatries. Similarly Solomon's building of the MILLO in Jerusalem for the daughter of Pharaoh (v 24) was one of the root causes of the later rebellion of the Ten Tribes under Jeraboam. The MILLO was a large area by the city which David had left vacant in order to provide space for the pilgrims who came up for the foot festivals to pitch their tents. Solomon FILLED IN (Heb. MILA) this area with earth in order to build homes for Pharaoh's daughter's servants and attendants, causing great popular resentment among the home-born Israelites over the requisitioning of land left for their benefit for the sake of a foreign princess. It was precisely over this that Jeraboam reproved Solomon (ch 11 v 27).

Chapter 10 THE VISIT OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA Many beautiful legends have been woven around the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem as described in our present chapter. Solomon's development of the ports of Etzion-Gever by EYLOTH (=present day Eilat) and his joint naval ventures with the sea-faring experts of Hiram's Tyre opened up not only the Red Sea and surrounding coastal regions of present-day Somalia, Ethiopia, Arabia and Yemen but also gave access to the Indian Ocean and many far-off, exotic sources of luxury goods. Some commentators identify Sheba with India (cf. Gen. 10:7), but rabbinic tradition identifies it with present-day Ethiopia, which would agree with Ethiopian folklore. The Talmud states: "Whoever says that the Queen of Sheba was a woman is simply mistaken; what is MALKHAS Sheba? It is the kingdom (MAMLEKHES) of Sheba!" (Bava Basra 15b). Some people have taken this to mean that the Biblical account of the visit of the Queen of Sheba is nothing but an allegory about some kind of cultural exchange between King Solomon and some far-off nation. However this misconception is dispelled by the comment of Maharsha (ad loc.) that all the Talmud means here is that the Queen of Sheba was not merely the wife-consort of a King of Sheba but that she was actually a Queen in her own right.

The riddles posed to Solomon by the Queen of Sheba as elaborated in the Midrashim have exercised many minds throughout the generations. "And King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked" (v 13). Rashi (ad loc.) comments that what Solomon gave her was nothing but a lesson in wisdom, adding that to satisfy her desire, he had relations with her and she conceived a child whose descendant was Nebuchadnezzar, who was to destroy Solomon's Temple four hundred and ten years after it was built. Once again Solomon's ambitious ventures in trying to join the holy with the unholy sowed the seeds of later destruction. SIX HUNDRED AND SIXTY SIX TALENTS OF GOLD The information that the total sum of Solomon's annual income of gold was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold (v 14) is likely to be somewhat chilling to those who have been exposed to the various occult teachings that associate 666 with great evil. Rashi (ad loc.) explains that this sum was made up of 120 talents given by Hiram, another 120 talents given by the Queen of Sheba, and a further 420 talents brought by the ships of Tarshish from Ophir. "And as for the other six, I don't know where they were from" (Rashi). Other commentators point out that it was this very wealth that proved to be Solomon's undoing, and that 666 is the sum of the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in the word TASSUR (Tav 400, Samach 60, Vav 6, Reish 200), "turn aside", as in the verse, "And you shall not TURN ASIDE (TASSUR) from all the things that I am commanding you today" (Deut. 28:14, cf. Deut. 17:11). SOLOMON'S THRONE Another theme around which many fabulous legends have been woven is Solomon's amazing throne (vv 18ff). One of the main sources for more details about this throne is the Second Targum on Esther 1:2, which provides a complete description of the many different figures of animals that adorned this throne and their various ways of dealing with intruders, false witnesses who came to testify before Solomon, etc. Among the various kings who were said to have later unsuccessfully tried to sit on this throne were Pharaoh Necho, Nebuchadnezzar, Achashverosh and Alexander the Great. Rabbi Elazar the son of Rabbi Yosse said that he had seen the shattered remnants of this throne in Rome. (See also Rabbi Nachman's tale of the Exchanged Children, which alludes to this throne at the climax of the story.) The six steps of the throne mentioned in our present text correspond to the Six Orders of the Mishneh – for despite his excesses, Solomon based his kingly authority only on the Torah as handed down through the oral tradition. Solomon's throne was the earthly representation of the heavenly Throne of Glory, and according to tradition was adorned with a wolf side by side with a lamb, a leopard with a kid goat and a calf with a lion (cf. Isaiah 11:6) indicating that through faithful adherence to the wisdom and judgments of the Torah, perfect Messianic peace can reign.

Chapter 11 "AND KING SOLOMON LOVED MANY FOREIGN WOMEN" (v. 1) Foreign "women" – in the form of the religions, worldviews, philosophies, arts, sciences, cultures and lifestyles of the other nations – have had an irresistible allure for many Israelites in generation after generation despite the solemn Torah injunctions against their pursuit. It is surely impossible for ordinary people to

understand precisely what the wisest man that ever lived really intended in going after so many foreign women, but Rabbi Nachman of Breslov – who also attained supreme heights of wisdom – teaches that reliance on wisdom alone is intrinsically dangerous: "When a person follows his own mind and clever ideas, he can fall into many pitfalls and errors and come to great evil. Tremendous damage has been caused by such people, like the infamous great villains who, through their intelligence and cunning, have led the entire world astray" (Likutey Moharan II, 12). For Rabbi Nachman, the very essence of Judaism is simplicity: "Throw aside all wisdom and clever ideas and serve God with simplicity. Make sure that your deeds are greater than your wisdom, because the main thing is not study but its practical application. This obviously applies to most ordinary people's clever ideas, which are mere folly, but it even applies to genuine wisdom. When it comes to serving God, even a person whose head is filled with genuine wisdom should set it all aside and serve God simply and innocently" (ibid. II, 5). The Talmud indicates that Solomon did not necessarily actually marry the "many foreign women" that he "loved": he is considered to have done so only because he permitted himself to become entranced by them (Yevamos 76b). "Everyone who says Solomon sinned is simply mistaken, as the verse says, 'His heart was not perfect with HaShem his God like the heart of his father David' (v 4): this means that he was not wholehearted with God like David, but HE DID NOT SIN. Then how are we understand the verse that says, 'In the time of Solomon's old age his wives inclined his heart after other gods' (ibid.)? They inclined his heart, but he did not actually follow after" (Shabbos 56b). The Torah forbids the king from marrying too many wives "lest his heart turn astray" (Deut. 17:17). According to the Talmud, Solomon's flaw lay in believing that he was so saintly that he had the power to flout the Torah and multiply wives while remaining immune to their allurements (Sanhedrin 21b). The rabbis said that Solomon himself did not actually build the idolatrous temples listed in vv 7-8, but is only credited with having done so because he did not protest when his wives built them (Shabbos 56b). Perhaps his multi-cultural enthusiasm was so great that he IMAGINED he had brought these foreign women under the wings of the Shechinah while willfully blinding himself to the fact that they never truly emerged from the idolatrous attitudes from which he hoped to wean them. "And God spoke to Solomon…" (v 11). According to RaDaK, God spoke to Solomon through the same prophet who enters the narrative later in our present chapter (vv 29ff) – Ahiyah HaShiloni. According to tradition, Ahiyah was a Levite and had been a boy at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. He had heard Torah from Moses and later received Torah from David and his court (Rambam, Introduction to Mishneh Torah). Not only was Ahiyah the teacher of Elijah the Prophet (ibid.); his soul also came regularly to teach Rabbi Israel the Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement (Shevachay HaBesht). The prophet's grim message to Solomon was that because he was divided in his own heart, the very kingdom itself would be divided and torn into two so soon after the establishment of the House of David and the building of God's Temple in Jerusalem. The glorious age of Solomon's international empire and Israelite cultural hegemony proved to be very short-lived indeed. Yet the House of David's loss of their rule over all the tribes of Israel was different from the collapse of the House of Saul, for while the latter disappeared completely, the House of David always retained the loyalty of Judah and Benjamin, and is destined to regain its rule over all Israel in the end of days. Indeed Ahiyah's prophecy to Jeraboam that God would

afflict the seed of David "BUT NOT FOR ALL THE DAYS" (v 39) is taken as a promise that eventually Judah will once again be reunited with Ephraim and the Ten Tribes (RaDaK). Serious trouble did not break out until after the death of Solomon, but already in the twilight years of his reign God's providence was at work preparing the adversaries who would come to test and try the House of David. Isaac had long before told Esau that whenever Jacob would fall from his level and give Esau cause to resent his having received the blessings, "you shall break his yoke from upon your neck" (Genesis 27:40). Thus the very first "satan" against Solomon was the Edomite prince Hadad, who had escaped to Egypt during David's campaign against Edom and who was willing to give up a life of royal splendor in Egypt in order to stir up his remaining people against the Israelite "occupiers" (vv 14-22). At the same time Razon was at work in the Syrian provinces of Aram to undo their subjugation by David (v 23f). Most serious of all was the rupture between the Kingdom of Judah and the Ten Tribes under the leadership of Ephraim, the consequences of which are with us until today and the first premonition of which also came in Solomon's lifetime. Unlike the prophet Samuel, who physically anointed David as king during the lifetime of Saul, Ahiyah HaShiloni did not actually anoint Jeraboam son of Nevat as king over the Ten Tribes. His dramatic ripping of the "new garment" (v 29 – whether it belonged to Ahiyah or Jeraboam is unclear, RaDaK) and giving ten of the twelve shreds to Jeraboam was intended to indicate that Jeraboam had the power to lead the Ten Tribes but not that he necessarily had to rebel. Although Jeraboam later became the archetype of those who lead others into sin, he started off as "a mighty man of valor" (v 28): he was one of the outstanding Torah sages of all time. "Jeraboam's Torah had no flaw" (Sanhedrin 102a). The reason why he and Ahiyah are described as having been "alone in the field" is because "all the other Torah scholars were like the grass of the field in comparison with them" (ibid.). As the officer in charge of tax collection from the tribe of Ephraim, Jeraboam was energetic and efficient. According to the sages, his main flaw was his pride. "God said to Jeraboam: 'If you will only repent, I, you and the son of Jesse will stroll in the Garden of Eden.' Jeraboam asked, 'Who will be at the head?' When God said, 'The son of Jesse will be at the head,' Jeraboam replied, 'I don't want to'." (Sanhedrin ibid.)

Chapter 12 The rumblings that began to be felt in the last years of Solomon's life broke out into the open as soon as he died. Evidently knowledge of Ahiyah's appointment of Jeraboam as leader of the Ten Tribes had become public, and he was seen as the one person who could redress the people's grievances over the heavy yoke of the monarchy. Jeraboam's public criticism of Solomon over requisitioning parts of Jerusalem for Pharaoh's daughter's household (ch 11 v 27) put him in the status of a MOREID BEMALCHUS ("state traitor") whom the king sought to kill, but Jeraboam escaped to Egypt, where the new king Shishak was probably only too happy to give protection to a potential counterweight to the expansionist House of David (ibid. v 40). With the death of Solomon, the people recalled Jeraboam from Egypt, indicating that their resentment was already seething. Solomon's successor Rehaboam showed the same kind of inexperience as many new rulers heady with their first taste of power: he thought the best way to suppress popular resentment would be through a resolute display of heavyhandedness. One wonders if the yoke about which the Israelites were complaining

was purely economic – they were being taxed heavily, but it was to pay for the army to maintain the peace – or was it perhaps the yoke of halachic stringency represented by the House of David? (Solomon and his court had introduced a number of new "rabbinic" enactments to safeguard Torah law, such as EIRUVEY HATZEROS on Shabbos etc.) If so, one might see a parallel between Rehaboam's response to the hankering for greater laxity on the part of the Israelites and the response to the laxity of many of their coreligionists by those sectors of the Torah community who seem to be taking refuge in a fortress of ever greater stringencies, which often merely increase the rebelliousness of those outside the fortress. When Rehaboam told the very people who were hoping for greater laxity that "my father chastised you with whips but I will chastise you with scorpions" (v 14) he surely did not realize that he was with his own mouth sealing the decree against the House of David. It was under the sign of the Scorpion that Jeraboam began the rebellion of the Ten Tribes: "And Jeraboam made a festival in the EIGHTH month on the 15 th day of the month". The eighth month is Marheshvan, coinciding with the astrological sign of Scorpio (Heb. AKRAV). Ever since, the month of Marheshvan has been a period when the sting of exile has often been particularly painful. This month is also especially associated with Rachel, mother of Joseph (Ephraim): Rachel's YAHRTZEIT ("death anniversary") is on 11 th Marheshvan. Rachel was Jacob's favorite wife, his IKAR BAYIS ("essential house"): the Hebrew letters IKaR Beis are the same as AKRAV. The two golden calves that Jeraboam set up in Beith El and Dan in order to discourage people from going up to the Temple in Jerusalem "became a sin" (v 30) but they were not set up as idols from the very outset. If they had been, it is highly unlikely that the super-intelligent Israelites would all of a sudden have simply bent the knee to the very kind of idols the Torah loudly proscribes. RaDaK explains that in order to "compensate" people for not being able to go up to Jerusalem to experience the Shechinah in the Temple, Jeraboam set up these golden calves much in the same way as Aaron the Priest made the Golden Calf in the wilderness as a kind of visible sign of the Shechinah in the absence of Moses (RaDaK on vv 2829). Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that the idolatry surrounding these golden calves was not something simple and primitive but was supported by theoretical underpinnings and rationalizations that were so deep as to be totally overwhelming and convincing to most ordinary people. Out of mercy for the world God has arranged it so that the literature justifying this idolatry has been totally erased in order to save people from its allure (Likutey Moharan II:32). Not only is the ox one of the animals of the divine chariot, which by representing in gold the perpetrators of this idolatry were separating from the divine unity, turning it into a power of its own. The root of the word EGEL is also related to the root IGUL, a "circle" or "cycle", alluding to the great cycle of creation (cf. the comparison of an angel to an "ox", EGLA, in Taanis 25b).

Chapter 13 David and Solomon had been the spiritual as well as temporal leaders of the people, but with the split in the kingdom the spiritual authority of the kings was undermined, and from now on the voice of truth and reproof came from the prophets. The "man of God" who came from Judah to Beit El was Ido the Prophet (Sanhedrin 89b; cf. II Chronicles 9:29). At the very beginning of the rebellion of the Ten Tribes, Ido already prophesied that a king of Judah would later arise who would destroy the

idolatrous altars of Israel (verse 2). This was the saintly King Josiah, who lived three hundred years later and came to the throne at the tender age of eight years old, bringing the people of Judah to one final flowering of repentance and national revival a generation before the destruction of the First Temple. Josiah was one of six who were given their name before they were even born (the others being Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Solomon and Melech HaMashiach – Yalkut Shimoni #200). Josiah was mourned by the prophet Jeremiah as "the breath of our nostrils, HaShem's anointed Mashiach" (Lam. 4:20; II Chron. 35:25). The length of the time between Jeraboam's building of his idolatrous altar and its final destruction by King Josiah 300 years later shows God's great patience. This is also illustrated by the fact that even as Jeraboam served at his idolatrous altar in defiance of Heaven, nothing whatever happened to him until the moment when he tried to seize Ido the Prophet. This was when Jeraboam's hand "dried up" (v 4), showing that God avenged the honor of the Tzaddik more than He avenged the affront to His own honor (Rashi ad loc.). Ido had been instructed not to eat or drink in Beit El because it is forbidden to enter a city of idolaters except for the purpose of giving them a warning: it would have created the wrong impression if people had seen the prophet enjoying himself in the course of his mission, and if he had left the city by the same route he had taken to get there, it would have given unnecessary prestige to the road leading to the city. "And a certain old prophet dwelled in Beit El" (v 11). Some rabbis identify this prophet with Michah or Jonathan son of Gershom the son of Moses (Judges 17-18; RaDaK on I Kings 13:11). Those who find it hard to believe that Michah and/or Jonathan could have lived so long may prefer to think that perhaps the soul or spirit of Michah/Jonathan was somehow incarnated again in this old prophet. Targum Yonasan (on v 11) states explicitly that he was a FALSE prophet, yet our text indicates that he was a sociable fellow. Despite the fact that he lied (v 18) when he told Ido that he had been prophetically instructed to feed him bread and water, he momentarily attained true prophecy in the merit of having showed hospitality: "We see the greatness of giving someone a little refreshment from the fact that it caused the Divine Presence to rest even on the prophets of Baal" (Sanhedrin 104a). For eating this bread and water in defiance of his own prophetic instructions, Ido was punished with death at the hands of Heaven (i.e. by the lion), because the Torah states that "whoever will not listen to the words of the prophet who speaks in My name, I shall require it of him" (Deut. 18:19). If this applies to one who hears true prophecy from another, how much more does it apply to the one who receives the prophecy himself (RaDaK on v 18; see Rambam, Hilchos Yesodey HaTorah 9:3). The lion killed Ido yet did not eat him or even his donkey (v 24), showing that God exacts retribution with the utmost accuracy and fairness. The prophet had defied His word and had to pay with his life, yet since he was a Tzaddik in all other respects his body was left intact, as was the donkey he had ridden upon in his lifetime. Ido's body was laid to rest in the grave which the old prophet of Beit El had prepared for himself, and when he died he too was buried there at his side. This gave the false prophet protection three hundred years later when King Josiah had all the graves of the prophets of Baal dug up (II Kings 23:17-18). Even though Jeraboam had directly witnessed God's providence when his hand dried up on his altar, and he doubtless heard how Ido was killed by the lion, this did not deter him from his rebellious path. He now established his own alterative priesthood, "and this thing became a sin to the house of Jeraboam, even to cut it

off and to destroy it from off the face of the earth" (v 34). Jeraboam was "cut off" in this world and "destroyed" in the world to come: this verse is the foundation of the rabbinic teaching that Jeraboam was one of those who had no share in the world to come (Sanhedrin 101b).

Chapter 14 Jeraboam originally had the soul of Joseph, but it left him when he sinned, as it is written, "And he sinned with the Baal and he DIED" (Hosea 13:1; ARI, Sefer HaLikutim on I Kings ch 11). Despite his dogged obstinacy, Jeraboam was so distressed by the illness of his son (ch 14 v 1) that he sent his wife to Ahiyah the Shiloni, who had been the one who originally told him that he would reign over Israel. The rabbis said that Ahiyah had become blind on account of having raised a wicked disciple (Bereishis Rabba 65). This blindness did not prevent Ahiyah from seeing the terrible decree that was hanging over the house of Jeraboam and which initiated the bloody history of violent regime change that afflicted the kings of Israel ever after. "AND REHAV'AM THE SON OF SOLOMON RULED IN JUDAH " (v 21) For the whole of the remainder of the book of Kings (Parts I and II) until the exile of the Ten Tribes a few generations prior to the destruction of the First Temple, the narrative swings back and forth repeatedly from the exploits of the kings of Judah to those of the kings of Israel and back again in order to give a full account of what happened in each generation during those tumultuous times. According to the time-frame of the rabbinic Midrash SEDER OLAM ("Order of the World"), which is based on a combination of tradition and acute analysis of all the years enumerated in the biblical texts, Solomon came to the throne in the year 2928 (= -836 B.C.E.). He started building the Temple in the fourth year of his reign, and the 410 years that it stood are counted from the year in which the building commenced, 2928 (-832 B.C.E.). The First Temple thus stood until the year 3338 (422 B.C.E.). Solomon's son Rehavam came to the throne in 2964 (-796 B.C.E.) and reigned until 2981 (-779 B.C.E.), initiating the period in which even Judah strayed ever deeper into idolatry (vv 22-3) and sexual immorality (v 24). When Joseph had been ruler of Egypt, he sucked all the wealth of Egypt and the surrounding countries into the coffers of the Egyptian kings (Gen. 41:57 and 47:14). When the Children of Israel came up out of Egypt, they took all this wealth with them (Exodus 12:36). It remained in Israel's hands until the time of Rehav'am, when "Shishak king of Egypt went up to Jerusalem and took the treasures of the House of God and the treasures of the House of the king…" (v 26). According to the rabbis, this wealth was subsequently seized by Zerach king of Kush, from whom it was taken back by King Asa who sent it as a bribe to the king of Aram . It was taken back again by King Jehoshaphat, and remained in the hands of Israel until the time of King Ahaz, from whom it was taken by Sennacherib, from whom it was taken in turn by the Babylonians, the Persians and the Greeks, from whom it was seized by the Romans, who took it to Rome, where it remains until today (Pesachim 119a).

Chapter 15 With the death of Solomon's son Rehav'am, the latter's son Aviyam (also called Aviyah – II Chron. 13:1) became king of Judah. Our text states that Aviyah followed in the sinful ways of his father Rehav'am, who "did evil for he did not

prepare his heart to seek out HaShem" (II Chron. 12:14). Yet despite the recurrent failings of the kings of Judah, David's line was never extirpated: this was his reward for his outstanding and unwavering loyalty to God. Although there were many ups and downs in the history of the House of David, all were part of the long-drawn out process of BIRUR ("sifting and selection") that is to lead eventually to the final ascendancy of MELEKH HAMASHIAH. The exact nature of the evil for which the various kings are criticized in the Bible is often hard to pin down definitively and can sometimes only be inferred from the most subtle of hints in the text, some of which are elaborated in the Talmud and Midrashim. Our most important source for a wider perspective on many of the laconic comments contained in our present text lies in the parallel account of the exploits of the kings of Judah and Israel in the Book of Chronicles, which often provides crucial supplementary details. Thus our present text passes over Aviyah's war against Jeraboam in complete silence, but it is described in great detail in II Chronicles ch 13, which records Aviyah's public call to the tribes of the northern kingdom to submit themselves again to the hegemony of Judah on the grounds that Judah alone had remained faithful to the Torah tradition under which only the Levites and the Cohen-priests descended from Aaron were authorized to minister to God in Jerusalem and nowhere else. On the face of it Aviyah's speech seems impeccably righteous, yet the Midrash Seder Olam points out that he scathingly denounced the prophet Ahiyah HaShiloni as one of the "worthless people" who supported Jeraboam (II Chron. 13:7); he also publicly castigated the tribes of Israel for keeping the golden calves (ibid. v 8) – yet after all his criticisms, the Midrash says that when he came to Beit El and saw them, he almost joined in worshiping them, which is why he was "hit" by Jerabo'am's armies even though he eventually subdued them (ibid. v. 20, see Rashi ad loc.) "AND ASA DID RIGHT… LIKE DAVID HIS FATHER" (v 11) King Asa is the first example of the various righteous descendants of King David (such as Hezekiah and Josiah etc.) who succeeded in bringing about a greater or lesser spiritual revival during their reigns. Although our text (v 10) states that Asa's mother was Maachah daughter of Avishalom, the commentators agree that she was actually his grandmother, the wife of Rehav'am and mother of Asa's father Aviyah (see v 2). It is unclear whether she was actually the daughter of David's rebellious son Absalom, but this is quite possible as she bore the name of Absalom's mother. In the time of Asa she was the Queen Mother, and she had evidently played a prominent role in spreading idolatry in Judah (v 13), having set up a MIFLETZES. Until today this Hebrew word literally means a "monster", but the sages (Avodah Zarah 44a) darshened it as a compound of MAPHLIA ("wondrous", "astonishing") and LEITZANUSA ("mockery"). According to Rashi (on v 13) she attached a large phallus to her idol and made daily use of it as a dildo. Despite the fact that she was the Queen Mother and Asa's own grandmother, the king displayed his Davidic righteousness in showing no compunction about removing her from her royal position and grinding up her monster and casting it into a valley where nobody would have any benefit from the dust. Our text notes that in spite of Asa's whole-heartedness with God, he did not remove the BAMOTH ("high places"). It is necessary to bear in mind that throughout almost the entire turbulent 410 year history of the Kingdom of Judah, the Holy Temple actually functioned every day and remained the main focus of the people's spiritual life. Ever since the inauguration of the Temple in Jerusalem, it had

been forbidden to offer sacrifices to HaShem anywhere else: this is an explicit Torah prohibition that carries the penalty of KARES (early death and spiritual excision, see Lev. 17:3ff). The sages associated the practice of sacrificing at a BAMAH with pride and arrogance, as if the celebrant was reluctant to submit to the authority of the Cohen-priests and wanted to be his own priest. The fact that for most of the period of the kings of Judah the BAMOTH were not eliminated indicates that the blemish of pride and arrogance persisted behind this outer display of religiosity and devotion. Our present text does not mention the invasion of Judah by Zerah HaKushi ("Zerah the black man") during the reign of Asa (II Chron. 14:8ff). This was apparently an invasion from the south west by hordes of Nubians and Libyans, which Asa heroically repelled with the same faith and trust in God displayed by the Judges (ibid. v 10). Unfortunately Asa failed to display similar faith and trust when confronted by a serious blockade on Judah by Ba'sha king of Israel (our present chapter v 17). Asa took the Temple and royal treasures and sent them to the king of Aram as a bribe to make trouble for Ba'sha on his northern flank in order to force him to dismantle his blockade against Judah (vv 18-21). The ploy worked, but Asa was severely castigated for paying a foreign king to attack his Israelite brothers. According to Seder Olam this war took place thirty-six years after the death of Solomon. Solomon had married Pharaoh's daughter in the fourth year of his reign and lived for another thirty-six years. The decree of the division of his kingdom was originally intended to last only thirty-six years after his death, and had Asa trusted in God alone to save him from Ba'sha's blockade, the rabbis said that he would have been able to restore his hegemony over all the tribes of Israel. His bribing of the king of Aram was a lapse of faith that lost him the opportunity to restore David's united kingdom, which will not return until the coming of Mashiach (see II Chronicles 16:7ff, Seder Olam). Asa sought to build a strong Judah, and even called bridegrooms from their marriage celebrations and Torah scholars from their study halls in order to fortify its cities (I Kings 15:22; see RaDaK). For the sin of interrupting the studies of the scholars – the supporting "legs" of the Torah – Asa was punished with illness in his legs (this is said to have been an extremely painful "podagra" or gout, which felt like needles pricking into raw flesh, Sota 10b), but instead of going to the prophets to find out what he needed to correct, Asa went to the doctors instead – and found no cure (II Chron. 16:12).

Chapter 16 The concluding section of Chapter 15 turned from the history of Judah to that of the northern kingdom, summarizing the brief two-year reign of Jeraboam's son Nadav, who in fulfillment of Ahiyah's prophecy was overthrown in a bloody coup while campaigning against the Philistines (who despite having been routed by David were now able to raise their heads again as God's staff of chastisement on account of the Israelite idolatry). The Biblical narrative about the succession of bloody military coups and regime changes that characterizes the history of the northern kingdom may make the leading actors seem like nothing more than a bunch of brutal gangsters. In order to correct this impression, we would do well to note the comment of our rabbis that the wicked king Jeraboam was able to expound the book of Leviticus in one hundred and three different ways, while Ahab – who prostrated to the Baal in Sidon and built Temples for Baal and Ashera worship in Shomron (vv 31-3 in our present chapter) – could expound Leviticus in eighty-five different ways (Sanhedrin 103b). It would appear that these wickedly wise leaders must have had the power to

totally entrance their Israelite constituencies with the profoundest kabbalistic theorization, despite the fact that the Israelites had always shown themselves to be exceptionally sharp and critical people. Ba'sha had destroyed Nadav and with him the entire house of Jeraboam. Ba'sha was succeeded by his son Eylah, but this inept drunkard was killed in another coup after only two years (v 9), and the coup leader, Zimri – an army general – went on to wipe out the whole house of Ba'sha. Zimri's rule lasted no more than seven days (v 15) as it did not find favor with the people, who preferred another general -Omri – who was busy fighting the Philistines ("security is everything"). Omri left off fighting the Philistines and laid siege to Tirzah – a town about 10 kilometers north of Shechem (Nablus) that had served as the capital of the northern kingdom since the days of Jeraboam (see I Kings 14:17). After an initial division among the people as to whether to go after Omri or his rival Thivni son of Ginath (v 21), the Omri faction gained sway and after the death of Thivni, Omri ruled over all the Ten Tribes. "Why did Omri attain the kingship? Because he added one great city in the Land of Israel " (Sanhedrin 102b). This was Shomron (verse 24 in our present chapter), which was about 15 kilometers north east of Shechem and which subsequently became the royal capital of the northern kingdom. Archeological remains found at the site of Shomron attest to the very great magnificence and cultural sophistication of this capital city of the kings of Israel. Omri continued in the path of Jeraboam, refusing to allow the Israelites to go up to the Temple in Jerusalem (until just before the exile of the Ten Tribes, heavily armed police were posted on all the paths leading to Jerusalem with instructions to break the bones of anyone who tried to go up). Yet even the evil of Jeraboam was exceeded by Omri's son Ahav, who added to the existing worship of Jeraboams golden calves the new element of Baal worship imported from the Canaanite citystate of Sidon , the daughter of whose king – the accursed Jezebel – Ahab took as his wife. If Ahab "did evil IN THE EYES OF GOD more than all that were before him" his evil was apparently not seen at the time by most of the human Israelites: this paradoxical figure, who was like a brother (AH) and a father (AB) to all his people, was a lover of the Torah – he could darshen Leviticus in 85 ways – and a supporter of Torah scholars. He knew and spoke with Elijah the Prophet, and no less than Jehoshaphat king of Judah entered into a marriage alliance with him, marrying his sister. Yet despite all this, "he wrote on the gates of Shomron, 'Ahab denies the God of Israel'" (Sanhedrin 102b) – "and he therefore has no share in the God of Israel" (ibid.). The ultra-sophisticated spiritual decadence into which Israel had sunk by the time of Ahab was epitomized by the rebuilding of Jericho despite Joshua's severe curse against anyone who would dare to do so (Joshua 6:26). Jericho was in the territory of Benjamin, who had remained faithful to the House of Judah – which indicates that Ahab himself was not necessarily the initiator of this despicable project; rather, it was Ahab's influence that created the climate in which it could come about. It is said that after Hi-el of Beit El, who rebuilt Jericho, lost all his sons one by one because of Joshua's curse, King Ahab and Elijah the Prophet went to visit him as he sat in mourning, and it was there that they had the conversation in which Elijah delivered the grim prophecy with which the following chapter opens (Rashi on I Kings 17:1).

Chapter 17 To raise the people from the deep spiritual decline into which they had fallen in the time of Ahab required a figure of outstanding stature. Opinions differ as to which tribe Elijah came from: some rabbis said he was from the tribe of Gad, which inherited Gil'ad. Others darshened from I Chron. 8:27 that he was from the tribe of Benjamin, while others identified him (or his soul) with Pinchas son of Elazar the Cohen (pointing to Elijah's request in v 13 to the widow of Tzorphath to give him the first portion of her dough, corresponding to the priestly Hallah, Numbers 15:2021). Elijah received the Torah tradition from Ahiyah HaShiloni and gave it over to Yehoyada HaKohen and as well as being master of all the subsequent great prophets of Israel (Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Introduction). After Elijah's ascent alive to Heaven in a chariot of fire, he became a legendary figure, making repeated miraculous appearances at moments of dire crisis. "And through a prophet [Moses] God brought Israel up from Egypt, and through a prophet [Elijah] they were protected" (Hosea 12:14). While Moses was the agent of God's redemption of Israel from Egypt, Elijah will be His agent to redeem them in time to come (Malachi 3:23). There are numerous parallels between Moses and Elijah. Both are called "the man of God"; both ascended to Heaven; Moses killed the Egyptian while Elijah killed Hi-el (who built Jericho, Midrash on Hosea 13:1). Moses was sustained in exile by a woman (Tzipporah) while Elijah was sustained by the widow of Tzorphath. Moses fled from Pharaoh while Elijah fled from Jezebel. Both fled to a well (Ex. 2:I5; Kings 19:3). Moses brought about supernatural miracles (Numbers 16:29) and so did Elijah by stopping and starting the rains. God passed by both (Ex. 34:6; I Kings 19:11) and both heard "the voice" (Numb. 7:89; I Kings 19:13). Both came to Horeb (Ex. 3:1; I Kings 19:8) and both were hidden in a cave (Ex.33:22; I Kings 19:9). Moses assembled Israel at Mount Sinai, while Elijah assembled them at Mt. Carmel. Moses uprooted idolatry (Ex.32:27) while Elijah killed the prophets of Baal (I Kings 18:40) and so on (Midrash Pesikta Rabbasi). "AND HE SHALL SHUT UP THE HEAVENS AND THERE WILL NOT BE RAIN" (Deut. 11:17) The rabbis darshened from the SEMICHUS ("immediate proximity") of Elijah's stopping of the rains (ch 17 v 1) to the account of the death of the sons of Hi-el, who rebuilt Jericho, that Elijah and Ahab both went to visit Hi-el in his mourning. When Elijah said that Hi-el's sons had died because he had defied Joshua's curse in rebuilding Jericho, Ahab asked how it was possible that God would uphold the curse of the student (Joshua) while not fulfilling the curse of the master (Moses) who had said that if Israel turned aside to serve idols, God's anger would burn and He would shut up the heavens – yet idolatry was rampant in the time of Ahab and it still rained regularly (see Rashi on v 1). It was as a rejoinder to this insinuation that everything is governed by chance and that there is no divine judgment or providence that Elijah brought about a drought through the power of his own words, showing that God gives over the very keys of creation into the hands of His prophets. Elijah hoped that drought and famine would chastise the hearts of the arrogant idolaters of the time and bring them to humble themselves before God. [The current protracted drought in Eretz Israel is also causing us to fear and turn to God. Pray for rain!!!]

Immediately after making his decree, Elijah had to flee – the wicked Jezebel, who obviously called the shots in Shomron, had instigated a reign of complete terror, killing all true prophets, in an effort to efface the Torah from the hearts of Israel. When God commanded the ravens – the cruelest of birds – to nonetheless bring bread and meat to Elijah (which they are said to have taken either from the kitchen of Ahab, or more likely from that of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, which was more kosher), it was a hint that it was time for Elijah to have mercy on the people and soften his harsh decree. Rabbi Nachman teaches that the radical change the ravens made in their normally cruel attitudes is emblematic of the change every Jew must make in his normally selfish ways in order to force himself to give charity. When a person gives charity because he is naturally generous-hearted, this is not a real act of service. Charity is only service when we break our instinctive cruelty and selfishness in order to help others – and such charity opens up all the gates of holiness (Likutey Moharan Pt. II Discourse 4). The widow of Tzorphath who courageously gave Elijah her last remaining food even at the height of a famine is symbolic of Knesset Israel – the Assembly of Israel – who had descended to the very bottom in the time of Ahab, yet were restored through the spiritual power of the prophet. Thus the widow's son (identified with the prophet Jonah) was if not actually clinically dead at the very least no longer breathing (v 17) when Elijah performed his miraculous resuscitation. The prophet's ability to revive the lifeless lad is a sign that God's Redeemer will save Israel from even the worst decline.

Chapter 18 Out of compassion for His suffering people God sent Elijah to bring down the rains. The dire famine forced the very king himself to go out in search of forage for the animals (v 5), which shows the tenderness of Ahab's Israelite heart compared to that of his foreign wife, who had instigated a murderous rampage against God's prophets. Even more surprising than this compassionate trait of Ahab's is the fact that as officer over his royal household he had appointed none other than the saintly prophet Obadiah, whom the Biblical text praises even more than Abraham since of the latter God said "I know you fear God" (Gen. 22:12) while Obadiah is described as having "feared God VERY MUCH" (I Kings 18:3; Sanhedrin 39b). Obadiah was a righteous proselyte who originated from Edom, and he was so great that he alone of all the prophets was allowed to prophesy the downfall of Edom in the end of days. "Why did Obadiah attain prophecy? Because he hid one hundred prophets in a cave" (Sanhedrin ibid.) When Obadiah encountered his master Elijah, he told him, "There is not a nation or kingdom to which my lord [Ahab] has not sent to seek you out… and he made the kingdom and the nation swear that they could not find you" (v 10). From the fact that Ahab had enough leverage over all the kingdoms and nations that he could force them to take an oath, the rabbis learned that Ahab presided over a global empire or sphere of influence. "Three kings ruled over the whole dome of the globe: Ahab son of Omri, Nebuchadnezzar and Ahashverosh" (Megilah 11a). The mere fact that later historians have turned a blind eye to if not intentionally tried to efface the fact that there was an extensive Israelite sphere of influence in Biblical times should not deceive us into underestimating its greatness. "How long will you go limping between the two opinions" Elijah asked the people (I Kings 18:21). To raise the people from their spiritual collapse, a KIDDUSH HASHEM

(Sanctification of God's Name) of the greatest magnitude was required. As discussed in the commentary on I Kings 16, since the building of the Temple in Jerusalem it was forbidden to sacrifice on any outside BAMAH ("altar") on pain of KARES (early death and spiritual excision). Elijah's decision to sacrifice on Mount Carmel was HORA'AS SHA'AH, a one-time legal ruling necessitated by the spiritual peril facing the nation. Elijah was not entirely uprooting the prohibition against sacrificing outside the Temple from the Torah (which would have been a sign of false prophecy) but simply suspending it for one time (Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 9:3) for the very purpose of HEALING THE ALTAR (v 30). "He built an altar in order to remind Israel that God's Altar should have their foremost attention in their hearts and should constantly be mentioned on their lips, because it had been destroyed and its name and memory had become defunct as far as the Ten Tribes were concerned [ever since Jeraboam made the golden calves]" (Rashi on v 30). Initially Elijah told the prophets of Baal to CHOOSE (v 25) one of the oxen (both were twins from the same mother that since birth had been together constantly in the same manger), but when it came to it, the false prophets "took the ox WHICH HE GAVE THEM" (v 26). Why did he have to GIVE it to them? The Midrash tells that after Elijah and the false prophets cast lots for their oxen, the ox that fell to the lot of the false prophets ran to Elijah and took shelter under his cloak, refusing to move because his twin brother was going to sanctify heaven while he himself would be sacrificed to an idol. Only when Elijah assured this ox that God's name would be sanctified equally by both of them did it agree to go to the false prophets, and this is why it says "WHICH HE GAVE THEM". It is said that the false prophets hid Hi-el (builder of Jericho) under their altar with instructions to secretly light a fire at the requisite moment, but he was bitten by a snake and died before he could do so. The great miracle that all the people witnessed when fire came down from heaven to consume Elijah's sacrifice caused them to fall on their faces declaring "HASHEM – He is God! "HASHEM – He is God!" (v 39). This phrase is solemnly repeated at the very climax of the concluding Yom Kippur NE-EELA service and on other occasions when we wish to affirm and accept upon ourselves the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. I Kings ch 18 vv 1-39 is the Haftara to Parshas KI THEESA (Ex. 30:11-34:35) read around Purim time.

Chapter 19 * * * I Kings 18:46 and 19:1-21 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Pinchas, Numbers 25:10-30:1 * * * With the rout of the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel Elijah had brought about a tremendous KIDDUSH HASHEM ("Sanctification of God's Name"). Even Ahab was impressed, but the implacable Jezebel was unshaken and intended to use repressive terror to undo the results of Elijah's feat, swearing by her gods to kill him (v 2). Elijah understood that now was not the time to "press the hour" and insist that God should overthrow the regime immediately, for "whoever tries to press the hour, the hour presses him" (P'skika Zuta Gen. 27). Instead Elijah fled, just as Jacob had fled from Esau and Moses from Pharaoh. Elijah had tried to use drought and famine followed by the miracle on Mt Carmel to bring Israel to repent, but now he was overwhelmed with a terrible sense of failure and he wanted to "resign" from his ministry and leave it to God to redeem His people. Elijah went out into the

wilderness without any food or water, and crouching under a solitary broom-tree that afforded scarcely any shade, he begged God to take his life. God miraculously provided Elijah with sufficient refreshment to sustain him for forty days and nights – parallel to the forty days and nights that Moses did not eat when he ascended to Heaven to receive the Torah – and Elijah retraced the steps of the Master of the Prophets in reaching "the Mountain of God in Horeb", i.e. Mt Sinai, where Elijah entered into the same cleft in the rock from which Moses had seen God's glory (Ex. 33:22). "And he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts…" (v 10). Elijah's zeal for God was like that of Pinchas, whose soul he bore, and of whom God had testified that "he turned My wrath away from the Children of Israel in that he was ZEALOUS for My sake" (Numbers 22:11). Feeling that he had failed in his mission, Elijah was now asking God Himself to avenge the breach of His Covenant and the destruction of His Altar and the killing of His priests. Without yet giving Elijah any answer, God told him to stand at the opening of the cave where, as a reward for his zeal God "passed before Him" to let him see His glory. Targum Yonasan explains that the "great and mighty wind", "earthquake" and "fire" (vv 11-12) were successive revelations of great "camps" of angels – the agents through whom God controls the creation. (RU'ACH and ESH are respectively the air and fire elements, while RA'ASH is not necessarily only an earthquake but also alludes to the water element: Targum renders RA'ASH as ZIYAH, which also has the connotation of sweating: from the sweat of the Chayos comes the River Dinoor.) In a lesson to all spiritual seekers at all times, our text teaches that the true glory of God was not in these sensational pyrotechnics but in the tranquil silence of the "still, small voice" that came afterwards (v 12). When we search for God, we must listen with the utmost attentiveness to the almost imperceptible voice of truth that speaks so softly deep down in the heart and soul. Metzudas David explains that God took Elijah through this "performance" to show him that He wants to show kindness rather than arousing all His anger and coming against His creatures with hurricanes, earthquakes and fire. In asking him again, "What are you doing here Elijah?" (v 13) God was saying "Are you still here to ask for vengeance?" It was when Elijah repeated his complaint about the breach of the Covenant and his implicit request for vengeance (v 14, cf. v 10) that God told him to anoint another prophet in his place (v 15), in effect saying, "I can't take your prophecy since you are making accusations against My children" (Rashi ad loc.). It is said that for having accused the Children of Israel of abandoning the Covenant (i.e. ceasing to practice circumcision) while seven thousand still remained faithful (v 18), Elijah was penalized by having to attend every BRIS MILAH ("circumcision") ceremony performed ever after by those who go by the name of Israel. For this reason it is customary to prepare the "Chair of Elijah" at every circumcision and to place the baby upon it for a moment immediately prior to the performance of the operation, invoking the spirit of Elijah to inspire the child and everyone else present with his spirit of purity and zeal. In accepting Elijah's request to resign his ministry God told him to anoint (1) Hazael as king of Aram (2) Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel (3) Elisha son of Shaphat as successor to himself (vv 15-16). To appreciate the significance of these prophecies, it is necessary to understand that Elijah himself did NOT personally anoint either Haza-el or Jehu. It was Elijah's disciple Elisha who anointed both of

them (II Kings 8:9ff and 9:2ff). Since on Elijah's return from the wilderness he immediately encountered and anointed Elisha (our chapter v 19), he realized that the third element in God's message was fulfilled before the first and second and thereby inferred that Elisha would be the one to anoint Haza-el and Jehu later on as his "agent" (RaDaK). Haza-el proved to be a far crueler adversary against Israel than the kings of Aram who preceded him, while after the death of Ahab Jehu overthrew and massacred his entire house in a bloody coup, taking Israel deeper into sin and idolatry. In this way God relieved Elijah of his public ministry (though he continues to serve God and intervene, visibly or invisibly, at all kinds of junctures) and He took back the providence into His own hands, as it were, while appointing Elisha to succeed Elijah. It was not that Elijah had never seen Elisha before: according to tradition, it was Elisha who poured the water into the trough when Elijah called for fire from Heaven to consume his sacrifice (I Kings 18:34-5). However Elijah now placed his mantle over Elisha for a moment (v 19) as an invitation to full ordination as his successor. Elisha was already presiding over twelve pairs of plowing oxen – a sign that he was to be appointed as prophet and reproof-giver to the Twelve Tribes of Israel (RaDaK). Delaying only to bid his parents and friends farewell, Elisha went after Elijah "and ministered to him" (v 21) – for "ministering to Torah scholars is even greater than learning the Torah itself" (Eliahu Rabbah 5).

Chapter 20 The wars of Aram against Israel narrated in our present chapter are NOT the war that God foretold to Elijah (ch 19 vv 15 &17), which came a generation later. Nevertheless, ever since the end of King Solomon's reign the Arameans had been organizing to throw off the yoke of subjugation that King David had laid upon them. The endemic Aramean envy and hatred of Israel dated back to Laban and Bilaam, who epitomize the use of crafty intelligence and wisdom to HIDE Godliness. Behind the account of their war against Israel as told in this chapter lie allusions to the way in which the KELIPAH (husk) of Aram (corresponding to the vernacular language – "Aramaic" – and mundane intelligence) seeks to "hijack" the holy wisdom of the Torah for its own purposes. Thus Ben-Haddad king of Aram came against Israel with THIRTY-TWO kings (corresponding to the thirty-two pathways of wisdom rooted in the twenty-two letters and ten vowels of Hebrew). The rabbinic interpretation of Ben-Haddad's provocative ultimatum to King Ahab (vv 3; 6, see Sanhedrin 102b) is that he did not only want Ahab's silver and gold and wives and children but "all the MAHMAD – delight – of your eyes". This is an allusion to the Torah, whose teachings are "more delightful – NE'HMADIM – than purest gold" (Psalms 19:11). Ben-Haddad wanted to have the Torah surrendered into his own hands in order to reinterpret and falsify it in any way he chose. The amazing thing is that Ahab – the Baal and Ashera-worshipper – was perfectly willing to give up everything else but BALKED at the idea of giving up the Torah to the point that he was ready to go to war rather than submit. Ahab called all the elders of Israel (v 7), who certainly included the seven thousand who were still faithful, and the entire nation agreed to flout Aram, which shows that they were far from being crude idolaters who were in flight from their whole tradition. "For what reason did Ahab merit to rule for 22 years? Because he gave honor to the Torah, which was given with 22 letters" (Sanhedrin 102b). Verse 9 contains 22 Hebrew words.

It was surely in the merit of the Israelite zeal burning in King Ahab that a true prophet informed him that God would deliver the Arameans into his hand (v 13). The prophet told him that instead of sending out his entire army to fight them, the king should dispatch only the "young men of the princes of the provinces" (v 14). These were the children of the princes of Ahab's subject states, whom they were forced to send to his capital as "collateral" to ensure that they would not rebel. The fact that there were 232 of these children again points to the great extent of Ahab's sphere of influence, which the Arameans were now trying to undermine. In addition, 232 is significant as the sum of the gematrias of the four chief MILU'IM ("fillings") of the name of HaVaYaH – 72, 63, 45 and 52. Moreover, this figure encompasses all the 231 "Gates" through which the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are permuted with one another to make up the words of the Hebrew language (see Sefer Yetzirah and commentaries). Through a series of miraculous deliveries, God proved that Aramean military might was nothing in the face of Torah spirit. To disabuse the Arameans of their illusion that the God of Israel had power only in the hills, He lured them out to the valleys, where Israel smote 100,000 of them in one day (alluding to the destruction of a complete array of the Ten Sefirot of impurity, each consisting of sub-arrays and sub-sub-arrays). After the survivors fled to Aphek (which is a few kilometers east of the southern tongue of the Kinneret, Lake Tiberias), collapsing fortifications killed another 27,000 (corresponding to the 22 basic letters of the Hebrew alphabet together with the five "final" letters, a total of 27, each of which contains its own arrays and sub-arrays of the Ten Sefirot). Ben-Haddad fled but he knew as well as Israel's Arab adversaries know until today that the Israelite heart is tender, merciful and forgiving and that he would only have to say a few soothing words to the king against whom he had just unleashed two major wars in order to be able to enter into a "peace process" with him (vv 3134). God had maneuvered Ben-Haddad into His trap (v 42) but Ahab let the Aramean king get away, much as recent Israeli governments have almost never lost an opportunity to allow the country's enemies to get away with their endless aggressions and provocations. God's prophet told Ahab that his misplaced kindheartedness would cost him his life and cause enormous national suffering, but Ahab did not want to listen and rushed off home in a furious temper.

Chapter 21 The sorry story of the murderous expropriation of Naboth's vineyard by King Ahab put the final seal on his fate and that of his dynasty. Many people permit themselves to believe in what they please while claiming themselves to be quite as moral, if not more so, than those who seek to uphold the law of God's Torah. Ahab first allowed himself to go after the gods of the other nations. Now we see how his willingness to violate what may seem to be the least serious of all of the Ten Commandments – coveting the property of others (Exodus 20:14) – drew him into a spiral of sin that led him to violate at least half of them. What could be wrong with gazing at something belonging to somebody else and merely wishing it was mine? In the words of Rambam: "The appetite for wealth brings one to desire the property of others, and this brings a person to robbery. If the owners refuse to sell their property even after being offered much money and put under heavy pressure, if they seek to prevent the covetous person from robbing them, it can bring him to actual bloodshed. Go out and learn from the story of Ahab and Naboth" (Laws of Robbery 1:11).

The Torah law of kings does permit the king to expropriate the private property of his subjects for certain purposes (I Samuel 8:14), but most rabbinic opinions hold that Ahab had no legal right to take Naboth's vineyard, which is why he had to resort to framing Naboth in order to grab it. The text makes it seem that Ahab himself only sulked when Naboth refused to give over his ancestral portion to the king, while it was really the wicked Jezebel who egged Ahab into taking action to have Naboth killed in order to get the vineyard. Nevertheless, kings are not allowed to let their wives rule over them – that had been the cause of Solomon's undoing – and they certainly cannot be forgiven when they carry out crimes at their wives' behest. As a result of his covetousness (contrary to the Tenth Commandment), Ahab allowed false witnesses to stand up and accuse a righteous man of blasphemy and high treason (contrary to the Ninth Commandment). Through this false testimony, Naboth was murdered (contrary to the Sixth Commandment) and Ahab stole his vineyard (contrary to the Eighth Commandment. And by also killing Naboth's children (II Kings 9:26, cf. Likutey Moharan I, 69) it was as if Ahab had stolen his very wife (contrary to the Seventh Commandment). In this way Ahab violated all of the five commandments between man and man on the second of the Two Tablets. It is noteworthy how as Jezebel sets up the framing of Naboth she does so with the utmost piety, calling on the elders of Naboth's city to call a public fast (v 9) as an opportunity for soul-searching and the investigation of the sins of the people. She takes care to have Naboth framed not only for high treason against the king (for which, most conveniently, his property is by Torah law confiscated by the crown) but also for blasphemy! What is clear from this chapter is that the Ten Tribes had not merely fled the Torah in some simple sense so as to sink totally into some completely alien idolatry. With all their dalliance with the gods of the nations, they still saw themselves as following the Torah path: Torah observance and Torah violation were most subtly intermingled. Only through the clear vision and judgment of the true prophet is it possible to try to disentangle them and see things the way they really are. "Have you murdered and also inherited" Elijah asked Ahab (v 19) in words that could with justice be repeated to numerous "kings" and leaders of our own times. Elijah prophesies the bloody destruction of the house of Ahab and Jezebel – after which, in yet another twist to the story of this very complex, subtle character, we see that Ahab is truly chastised and repents, putting on sackcloth, fasting and going barefoot!

Chapter 22 "And they stopped for three years: there was no war between Aram and Israel " (v 1). It was symptomatic of the times that there was no longer such a thing as peace, but only a temporary cessation of war – very similar to the way things are today. Another of the surprises in our story is that Yehoshaphat king of Judah was actually in alliance with the idolatrous Ahab. Yehoshaphat was indeed married to Ahab's sister in an alliance forged by their respective parents, Asa king of Judah and Omri king of Israel. Whereas the earlier kings of Judah had tried to regain their hegemony over the rebellious Ten Tribes through force, the policy of Asa and Yehoshaphat was to stretch out the arm of friendship – what in modern terms is called "outreach". In certain respects the alliance of the Kingdom of Judah and that of Israel in the times of Ahab and Yehoshaphat bears comparison with the alliance between the secular Zionists who established the State of Israel and the

mainstream of Torah observant Jews without whose support it would probably have collapsed long ago. Another factor that has a contemporary ring is that the bone of contention between Israel and Aram (= Syria) was "Ramoth Gilead" (v 4) – none other than the Golan Heights! In the tradition of David his father, Yehoshaphat wanted to consult prophets before going out to war. When Ahab assembled four hundred of his own prophets, all of whom foretold victory using exactly the same words, Yehoshaphat felt extremely uneasy, but he was too polite to tell Ahab directly that he thought they were a bunch of false prophets: he merely asked if there was no true prophet present. Ahab's prophets remind one of the kinds of present day think tank experts and news commentators who act as soothsayers to the general public while the world falls apart all around us. The true prophet Michayahu son of Yimlah who was now called upon to prophesy has already appeared without being named in Chapter 20 vv 13, 28 and 35ff, where he previously prophesied to Ahab. In Ch 20 vv 42 he had prophesied that Ahab's soul would be taken in payment for his having freed Ben-Haddad king of Aram , and this was why Ahab hated him. In a prophecy of Ahab's coming death, Michayahu told of his vision of Israel "scattered on the mountains like a flock that has no shepherd" (v 17) – a vision that seems to apply until today!!! Michayah depicts the heavenly court in judgment over Ahab. The "spirit" that steps forward in v 21 offering to trick Ahab into going to war is said to have been the spirit of Naboth. The rabbis say that despite Ahab's idolatry, his fate was hanging in the balance because he was generous with his money and gave support to Torah scholars. What tipped the balance was his sin of taking Naboth's vineyard, which sealed Ahab's fate. Through the spirit of falsehood that spoke on the lips of his soothsaying prophets, Ahab was drawn out to war against Aram , in which an innocent archer (said to be Naaman, the king of Aram 's commander-in-chief, II Kings ch 5) shot the arrow that killed him. Despite being mortally wounded Ahab ordered his chariot driver to prop his body up in the chariot so that the Israelites should not see that he was dying and loose heart, and Ahab was praised for this final act of heroism.

Book of II Kings Chapter 1 The Book of Kings is conventionally divided in printed Bibles into Parts I and II for the sake of convenience, but in handwritten parchment scrolls of Sepher Melakhim, it is all one continuous book. The division in the printed Bible at this point is relatively arbitrary since it happens to come near the middle of the book (and it actually comes in the middle of a parshah=paragraph of the Hebrew text). However, the subject matter at the beginning of II Kings is a direct continuation of the narrative at the end of I Kings telling how Ahab's son Ahaziyahu came to the throne of Israel and continued in exactly the path of his father and mother. "And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab" (v 1). After their subjugation by King David, the Moabites had been a client state within the Israelite sphere of influence and paid Ahab 100,000 sheep annually in tribute (II Kings 3:4). When the Moabites rebelled, the new king literally FELL THROUGH THE FLOOR – i.e. through a thin wooden lattice-work screen that covered an aperture in the floor of his upper storey chamber (Metzudas David) through which one could presumably look down unseen at what was going on below. Apparently the king tripped over it and fell through – showing further how weak were the foundations of Ahab's dynasty! The king must have been seriously injured. True to form, he sent not to an Israelite prophet to find out his prognosis (he probably feared the answer he would receive) but to priests of the cult of ZVUV, the "fly" god of the Philistine city of Ekron . (Similarly, in recent generations many alienated Jews have been searching for spiritual meaning in every tradition except their own.) For an Israelite king to do such a thing was a serious affront to the honor of the God of Israel and His prophets, and this itself sealed the sick king's fate. In what was to be the last public mission of his ministry, Elijah the Prophet was sent to intercept the king's envoys and tell them to tell him he was going to die. When the king heard the news and asked his envoys to describe the man who told them this, they said he was "a man of much hair with a belt of leather girded around his loins" (v 8). The abundant hair alludes to the exalted heights of Elijah's perceptions of God (each SE'AR, "hair", is a SHA'AR, "gateway" of apprehension). His "girded loins" indicate his supreme moral purity and sanctity: the "leather" was said to have come from the ram of Isaac (Gen. 22:13). On hearing these signs, the king immediately knew the prophet's identity and sent a captain with a squadron of fifty soldiers to order him to come down from his mountain to the palace in Shomron. The captain brusquely ordered the prophet to go down, as if the honor due to his king was greater than the honor due to God's prophet. God Himself sent fire to burn up the captain and his fifty men in order to avenge the insult to the prophet, and lest the king should interpret this as a mere coincidence, He did the same to his second captain and squadron of fifty. Only the more respectful attitude of the

third captain mollified Heaven sufficiently to send prophecy to Elijah to appear before the king and castigate him directly. For "Those who honor Me shall I honor, but those who despise Me shall be despised" (I Sam. 2:30). Now that the kings of Israel had gone astray, their moral authority was discredited, while God himself would vindicate the authority of His true prophets. With his fate sealed, Ahaziahu died, and, having no children, was succeeded by his brother Jehoram son of Ahab. This initiated a period in which the kings of Israel and Judah both had the same name, since Yehoshaphat king of Judah had also called his son Jehoram.

Chapter 2 Elijah had already asked to be relieved of his ministry of zeal and fire (I Kings 19:4), and now he was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. The narrative of Elijah's ascent in our present chapter contains many teachings about the nature of prophecy. Elijah tried to persuade his disciple Elisha not to follow him, but Elisha knew prophetically that his master was to be taken from him (vv 3, 5) and refused to leave his side. The other prophets who came out to meet them also knew that Elijah was about to ascend to heaven (ibid.) – for the departure from earth of TZADDIK HADOR, the "righteous leader of the generation", was an event of the greatest significance even though ordinary mortals may have been quite unaware of it. Elijah's journey with Elisha took them to some of the key spiritual sites in the Land, including the first Israelite encampment after their original entry, Gilgal (also having the connotation of GILGUL, reincarnation) and Beth El, where Abraham and Jacob had prayed long before Jeraboam made his golden calves. The "sons" of the prophets who came out of Beth El and Jericho (vv 3, 5) were not necessarily their biological offspring but rather the students of the prophets, "and from here we learn that students are called children, and likewise it says, And you shall diligently teach them to your children (Deut. 6:7), and just as students are called children, so the teacher is called a father, as it says, And Elisha watched and he called, My father, my father… (II Kings 2:12; Sifrey Va-etchanan 6). The fact that there were bands of students of prophecy in Beth El and Jericho "teaches you that there was not a city in Israel that did not have prophets – and the reason why their prophecies were not recorded is because only those prophecies that were required by subsequent generations were written down while those that were not required by subsequent generations were not written down" (Yalkut Shimoni). The fact that the prophets of Jericho , speaking to Elisha about Elijah, called the latter "YOUR master" and not OURS indicates that they were as wise as Elijah (Tosefta to Sotah). Going in the reverse direction from the Israelites on their entry into the Land, Elijah went from Jericho to the River Jordan, which he split miraculously with his "mantle". "It would appear that Elijah had been informed through prophecy that he would be taken on the east bank of the Jordan – perhaps he was taken in the very place where Moses our Teacher was gathered in to the place of His glory, for the level of Elijah was very close to the level of Moses" (RaDaK on v 1). If the students of the prophets are their "sons", Elisha asked of Elijah as his parting gift to be given "a double portion of your spirit upon me", alluding to the "double portion" of the firstborn son (Deut. 21:17). We do indeed see in the ensuing

narratives about Elisha that he performed double the miracles of Elijah. Everything that Elisha did, he did in the power of his master, and this power came into him precisely because he was present when Elijah ascended the chariot of fire drawn by horses of fire. RaDaK (on v 1) explains (on the level of PSHAT, the simple meaning of the text) that the "storm wind of Heaven" with which God raised Elijah (v 1) was an invisible RU'ACH which lifted the prophet up into the air taking him up through the will of God to the "sphere of fire" where all his garments except for his mantle were burned up and where his flesh and bones were consumed, while his spirit ascended to God who gave it. According to this explanation, the Chariot of Fire that appeared to Elisha came to teach him that with the ascent of Elijah the "chariot of Israel and its riders" had gone up from upon Israel. However, despite this literal interpretation of the text, RaDaK continues: "The opinion of the masses and the opinion of our sages is that God took him alive into the Garden of Eden together with his body just as Adam had been before his sin…" On the level of SOD (mystery) Rabbi Nachman teaches that while only the lower soul of the Tzaddik is revealed through his life and works in this world, the higher soul exists concurrently in the upper world. When the time comes for the Tzaddik to leave this world, his upper soul "descends" into this world in the form of the "chariot of fire", and because of the close bond between the upper and lower soul, the latter leaps out to join and reunite with the upper soul which then ascends back to the upper world. The descent of the upper soul is accompanied with an enormous revelation of wisdom and knowledge which the Tzaddik pours forth on his last day. Those of his students who are present at the time of his ascent receive a great share of this light because their souls have the same root as the Tzaddik. But whereas the Tzaddik's time has come to leave the world and he ascends, the students' time has not yet come and they therefore remain in this world but with the greater wisdom – the "double share" – they received from their master at the moment of his ascent, as in the case of Elisha (Likutey Moharan I, 66). Back again to the level of PSHAT, Elisha's rending of his garment on the departure of his teacher is the foundation of the law that any student must rend his garment in two and never repair it when he looses his outstanding Torah teacher, and the same applies to all the community on the death of the Head of the Sanhedrin (Rambam, Laws of Mourning 9:2). Having inherited his master's mantle, Elisha was now the leader of the generation, and the new spirit that had entered into him was immediately visible when he too used Elijah's mantle to split the Jordan and return to the Land of Israel. On seeing this, the other prophets immediately prostrated and submitted to his authority. Their asking Elisha to send out a search party to find Elijah (vv 16-17) after having previously prophesied that he was going to be taken away (vv 3, 5) was understood by the rabbis to indicate that from the moment Elijah ascended, holy spirit increasingly departed from the prophets and there was no longer much holy spirit in Israel (Rashi on v 16). Elisha also inherited the passionate zeal of Elijah, and while he miraculously healed the waters of Jericho for the prophets, he showed no compassion on the "small lads" who came out from Beth El mocking his "baldness" (they were complaining that he had left the land bald by taking away their livelihood since previously they earned money by importing water from elsewhere). The commentators teach that they were called NA'ARIM ("lads") because they were ME-NUAR-IM ("stripped bare") of Mitzvos! Elisha saw that these were souls that would never produce any good even in the generations to come and this was why he cursed them (Rashi on v

23; Sotah 46b). For "Those who honor Me shall I honor, but those who despise Me shall be despised" (I Sam. 2:30).

Chapter 3 "And Jehoram son of Ahab ruled over Israel … in the EIGHTEENTH YEAR OF JEHOSHAPHAT king of Judah" (v 1). This verse appears to contradict the verse in II Kings 1:17 which says that Jehoram son of Ahab came to the throne in the SECOND YEAR of the reign of JEHORAM son of Jehoshaphat. A further problem is that the death of King Jehoshaphat has already been recorded at the end of I Kings 22:51, while our present chapter relates how Jehoshaphat joined Jehoram in his war against the rebellious Moabites. The apparent inconsistencies are resolved through the rabbinic teaching that when Jehoshaphat agreed to join Ahab in his war against Aram at Ramoth Gilead (I Kings 22:4-5), it was decreed that Jehoshaphat should die in the battle as did Ahab. However, just as the Aramean forces were about to kill him, Jehoshaphat screamed out in prayer to God and was miraculously saved (ibid. vv 32-3) and in virtue of his repentance, he was granted another seven years of life. Jehoshaphat was greatly humbled, and gave over the throne to his son Jehoram in his lifetime (II Chron. 21:3). The narrative of the war of the kings of Judah, Israel and Edom against Moab is positioned here in order to continue the cycle of stories of the miracles performed by Elisha. A careful count of these miracles reveals that they number a total of sixteen – double the eight miracles performed by Elijah, in fulfillment of Elisha's request to receive a "double portion" of his master's spirit (ch 2 v 9; see Rashi on ch 3 v 1). Elisha had given up his livelihood and abandoned his family in order to follow Elijah (I Kings 19:20). Elisha's ministry continued through the reigns of five kings of Israel until his death in the time of Jeho'ash son of Jeho'ahaz ben Jehu (II Kings 13:14ff), and according to the Midrash Seder Olam, it lasted for more than sixty years – longer than that of any other of the prophets of Israel. Unlike his master Elijah, who was somewhat of a "loner" spending much of his time secreted away in Hisbodedus, Elisha not only traveled from place to place but also dwelled for extended periods in a variety of locations, where he taught the "sons of the prophets" and spread Torah – we find Elisha visiting Gilgal, Jericho, Mt Carmel, Shunem and Dothan in the Land of Israel as well as the wilderness of Edom and Damascus outside the Land. From ch 4 v 23 we learn that it was customary for Elisha's disciples to join him for Sabbaths and New Moons, somewhat like the way the latter-day Chassidim travel to their Rebbes for Sabbaths and festivals. The rebellion of the Moabites has already been recorded at the beginning of II Kings 1:1 but only now in Chapter 3 do we hear of the campaign by Jehoram king of Israel to subdue them. He was joined not only by Jehoshaphat king of Judah (who was still trying to cooperate with the kingdom of Israel as a means of "Torah outreach") but also by the king of Edom, which was still subject to Judah and rebelled only after the death of Jehoshaphat. Campaigning in the arid wilderness areas east of the Dead Sea , these three kings almost lost their entire armies because they found no water. The situation was critical and was saved only by Elisha, who went with them not to join the battle but because he had been ordered to do so prophetically in order to perform a miracle for Jehoram in the hope that it would bring him to repent (RaDaK on v 11). At the height of the crisis, when Jehoshaphat king of Judah characteristically asked to

consult a prophet, the servant of the king of Israel who pointed to Elisha described him as "having poured out water over the hands of Elijah" (v 11). According to the Midrash, it was Elisha who had poured the water all around Elijah's altar on Mt Carmel in his contest with the prophets of Baal (I Kings 18:34-5), and "his ten fingers became like fountains filling the entire trench with water" (Rashi and RaDaK on II Kings 3:11). The true prophet thus flows with the waters of Torah, and in Elisha's merit, God miraculously filled the dry valley in the wilderness of Edom with wells brimming with water. Initially Elisha did not want to even look at the sinful king of Israel, and in his anger the spirit of prophecy left him, for wisdom and prophecy cannot dwell side by side with anger (Pesachim 66b). It was only when Elisha called for musicians to play joyous music that the spirit of prophecy dwelled with him again (v 15), teaching that "the Shechinah does not dwell through sadness and lethargy but only through the joy of a mitzvah, as it is written, Take for me a musician…" (Shabbos 30b). Confronted with miracle after miracle performed by God in favor of the Israelites, the king of Moab turned to his astrologers and asked them what was the secret of the Israelites' success. When they told him that their first patriarch Abraham had been willing to sacrifice his very son to God, the Moabite king took his own firstborn son and offered him up AL HACHOMAH (v 27). This is literally translated as "on the wall", but since the word CHOMAH is spelled here without the letter Vav and can be read as CHAMAH, "the sun", we learn that this sacrifice was to the sun-god whom the Moabites worshiped (Rashi and RaDaK ad loc., Sanhedrin 39b). The king of Moab 's sacrifice caused "great anger" against Israel (v 27) because they too had taken to worshiping idols and no longer showed the same willingness to sacrifice all for God as Abraham. Some have compared the Moabite king's willingness to slaughter his first-born son for the sake of victory to the Jihadi willingness to send out suicide bombers in all directions. However the comparison is not quite accurate as research indicates that the typical profile of the suicide bomber is one of a chronic depressive social reject who has very little to lose by giving up his life for the sake of 72 virgins in "paradise". Nevertheless, the lesson Israel should learn from the suicide bombers is that the way to dissipate God's "great anger" is not by throwing away our lives in an orgy of destruction but by heroically offering all our strength and vitality on the altar of God's service every day.

Chapter 4 The first part of this chapter (vv 1-37) is familiar as the Haftara of Parshas Vayera (Genesis 18:1-22:24) telling of the announcement of the birth of Isaac, which is paralleled by Elisha's promise to the woman of Shunem that she would bear a son (II Kings 4:17). The miracle of the oil performed by Elisha for "a certain woman" as narrated in the opening section of this chapter (vv 1-7) is, like the ensuing story of the birth, death and revival of the son of the Shunemite woman (vv 8-37), a very heavily veiled allegory that is explained at length by ARI (Sepher HaLikutim on Kings 2:4) in terms that are incomprehensible without an extensive knowledge of the Kabbalah and the Hebrew language. While the rabbis of the Midrash identify this "certain woman" as the widow of the prophet Obadiah, who was unable to repay to Jehoram son of Ahab the debts and very heavy RIBIS ("interest") incurred by her late husband in supporting the persecuted prophets of God (I Kings 18:4), ARI explains that she represents Rachel/Shechinah, whose vessels are empty owing to the sins

of Israel, which make it impossible to elevate the scattered sparks and "pay back the debts". In the case of Elisha's miracle for the woman of Shunem, ARI explains that his purpose was likewise to release and redeem the souls of Israel from sin. "And it was on THAT DAY" (v 8): this refers to Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment. This was when Elisha "passed over to SHUNEM", which literally refers to a town in the Jezreel Valley, but which, according to ARI, is emblematic of the treasury of all the souls – for on Rosh Hashanah it is decreed who will die and who will come to life… The purpose of the Shunemite woman was to bring a very elevated soul into the world – according to Zohar her son was the prophet Habakuk (cf. v 16, "you will embrace – HOVEKES – a son"). Returning to the level of PSHAT, the "simple meaning", we see that the Shunemite woman excelled in the virtue of HOSPITALITY to a Torah scholar, and "everyone who hosts a Torah scholar in his home and gives him benefit from his possessions is accounted as if he had offered the daily Temple CONTINUAL OFFERING" (=TAMID, the last Heb. Word in v 9; see Talmud Berachos 10b). The Shunemite woman created a miniature Sanctuary in her own home (v 10). The "bed" corresponds to the Ark of the Covenant, the "table" to the Showbread Table, the "chair" to the Incense Altar and the "lamp" is the Menorah. Through her hospitality to Elisha, the Shunemite woman gave birth to one of the great prophets of Israel, demonstrating that even when it is difficult or impossible to go up to the Temple, through creating a sanctuary of in our very homes and our private lives, we can draw holy spirit and prophecy back into the world.

Chapter 5 The last few verses of the previous chapter (I Kings 4:42-44) together with the first 18 verses of the present chapter are the Haftara of Parshas Tazria (Lev. 12:113:59), most of which deals with the laws of TZORA'AS ("leprosy"). The salvation that God had given to Aram through Na'aman was that he had been the archer who innocently shot King Ahab at the battle of Ramoth Gil'ad (I Kings 22:34; Rashi ad loc.). As a result of his military distinction, Na'aman became arrogant (Bamidbar Rabah 7) and was afflicted with TZORA'AS, a skin and hair affliction that is a manifestation on the surface of the body of the inner flaws of the soul. An Israelite girl taken captive by a band of Aramean marauders was telling her mistress that her husband could surely be cured by visiting the wonder-Rebbe miracle worker, Elisha the Prophet. (His name, EL YISHA, means "God will save"). The king of Aram now sends to Jehoram king of Israel saying "Heal my captain" – which is somewhat as if a present-day Iranian leader were to send a message to the Israeli prime minister saying, "We will nuclear bombard your country unless you heal Mr X". King Jehoram – a complex character who was perhaps nearer to source than the present-day Israeli prime minister – rent his very garments in despair: how could he personally turn to Elisha, even though he knew God did miracles for him? Jehoram was too ashamed to ask the prophet to pray, knowing that he himself would not listen to him and stop worshiping Jeraboam's golden calves (RaDaK on v 7). Elisha now sanctified the Name of Heaven through the miraculous healing of Na'aman. The latter was expecting Elisha to come out like a white-robed guru and wave his hand to heal him. However the way the Tzaddik actually healed him was by giving him a simple piece of advice – to bathe seven times in the River Jordan. The advice of the Tzaddik is so easy but yet so hard!!! Na'aman was insulted,

considering the Amanah and Parpar rivers much better. RaDaK (on v 12), cites a comment in the name of his father that Na'aman was saying he already washed every day. In modern terms, he felt he was scrupulously hygienic and couldn't understand how merely washing in the River Jordan had the power to remove the inner moral filth that lay behind the deceptive appearance of his impeccable exterior bodily cleanliness. After the miracle, Na'aman wanted to "pay", but Elisha adamantly refused: to have accepted "payment" for God's miracle would have been a terrible HILLUL HASHEM, "Desecration of the Name", which would have undermined the entire KIDDUSH HASHEM Elisha had brought about. Na'aman asked to be given two mule-loads of holy earth from the Land of Israel in order to build an altar to God in his home city. (Although it is forbidden for an Israelite or sacrifice anywhere except on the Temple Altar in Jerusalem, it is permitted for a Noahite to offer animal sacrifice to God elsewhere if it is performed in the correct way according to Torah law.) The negative side of Elisha's NA'AR – his "attendant" or, in modern terms, his GABBAI – has already appeared in ch 4 v 27, when he tried to push the Shunamite woman away from Elisha when she came to beg him to intercede on behalf of her son. It is said that when Elisha told him to hurry on ahead without talking to anyone in order to lay the prophet's staff on the boy, Gehazi showed the staff to all passers-by, cynically asking if it really had the power to resurrect the child. Now the appetite for wealth overcame him, which unfortunately tends to happen among certain Gabba'im whose eyes pop out at the vast wealth they see in many pockets of the world outside of the Torah kingdom – wealth that owing to the selfishness of many of its owners rarely percolates within the Torah community to ease the economic plight of its Torah scholars. Taking money from Na'aman for Elisha's miracle under false pretences (v 22) and then hiding it away for himself (v 24) was an outrageous HILLUL HASHEM, which was the very opposite of what Elisha wanted, and this is why through the mystery of exchanges and payment for everything, he "transferred" the TZORA'AS of Na'aman on to Gehazi so that he would no longer be able to keep the blemishes of his soul hidden.

Chapter 6 Chapter 6 continues narrating the miracles of Elisha. The occasion for the first one told here – making metal float on water (vv 1-7) – was the planned expansion of Elisha's Beis Midrash ("study hall"), which was necessary because Gehazi's way had been to drive students away, while after his rejection by Elisha many students arrived making the classroom cramped (Rashi on v 1). Some students had gone to the Jordan to cut down wood for the expansion project when the metal head of the borrowed axe of one of them fell off its handle into the water. This was a disaster for the impecunious student, who did not have the money to pay. Asking to see the place where it happened, Elisha cut a piece of wood and with supernatural ingenuity cast it under the water, where it entered into the hole in the axe-head where the handle fitted and thereafter floated up to the surface bringing the axe-head with it. The reason why Elisha could not use the existing wooden handle is that for miracles to happen, there has to be something new (RaDaK on v 6). The next miracle (vv 8ff) took place when Elisha repeatedly gave King Jehoram advance information about planned Aramean marauder incursions into his territory without the use of satellite pictures, phone tapping, listening devices etc. but purely through prophetic clairvoyance to the point where, as one of his servants (Na'aman?) told the king of Aram, "Elisha the prophet that is in Israel will tell the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom" (v 12). Examples of similar kinds

of RU'AH HAKODESH, "holy spirit", are told in the case of outstanding Tzaddikim like Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai (in Zohar), the ARI (in Shevachey HaAri), the Baal Shem Tov (in Shevachey HaBesht) and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (in Chayey Moharan/Tzaddik) etc. In our own generations many stories about the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Baba Sali and other great Tzaddikim attest to their foreknowledge of dangers to individuals and communities as well as their ability to see things in other parts of this world and in many other worlds. Elisha's "leaks" so infuriated the king of Aram that he sent troops to capture him. Seeing the Aramean forces surrounding the town of Dothan, where Elisha was visiting, terrified his attendant – until the prophet assured him that "more are they who are with us than those who are with them" (v 16). As in the case of stories of how the Baal Shem Tov and other Tzaddikim would sometimes open the eyes of some of those around them to the worlds they themselves could apprehend, Elisha asked God to open the attendant's eyes so that he could see the "horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (v 17). Rather than praying that the Aramean squadron should just drop dead, Elisha asked that they should be struck with a "blindness" which enabled him to hypnotically direct them away from himself in the small town of Dothan until they came bang into the center of the capital city, Shomron, where they were naturally greatly outnumbered by the Israelite forces on their home territory. Seeing the captured Aramean squadron in his capital city, King Jehoram was ready to kill them, but Elisha would not allow this, telling him instead to feed and water the captives and send them home – so that they could tell everyone about the miracle. This brought the period of mere Aramean marauding to a close (v 23), convincing them that more serious measures were called for against the stubborn Israelites. "And Ben-Haddad king of Aram gathered all his camp" – this was a major mobilization – "and laid siege to Shomron" (v 24). The terrible famine that ensued in Shomron brought things to the stage where the curses Moses had called down upon those who rebel against the Torah (Deut. 28:53) were actually fulfilled when the most refined of women were reduced to eating their own children (our chapter vv 28-9). Hearing this greatly shocked King Jehoram, who rent his garments and put on sackcloth (v 30) – and went on, like today's HILONIM ("the secular"), to blame all his problems on the Torah community as embodied in its leader, Elisha son of Shaphat (="he judged"). [In present-day Israel they blame everything on R. Eliashiv.] The furious king now sends a squadron to go and put a quick end to the prophet, but Elisha – who has perfect foreknowledge of the advancing contingent – tells his students to block their way, leaving us at the end of Chapter 6 with a "cliffhanger" wondering what is going to happen next.

Chapter 7 At the height of the murderous famine in Shomron, with the king of Israel's envoy standing at Elisha's door with instructions to kill him as if he was responsible, the prophet announces that by the same time tomorrow there will be a complete turnabout, with cheap flour in abundance for the people and even cheaper barley for their animals. On hearing this, the king's foremost aide cynically expresses total disbelief, at which Elisha prophecies that the aide will see it with his eyes but not eat (v 2). This is how God pays "measure for measure": since the king's officer did not believe that God had the power to send a miracle, he would not have any benefit from it, and indeed, as we learn at the end of the chapter, he was trampled to death by a stampede of starving people surging forward to get food (vv 17-20).

"And there were four men – lepers – at the entrance of the gate" (v 3). According to tradition, these were Gehazi, who had been cursed with leprosy by Elisha, together with his three sons, who were afflicted because they had complicity in their father's embezzlement since they knew about it (RaDaK on II Kings 5:27). They were at the gate, just outside the city, as it is written, "he [the leper] shall sit alone outside the camp" (Lev. 13:46; Rashi on v 3). They realized that if they were to stay there by the besieged city they would die of starvation, whereas if they were to go over to the camp of the Aramean besiegers there was a chance they might survive. From this the rabbis learned that a person living in a city struck by famine should get up and leave even if it is not certain that he will survive elsewhere (Bava Kama 60b). When Gehazi and his sons came to the Aramean camp, they discovered that all the Aramean forces had fled, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys and all their food and wealth. This was because God had "played with their minds", making them hear sounds of a great army, which they imagined must be Hittites and Egyptians hired by the Israelites against them. King Jehoram could not believe that the Arameans had simply fled and feared that they wanted to lure his forces out of the city into an ambush. However, he was persuaded to send a small force to check, because even if the force were to be killed by the Arameans, they would be no worse off than those left in Shomron, who would in any case die of famine. The reconnaissance party discovered that the Arameans had indeed fled east of the Jordan in total disarray. The starving inhabitants were able to come out of Shomron to the Aramean camp and take food for themselves and their animals in unbelievable abundance, just as Elisha had prophesied, while the king's aide, who had expressed his disbelief, witnessed the miracle but lost his life in the rush for food. Verses 3-20 of this chapter are the Haftara of Parshas Metzora (Lev. 14:1-15:33) dealing with the laws of purification from leprosy.

Chapter 8 Even miracles of such an order did not persuade King Jehoram of Israel to change his path, and Elisha now prophesied that God had called for seven years of famine to chastise the hearts of the Israelites. Elisha sent the righteous Shunemite woman, whose son he had revived, together with her entire household to dwell in the territory of the Philistines. According to the rabbis, in the first year of the famine, the Israelites who remained in their own territories ate everything they had left in their homes. In the second year they ate everything left in their fields. In the third year they ate the meat of their kosher animals, in the fourth year, they ate the meat of their unkosher animals. In the fifth year they ate the meat of mice and rats and such like; in the sixth year, they ate their sons and daughters, and in the seventh year they ate the flesh of their own arms (Taanis 5a). These chastisements obviously moved something in Jehoram's heart since after the seven years we find him asking Gehazi to tell him about the miracles performed by his master Elisha (v 4). Just as Gehazi started talking about how Elisha had revived the Shunemite woman's son, there she was with her son! She had come to the king to complain that in her absence, robbers had taken over her house and fields. The rabbis commented that her sudden appearance just as Gehazi started talking about her came to prevent him from saying any more, because God does not like to hear praise from the mouths of the wicked (Vayikra Rabbah). Gehazi was punished because he referred to Elisha by name (v 5) instead of respectfully saying "my master" (Sanhedrin 100a).

King Jehoram restored the woman's property, showing that he was fair-minded. But fair-mindedness alone was not sufficient for a king of Israel, who was supposed to lead his people to faith in the One God. This was why Elisha immediately went to Damascus , where his mission was to anoint a king over Aram who would be far more cruel to Israel than the present king, Ben Haddad. The rabbis say that another reason for Elisha's visit to Damascus was to try to bring Gehazi to repent. Gehazi had gone there to seek out Na'aman and ask him for some big favor in return for having taken on his leprosy. Far worse, Gehazi had "dropped out" of Torah, using the occult arts he must have learned in the school of Elisha to make Jeraboam's golden calf appear to hang in mid-air (through the use of some kind of magnet effect), and carving a sacred name in its mouth to make it say the first two of the Ten Commandments: "I am…" and "You shall have no other gods besides Me…" (Exodus 20:2-3). Gehazi told Elisha that he had heard from him that one who sins and makes others sin is not given the possibility of repenting, and he therefore declined his overtures (Sotah 47a). It was because of such stubbornness on the part of the Israelites that Elisha had to appoint a new king over Aram who would be a far harsher "rod of chastisement". This was Haza-el, and his anointment by Elisha was in fulfillment of the prophecy sent to his master Elijah years earlier when the latter had begged God to revoke his ministry (I Kings 19:15). The present king of Aram , Ben-Haddad, was seriously ill, and on hearing of Elisha's presence in his capital, sent Haza-el to "consult the oracle" – Ben-Haddad well knew of Elisha's outstanding prophetic powers. In his cryptic prophecy to Haza-el, Elisha hinted that he himself would kill his master and take over the throne (RaDaK on v 10). Elisha wept over the evil that Haza-el would later perpetrate against Israel as their rod of chastisement. When Haza-el returned to the sick Ben Haddad, it would appear (although the text is somewhat ambiguous) that it was he who took a thick blanket steeped in cold water and placed it over the king's face – ostensibly to cool his fever but actually to chill him or suffocate him to death (RaDaK on v 15). The war that Haza-el stirred up against Israel (v 28) was to prove the undoing not only of the House of Ahab but also of the king of Judah, as we shall see in the ensuing chapters. Thus our text now moves back to the House of Judah, telling of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat (vv 16-24) and that of his son Ahaziahu (vv 25-29). Both of these two kings of Judah were literally married into the House of Ahab: Jehoshaphat had been married to the daughter of Omri king of Israel, Ahab's sister. Jehoshaphat had married his son Jehoram off to Ahab's wicked daughter Athalia (who is described in v 26 as the daughter of Omri but was actually his grand-daughter), and thus Ahaziahu king of Judah was Ahab's son-in-law and brother-in-law of Jehoram king of Israel. The marriage alliance of the kings of Judah with the House of Ahab was originally intended as a form of "outreach" to bring the kingdom of the Ten Tribes back under the hegemony of the House of David, but it did not in fact bring the kings of Israel to repentance. [Similarly the "alliance" of the establishment rabbinate of Israel and the religious political parties with the secular Zionists who control the country has not brought the latter nearer to the Torah but if anything has served only to give them legitimacy without actually changing them.] Judah was sliding deeper into sin, yet God did not want to destroy them for the sake of David His servant (v 19). Nevertheless more and more troubles were breaking out on every side. It was in the reign of Jehoram king of Judah that the Edomites rebelled after eight reigns in which they had remained subject to Judah (v 20, see Rashi). Jehoram's son King Ahaziahu together with his brother-in-law Jehoram king of Israel went out to war against the Arameans (v 28) and they got a heavy beating (v 29). It was Ahaziahu's sick visit to his wounded brother-in-law

King Jehoram that led to his downfall together with the downfall of the House of Ahab, as we will read in the following chapters.

Chapter 9 When the prophet Elijah had asked to be relieved of his ministry, God had told him to do three things: anoint Elisha as his successor, appoint Haza-el as king of Aram and anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel (I Kings 19:16). In the previous chapter we saw how Elisha carried out Elijah's instructions to appoint Haza-el as king of Aram . Now the time had come for him to fulfill the third part of Elijah's prophecy and anoint Jehu as king of Israel in order to take vengeance on the House of Ahab for their idolatry and criminality. Jehu ben Nimshi was in fact the son of a man called Jehoshaphat (not to be confused with Jehoshaphat king of Judah) and Nimshi was Jehu's grandfather, but he is usually known as Jehu ben Nimshi. He was one of the leading military officers of Jehoram king of Israel, who had been campaigning against the Arameans in Ramoth Gil'ad (in the Golan Heights ) and who had gone to Jezre'el to recuperate from wounds he had sustained in the war. Jehu and his fellow officers were still in Ramoth Gil'ad when the young prophet sent by Elisha – according to tradition, the prophet Jonah (Rashi on v 1) – arrived to carry out his secret mission, which was highly dangerous as he was appointing Jehu to instigate a mutiny against the king. Taking Jehu into an inner chamber, Jonah delivered his prophecy and fled. "THE DRIVING IS LIKE THE DRIVING OF JEHU BEN NIMSHI…" (v 20) Jehu was evidently a man of great strength with his own brand of zeal for God, and with the new power that came from his anointment by the prophet, he soon won over his fellow officers and quickly master-minded a surprise assault on King Jehoram as he lay recuperating in Jezre'el. As Jehu rode with his band of men towards Jezre'el, the city watchman saw them in the distance. Before the watchman could identify them, the king sent out successive horsemen to find out who they were and what they wanted. But instead of coming back, they joined the advancing party. Reporting this, the watchman said, "The driving (MINHAG) looks like the driving of Jehu ben Nimshi, for he drives (YINHAG) with madness" (v 20). Not only does this phrase graphically depict the kind of man Jehu was. It might also fairly be applied to certain crazy customs (MINHAG=custom) that various people practice with religious fervor as if they were Torah from Sinai when in fact they have nothing to do with true MINHAG YISRAEL as recorded in the Shulchan Arukh and other authoritative compilations. Since the Bible is telling us that there is a kind of driving (MINHAG) that is crazy, this should prompt us to examine our own religious MINHAGs ("customs") with great care to check that we are not diverging from the authentic MINHAG AVOSEINU ("practice of our ancestors"). When King Jehoram himself came out towards Jehu together with his brother-in-law, Ahaziah king of Judah, who had been "visiting the sick", Jehu's arrow struck Jehoram between the arms and through his heart. The sages said that this was MIDDAH KENEGED MIDDAH, "measure for measure", because he had hardened his heart and stretched out his hands to receive RIBIS ("interest") on loans which Ahab's righteous chamberlain Obadiah had taken in order to support the true prophets (II Kings 4:1; Shemos Rabbah 31). Jehoram's body was thrown out from his chariot into the Jezre'el field that had been the ancestral portion of Naboth, whom Jehoram's father Ahab had had killed in order to seize his vineyard (I Kings ch 21).

After killing Jehoram, Jehu now went on to "cleanse" Israel of the sinful House of Ahab. First he killed Jehoram's brother-in-law and ally, Ahaziah king of Judah (vv27-8), who had also followed the path of Ahab and is said to have scratched out divine names from the Torah and replaced them with the names of idols (Rashi on v 27; Sanhedrin 102b). Next Jehu turned his attention to the queen mother, Jehoram's mother and Ahab's widow, the accursed Jezebel, who was in Jezre'el. When she heard that Jehu was on his way, she slapped on her make-up, did up her hair and called to him from her window, hoping to allure the man who had just killed her husband into marrying her. However, Jehu had sufficient zeal not to pay attention to her enticements and had her pushed out of the window – following the method of the Sanhedrin in casting those condemned to SEKILAH ("stoning") from an upper storey. In accordance with Elijah's prophecy, which Jehu had heard from Jonah (v 10), the dogs ate up Jezebel's body, leaving only her skull, feet and hands. It is said that these were saved because when a wedding party would pass by her house, she used to take ten steps out into the street to greet them, waving her hands and legs and shaking her head (Rashi on v 35; Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer 17). Knowing that a woman as wicked as Jezebel nevertheless received a reward for some slight gestures she made to carry out the mitzvah of making a bride and groom happy should encourage us to throw ourselves body and soul into the performance of God's commandments.

Chapter 10 In order to complete his "cleansing" of Israel, Jehu ben Nimshi now went on to destroy all vestiges of the House of Ahab. He persuaded the leading denizens of Shomron to slaughter the seventy sons of Ahab (which is somewhat reminiscent of Avimelech in the time of the Judges having the seventy sons of Gideon killed, Judges 9:5). By cleverly thereby implicating the denizens of Shomron in his own coup (v 9) Jehu widened his support base and began seeking out remaining members of the House of Ahab's power-base. On his way from Jezre'el to Shomron, Jehu encountered a large band consisting of forty-two brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, all of whom were caught up in the Ahab network into which their brother Ahaziah was intermarried. These too Jehu slaughtered, and then advanced into Shomron itself. "AHAB SERVED BAAL A LITTLE; JEHU WILL SERVE HIM A LOT" (v 18) Gathering all the people together, Jehu declared: "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him a lot" (v 18). The introduction of Baal worship had been Ahab's own innovation (I Kings 16:30-33) – previously the kings of Israel had only encouraged the worship of Jeraboam's golden calves. Jehu himself did not intend his words literally. He was putting on a front in the hope of pulling off a brilliant coup. By making all the Baal worshipers of Shomron think the new king was on their side and that they had nothing to fear, he intended to lure them all out of the woodwork and bring them together for what was billed as the Baal celebration of all time in order to be able to destroy them all in one great massacre. Jehu did indeed succeed in his immediate objective, but nevertheless his words proved to be a snare that led to his downfall. He had been anointed to be king over Israel. Had he gone all the way in eliminating idolatry from Israel, he could have brought them back to the Torah and under the hegemony of the House of David, which could have brought Mashiah. But having said, "Jehu will serve [the idol] a lot", he was ensnared by the words of his own lips.

In the words of Rabbi Nachman: "Never let a word of wickedness leave your mouth. Don't ever say you will be wicked or commit a sin, even if you mean it as a joke and have no intention of carrying out your words. The words themselves can be very damaging. They can compel you to fulfill them even though you did not mean them seriously. This was what caused King Jehu's downfall, because he said, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him very much” (II Kings 10:18) . When King Jehu said these words, he had no intention of committing idolatry. He said them only to trick the Baal worshipers, as explained in the following verse. Yet these words were his downfall, because he later came to commit idolatry. From this the Talmud learns that “a covenant is made with the lips” (Sanhedrin 102a) . You should therefore be very careful about what you say" (Sichot Haran #237). In spite of his great display of strength in eradicating the Baal worship that had plagued Israel for two generations, Jehu could not bring himself to uproot the worship of Jeraboam's golden calves. This was "out of anxiety that the kingship would revert to the House of David, which is what Jeraboam had been afraid of" (Rashi on v 29, I Kings 12:26). For without the golden calves, Israel would have turned their hearts back towards God's chosen House in Jerusalem. In the merit of Jehu's mighty deeds he earned the kingship for himself and his offspring to the fourth generation (verse 30), but because he did not repent, God chastised Israel by sending Haza-el king of Aram to create an "intifada" which was initially focused particularly on all the Israelite territories east of the River Jordan (v 33). This was the beginning of the end of the hold of the Ten Tribes on their ancestral portions, leading eventually to their exile.

Chapter 11 Athaliah – the wife of King Jehoram of Judah and the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, whom Jehu ben Nimshi had slain when he came to Jezre'el – was the daughter of King Ahab of Israel. She had brought the plague of Ahab into the Holy City of Jerusalem itself in the form of a functioning temple to Baal complete with a high priest bearing the pleasant-sounding name of Matan, "giving". Athaliah ruined part of the structure of Solomon's Temple and pillaged its treasures to bring them to her own temple of Baal (II Chron. 24:7). RaDaK (on II Kings 12:5) states that through her influence there was an overall weakening in public support for Solomon's Temple to the point where the income from the people's half-shekel contributions was insufficient to cover the daily sacrifices, which were suspended for a time. [Athaliah's conception of Jerusalem would probably correspond to that of the contemporary secularists who take pride in its shopping malls, sports stadiums, theaters and multi-religious character, while the Temple of God lies in ruins.] When Athaliah realized the implications of the death of her son Ahaziah king of Judah at the hands of Jehu ben Nimshi, she made a bloody attempt to assert the supremacy of the House of Ahab over Jerusalem itself by wiping out all descendants of King David (v 1) with the goal of ruling all by herself, which she did for six years. At this fateful moment the entire future of the House of David until Mashiach hung in the balance, and his line would have been wiped out completely but for the heroism of Yehosheva daughter of Jehoram king of Judah and paternal sister of the slain King Ahaziah. Taking his one remaining son, the infant prince Jo'ash, she hid him and brought him up in HADAR HA-MITOTH, the "chamber of the beds" (v 2). This was certainly with the cooperation of the High Priest, for according to tradition, HADAR HA-MITHOT was none other than an upper storey above the Temple Holy of Holies (Rashi, RaDaK on v 2). The Holy of Holies is called by this allusive name in accordance with the verses in Songs 1:13, "He lies between my breasts" and ibid.

1:16, "also our couch is green". (See Rambam, Hilchos Beis Habechirah 4:3 on the place of this upper storey in the Temple structure.) This would indeed have been an ideal place for concealing the baby prince from the tyrannical Athaliah since it was strictly off bounds to all – the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies only once a year on Yom Kippur, while the upper storey was checked for maintenance purposes only at very long intervals, and in any case from the following chapter it would appear that the Temple was not maintained at all during the time of Athaliah. It was for the boy prince Joash hidden away above the Holy of Holies that King David had prayed in Psalms 27:5: "For He will hide me away in his Tabernacle, He will conceal me in the secrecy of His Tent" (Rashi on v 2). When Joash was seven years old, the initiative to restore the kingship of the House of David came from Yehoyada the High Priest, an outstanding Tzaddik who showed the zeal of a Pinchas in extirpating the plague of Athaliah. (The long-established bond between the priesthood and the royal tribe of Judah dated back to the marriage of Aaron the High Priest to the sister of Nahshon ben Aminadav, the prince of Judah, Exodus 6:23.) In a daring coup against a woman who had certainly greatly strengthened her power-base in six years of tyranny, Yehoyada mobilized all the priests in Jerusalem, using the classic stratagem employed by many of the Judges in dividing his "forces" into three, this time to surround and protect the new boy king at his surprise "unveiling" and coronation in the Temple. The creative boldness of Yehoyada in overthrowing Athaliah equaled that of Jehu seven years earlier in destroying the priests of Baal in Shomron (see previous chapter), but because Yehoyada was a true Tzaddik, his enterprise (unlike that of Jehu) did not backfire. "And he brought out the king's son and put upon him the crown and the testimony" (v 12) – the "testimony" is the Torah scroll, which the king "must read all the days of his life" (Deut. 17:19). After Athaliah was put to death, Yehoyada renewed the Covenant that bound the king and the people together in the service of God. It is clear from the present chapter that there was a very sizeable "grass roots" of AM HA'ARETZ (v 14) – "ordinary" members of the tribe of Judah – who were faithful to the House of David and everything it stood for and who were only too happy to support the High Priest's initiative against Athaliah and her idol-based regime. They all came up to destroy the temple of Baal and its priest (v 18), after which the new king was conducted to the royal palace, the people rejoiced, and the city became calm (v 20).

Chapter 12 King Joash ruled for forty years, and he "did right in the eyes of God all his days as Yehoyada the priest instructed him" (v 2). This verse must be understood in the light of II Chronicles 24:17, from which we learn that after the death of Yehoyada (at the ripe old age of 130), "the leaders of Judah came and prostrated to the king; then [AZ] the king listened to them". The leaders of Judah reasoned that if this man had survived being brought up in the Holy of Holies, of which it is said that "the stranger who draws near shall die" (Numbers 18:7), he must be divine – and they began to worship him like a god. [One wonders whether some overenthusiastic followers of certain contemporary leaders may not be making a similar mistake.] Not only did Joash stray into idolatry; he became so enraged by criticism that he had Yehoyada's son, the prophet Zechariah, who stood up in the Temple to castigate him, murdered on the spot (II Chron. 24:21) – for generations his blood boiled in the Temple courtyard where it had been shed, refusing to subside, until Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the Temple.

Despite the negativity of these later developments, they followed a most important period while Yehoyada was still alive in which the king and the priests not only renovated the Temple but also made important innovations in its management, some of which endured for a long time thereafter. These innovations were centered on the reorganization of the financing of the Temple maintenance and its day-today running through the annual half-shekel contributions of the people and their other dedications. Thus the closing verses of the previous chapter (II Kings 11:17-20) together with the better part of our present chapter (vv 1-17) are the Haftara of Shabbos Shekalim, the first of the four special Shabbosos during the six weeks leading up to Pesach, when in addition to the usual weekly parshah we also read MAFTIR from Exodus 30:11-16 on the half-shekel Temple "poll tax" on the population. (Shabbos Shekalim comes either immediately before or on Rosh Chodesh Adar, late Feb./early March.) King Joash came to the throne only 155 years after the building of Solomon's Temple, which in the days before the kinds of emissions and pollutants in the atmosphere today was not long enough to case a marked deterioration in the stone and timber building. It was largely the ravages of Athaliah (II Chron. 24:7) that had caused damage to the Temple structure, giving rise to the urgent need for BEDEK HA-BAYIS, "checking" of the Temple to see what was required to restore it to its rightful glory. Besides the need for maintenance of the building, there was also a need for funds to cover the expenses of the regular sacrifices each day, on Sabbaths, New Moons and festivals etc. As discussed in the commentary on the previous chapter, it appears that for a time during the rule of Athaliah, the regular sacrifices may have been suspended as the system for collecting the funds to pay for it had fallen into disuse. Initially Jo'ash called on the priests to collect all the income from the annual halfshekel contributions and other dedications for use on the Temple renovation project. Since each priest had his own circle of Israelites who would give him their tithes, the initial idea was that the priests themselves should collect the funds for the renovation work from their regular supporters (v 6). However, by the twenty-third year of Jo'ash's reign the work had still not been done and the king apparentlhy suspected that the priests were filching off the money for themselves (v 8). This was not so – the priests had been saving the contributions until there was a large enough sum to complete the work (RaDaK on v 8) – but to avoid all suspicion, the priests were perfectly content to agree to a new system in which the public made their contributions directly to the Temple, placing their coins in a chest placed conveniently in the Temple courtyard (v 10). This new system became the basis for the system of half-shekel collection that is described at length in the Talmudic Tractate Shekalim. The money collected in the time of Joash was used initially to restore the Temple building (vv 12-13). According to v 14 the money was NOT used for Temple vessels and musical instruments etc. but this contradicts II Chron. 24:14, from which we can infer that these were purchased AFTER the building restoration was complete (Kesuvos 106a; RaDaK on v 14). From verse 16 we learn that the financial affairs of the Temple were all based on trust (which makes a refreshing change from today, when almost nobody can or will trust anyone else).

From verse 17 the rabbis teach that Yehoyada darshened that the KOHANIM priests were allowed to have personal benefit from the skins of animals sacrificed on the Temple Altar as OLAH (burnt) offerings (Temurah 23b, see Rashi on v 17). "THEN HAZA-EL KING OF ARAM ROSE UP…" (v 18) "Then – AZ – Haza'el rose up…" This happened because "then (AZ) the king listened to them" (II Chron. 24:17) – i.e. to the leaders of Judah who wanted to worship him as an idol. This is what gave strength to Haza'el as God's rod to chastise the House of David after his many years of chastising Israel. Now he took the Philistine town of Gath, which King David had taken for himself more than a hundred and fifty years earlier. Haza-el wanted to advance on Jerusalem itself, but Jo'ash bought him off using the Temple treasures (v 19) thereby undoing much of what had been achieved during the lifetime of Yehoyada the High Priest. In II Chron. 24:24 we learn that Haza-el made a second attack on Jerusalem, in which he succeeded in doing considerable damage, "and they carried out judgments on Jo'ash", who was severely wounded. He was killed in a conspiracy by two of his servants whose mothers – according to II Chron. 24:26 -- were respectively a Moabitess and an Ammonitess. The Moabites and Ammonites were descended from Lot, and showed great ingratitude to Abraham, who had rescued Lot, when they hired Bil'am to curse his descendants. It was thus MIDDAH KE-NEGED MIDDAH, "measure for measure", that two servants from Moab and Ammon should take vengeance on Jo'ash, who failed to show gratitude to Yehoyada the High Priest for saving his own life as a child when he went on to kill his son Zechariah.

Chapter 13 After completing the account of the reign of Jo'ash king of Judah at the end of the last chapter, the narrative now moves back to the kings of Israel who followed Jehu ben Nimshi. In the merit of his uprooting of the house of Ahab (from the tribe of Ephraim), Jehu (from Menasheh) earned the kingship for himself and his offspring to the fourth generation, while the Ten Tribes remained under the leadership of the descendants of Joseph. Jehu was succeeded by his son Jeho'ahaz, who continued in the path of Jeraboam. This led to the continuing chastisement of Israel by Aram to the point that Jeho'ahaz was left with a greatly depleted army (v 7). The pressure from Aram brought even the idolatrous Jeho'ahaz to entreat God for help (v 4). "And God gave Israel a savior, and they went out from under the hand of Aram (v 5). As Rashi (ad loc.) points out, this "savior" was in fact Jeho'ahaz's son and successor, King Jo'ash of Israel , about whose exploits we hear later in the present chapter and in the next. To those who are already feeling somewhat dizzy from the confusing succession of names of the kings of Judah and Israel, the present chapter is likely to be even more disorienting, because after its brief account of the exploits of Jeho'ahaz king of Israel (vv 1-9) it moves on to those of his son Jo'ash and appears to conclude the account of Jo'ash's life (vv 12-13) – yet immediately afterwards Jo'ash reappears in the narrative (vv 14-19) and remains a central figure in the narrative in the next chapter which speaks about the exploits of Amatziah king of Judah (ch 14 vv 1-16). Indeed verses 15-16 in the next chapter (ch 14) retell the death of Jo'ash king of Israel in words almost identical to those in our present chapter vv 12-13.

Rashi (on v 13) offers an explanation for the apparent interpolation in our present chapter of verses 12-13 speaking of the death of Jo'ash in between the verses that speak about his idolatry and those that speak about the final illness of the prophet Elisha: "I say that these verses were written only for the sake of making a break so that the account of the death of Elisha should not follow on immediately after the verse speaking about Jo'ash's idolatry". "AND ELISHA WAS SICK WITH THE SICKNESS FROM WHICH HE WOULD DIE" (v 14) We may infer from this verse that Elisha also suffered previous illnesses, from which he recovered. This in itself was a miracle – we should not take healing even from colds and chills for granted! "Until the time of Elisha there was no such thing as someone who was sick being healed – until Elisha came and begged for mercy and was healed" (Bava Kama 87a). "Elisha suffered three illnesses: one after setting the bears on the "young children" (II Kings 2:23-4); one after he rejected Gehazi with both hands, and the one from which he died" (Sotah 47a). It is striking that Jo'ash king of Israel, despite his involvement in idolatry, not only visited Elisha on his deathbed but cried out to him in the very same words that Elisha himself had used to his master Elijah: "My father, my father, chariot of Israel and its riders" (v 14, cf. II Kings 2:12). The prophet told the king to take arrows, open the eastern window (facing Aram ) and shoot arrows. The prophet cried: "An arrow of salvation for God and an arrow of salvation against Aram …" (v 17). Elisha was teaching the king of Israel to shoot ARROWS OF PRAYER. It was up to Jo'ash to decide how many he would shoot. He shot three – perhaps he thought this would be a sufficient gesture – but he did not understand that in order to accomplish decisive results, our prayers must be repeated persistently time after time after time after time… [The way in which Jo'ash king of Israel held back against enemies who were determined to destroy his people is somewhat reminiscent of Neville ("Pinhead") Chamberlain, Britain's prime minister until the first year of World War II and architect of the abortive policy of appeasement of Germany: it was said of him that when he would bang his fist down to emphasize a point, he would stop short of actually hitting the table with it. Similarly, Israeli governments of recent years have shown a pernicious indecisiveness and lack of determination against enemies who make no secret of their desire to destroy the country completely.] Elisha's death was followed immediately by incursions into the Land of Israel by the Moabites – showing that it was the Tzaddik who had been protecting the land during his lifetime. When an Israelite funeral procession was disrupted by a Moabite incursion, the startled coffin-bearers hurriedly threw the corpse into the cave in which Elisha was buried. "And the man touched the bones of Elisha and came to life and stood on his feet" (v 21). This was Elisha's second revival of the dead (his first was the resuscitation of the son of the Shunemite woman, II Kings ch 4), showing that he truly received a "double portion" of Elijah's spirit since the latter revived only one dead person (I Kings ch 17; Sanhedrin 47a). Some rabbis said that the man who was revived through touching Elisha's bones lived only briefly, walking away only to drop again so that he was buried elsewhere (for "a wicked person should not be buried next to a Tzaddik", Sanhedrin 47a). Others identified him as the father of Shalom ben Tikvah, who was one of the great Tzaddikim of his generation and who would sit at the gates of his city giving water to weary wayfarers, in the merit of

which holy spirit came into his wife, who was Hulda the Prophetess (II Kings 22:14; see RaDaK on our present chapter v 21). Jo'ash king of Israel was a mighty warrior, and through God's mercy on His people for the sake of His Covenant with the patriarchs, Jo'ash succeeded in recapturing cities taken by the Arameans, and he inflicted three major defeats on Aram corresponding to the three arrows he had shot from Elisha's window.

Chapter 14 The narrative now moves back from the kings of Israel to those of Judah, telling the story of Amatziah son of Jo'ash king of Judah. During his reign there were signs of regeneration in Judah somewhat parallel to the revival seen in the same period in the kingdom of Israel under Jo'ash, who, as we saw at the end of the last chapter, took back cities that had been captured by Aram . After a period in which Amatziah consolidated his own position in Judah following the assassination of his father (vv 5-6), he went on to campaign against the Edomites whose territories were to the south east of the Dead Sea, and who had rebelled against Judah in the time of his grandfather Jehoram king of Judah (II Kings 8:20). These territories included some highly fertile areas with good supplies of water. Commenting on the name Yokth-el given by Amatziah to the conquered Edomite stronghold, Rashi (on v 7) states that it merely caused him grating (KIHUY) of the teeth, because "after Amatziah came from striking the Edomites he brought the gods of the children of Se'ir… and prostrated before them" (II Chronicles 25:14). The worst god of all is pride and arrogance – and the over-confidence engendered in Amatziah as a result of his victory over Edom led to his downfall when he "overplayed his hand" against Jo'ash king of Israel (who ruled over TEN tribes). When Amatziah began his campaign against Edom, he hired one hundred thousand Israelite warriors to go with him (II Chron. 25:6) but on the instructions of a prophet he told them to go home, and in anger they started despoiling the cities of Judah . Amatziah took this as a causus belli and challenged Jo'ash king of Israel to fight. Refusing to heed Jo'ash's warnings to stand down, Amatziah was badly beaten in the battle of Beth Shemesh (vv 9-12) and Jo'ash entered Jerusalem, tore down a major section of the city walls (v 13) and pillaged the treasures of the Temple and the royal palace etc. (v 14). Amatziah lived another fifteen years after this, but he no longer ruled in Jerusalem. The people took his son Azariah=Uzziah as king, while Amatziah retreated to the southern city of Lachish , where he was eventually assassinated. Jo'ash king of Israel died soon after his attack on Jerusalem, and was succeeded by his son Jerabo'am, who was third in the line of kings of the dynasty of Jehu ben Nimshi. He is known as Jerabo'am II to distinguish him from Jerabo'am son of Nevat who started the rebellion of the Ten Tribes against the House of David during the reign of Solomon's son Rehav'am. Jerabo'am II was a powerful warrior who restored Israelite hegemony over all the ancestral territories east of the River Jordan and recaptured Aram "according to the word of HaShem the God of Israel that He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah son of Amitai the prophet…" (v 25). This prophecy is nowhere recorded, but according to tradition it was Jonah who had anointed Jehu (Rashi on II Kings 9:1). Just as Jonah's prophecy of doom against Nineveh was overturned when the people of that city repented (Jonah ch 3), so was the evil decree against Israel overturned in the days of Jerabo'am II, and from having been like "dust for grinding up" under

the feet of Aram (ch 13 v 7) they were saved by Jo'ash, who retook all the territories they had lost to Aram in the previous generations.

Chapter 15 AZARIAH (=UZZIAH) KING OF JUDAH After Amatziah king of Judah was trounced by Jo'ash king of Israel and fled to Lachish , the people of Judah appointed Amatziah's son Azaria as king, and he ruled for fifteen years in his father's life-time. In II Chronicles 26 and in the prophecies of Isaiah, Azaria is called Uzziah. Our present text passes over in almost complete silence the great achievements of Uzziah in his reign of over half a century (52 years). Just as Jerabo'am II of Israel subjugated the territories that had rebelled against the kings of Shomron who preceded him, so Uzziah restored the lowlands, coastal areas and south of the country to Judah as they had been in the times of David and Solomon. He established Judean sovereignty over the shores of the Red Sea, building Eilath (Eilat) as a naval stronghold. At the same time as restoring Judah's boundaries, Uzziah worked harder than any other king with the exception of David to develop and populate settlements throughout his territories, as is attested by numerous archaeological finds in the coastal plains and the Negev. Just as our text passes over Uzziah's positive achievements in silence, so it does not explain the reason for the sudden visitation of leprosy that afflicted him for the rest of his life (v 5). This is explained in full in the parallel history in II Chronicles 26:16. It was perhaps his very success that led to a pride that brought him – with the most righteous intentions – to offer incense in the Temple Sanctuary in defiance of the strict Torah prohibition against any ZAR (non-priest) officiating as a priest at any offering. As Uzziah stood in the Sanctuary burning incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead and spread to his whole body. It was on the very day that Uzziah offered incense in the Temple that Isaiah began to prophecy (Isaiah 1:6 – the "death" of King Uzziah mentioned in that verse is a reference to his leprosy). The stormy period of Uzziah's reign and those that followed it until the destruction of the Temple (end of II Kings) is thus one whose inner soul is opened up to us in the books of Isaiah and the great prophets who followed him – Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Rambam (Introduction to Mishneh Torah) traces the chain of transmission of the Torah from Elijah as follows: Elijah handed the tradition to Elisha, who taught Yehoyada the High Priest (II Kings 11-12), who taught his son Zechariah, who taught Hosea, who taught Amos, who taught Isaiah. In our present chapter we learn that the leprosy-stricken Uzziah dwelled in HA-BEIS HA-HOPHSHIS, "the House of Immunity". The Hebrew root HOPHESH means freedom. This is because Uzziah was now freed from the duties and obligations of kingship, and also because he built himself a house in the cemetery (for a leper is forbidden to come into the camp – the city), and it is written, BE-MEISIM HOPHSHI, "I am free among the dead" (Psalms 88:6; see RaDaK on our present chapter v 5). THE LAST RULERS OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM Jehu ben Nimshi, who overthrew the House of Ahab, secured the kingship for himself until the fourth generation. The bloody coup against his great grandson Zechariah in full view of the public (v 10) was followed by a whole series of coups, most, though not all of which were very short-lived, as we learn in verses 8-32.

The single most important geopolitical factor in this period was the rise of Ashur ("Assyria") as the major regional player in the Fertile Crescent. Ashur was situated in the upper Tigris valley in the north of Iraq near its borders with present-day Syria , Turkey , Kurdistan and Iran . What began as a small, aggressive, predatory power turned into a major land empire that stretched southwards along the Euphrates and westwards into northern Syria. The Assyrian rulers annexed many lands and turned others into tributary states. They were particularly noted for their use of the method of population transfer and exchange to uproot people from their own ancestral territories and turn them into landless migrants with no real attachment to the earth. This was precisely what the Assyrians did to the Ten Tribes, sending them into an Exile the redemption from which is only beginning to take place in our days. There is some evidence that back in the days of King Ahab, when the Assyrians were beginning their westward push into Syria, the three major powers in the region – Aram , Hamath and Ahab's Israel – formed a military alliance to repel them, and succeeded for the time being. But by the time of Menahem ben Gadi, who ruled over Israel during the last ten years of the reign of Uzziah king of Judah, the Assyrians under their king PHOOL were again pushing westwards (v 19), and Menahem had to buy them off with a huge bribe that could be raised only through a heavy tax on all his able-bodied men (v 20). However, the merit of the Israelites was no longer sufficient to permanently stem the Assyrian tide, and by the time of Pekah ben Remalliah, the Assyrian king Tiglath Pilesser captured Gil'ad and the Galilee, sending their Israelite inhabitants into exile. Until today historians debate where they went and where their descendants are to be found today. (See the works of Yair Davidiy, such as "The Tribes: The Israelite Origins of Western Peoples" for challenging ideas and insights on this subject.) YOTHAM KING OF JUDAH Yotham son of Uzziah "did right in the eyes of God according to all that Uzziah his father did" (verse 34). Commenting on the almost identical verse in II Chronicles 27:2, Rashi states that Yotham followed only in his father's good ways, which explains the statement by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Succah 45b): "If Abraham our father would take on himself all the sins of the generations up until his time, I would take upon myself the sins of the generations from Abraham until myself, and if Yotham son of Uzziah was with me, we could take on ourselves the sins from Abraham until the end of the generations". As Rashi explains, out of all the kings before and after him, Yotham is the only one to whom the text does not attribute any sin whatever (making a most refreshing change from the rest of the story of all the kings!) This is signified in his very name: YO (God), THAM ("pure, complete"). Despite Yotham's purity, in his days Judah began suffering from new aggressions by Aram and the kingdom of Israel, and in the time of his son, Ahaz king of Judah , these developed into a major scourge.

Chapter 16 One of the great ironies and very deep mysteries that we find in the Bible is that often the most righteous of fathers beget the most wicked of sons. In the ensuing stories of the kings of Judah, we find that a Tzaddik – Yotham – had a son who was a major Rasha ("villain") – Ahaz, while Ahaz had Hezekiah, who was a major Tzaddik. Then Hezekiah had Menasheh, who was a major Rasha, though he repented, and after the reign of Menashe's son Ommon, who was a Rasha, came Ommon's son Josiah, who was a major Tzaddik.

At precisely the time that the kingdom of Israel was tottering as a result of its devotion to foreign idolatry, Ahaz king of Judah felt compelled to introduce foreign idolatry into his own kingdom and into the very Temple itself. As we learn in verse 3, "he also passed his son through the fire": in other words, he gave his son over to the priests of Molech, which was considered the most serious of all the abominations of Canaan and is severely prohibited in the Torah (Lev. 20:1-5). It is said that it was Hezekiah who was passed by Ahaz through the fire. The ensuing invasion of Judah by Aram in alliance with Israel is the subject of the dramatic prophecy in Isaiah chapter 7. Verse 6 in our present chapter is of great interest because it describes how the Arameans recaptured Eilath (Eilat) at the southernmost tip of Judah 's sphere of influence and drove the YEHUDIM out. For one thing, this is the first appearance of this term in the Bible. Secondly, where the text (KRI) says "and Edomites came to Eilath", the KSIV – the word as written in the parchment scroll – is AROMIM, which not only includes the Arameans but also seems to allude to the Romans. This would provide support for interpreting the numerous Biblical and rabbinic texts that speak of Aram and its role at the end of days as alluding to Edom and their latter-day descendants. In order to ward off the Aramean and Israelite forces attacking him from the north and in the south, Ahaz turned to Tiglath Pilesser of Ashur and submitted himself to him as a subject nation (v 7), bribing him to attack Aram and Israel. That a king of Judah felt forced to resort to this showed how dire things were on all levels. Ahaz's ploy had two serious negative consequences. One was that when Ashur knocked down Aram , it simply brought the Assyrians nearer to the Israelite territories whose inhabitants they would shortly be taking into exile. Secondly, Ahaz himself went out to pay his respects to Tiglath Pilesser king of Ashur in Damascus – and discovered a new kind of (idolatrous) altar that so took his fancy that he instructed his High Priest to make a copy of it in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem itself. The remainder of our chapter describes the changes Ahaz made in the Temple in order to accommodate his idolatry.

Chapter 17 Hoshe'a ben Elah, the last king of Israel, had, like his predecessors, come to power through a violent coup (II Kings 15:25), but "he was not like the kings of Israel that were before him" (our chapter v 2). This was because for the first time since the days of Jeraboam ben Nevat, Hoshe'a ben Elah removed the armed guards that had been posted on all the borders to prevent the Ten Tribes from going up to the Temple in Jerusalem. (According to tradition, this happened on 15 th of Av, a day of salvation and holiness, see commentary on Judges ch 21; Ta'anis 30b.) However, now that there was no impediment to their going up to Jerusalem, the Israelites could no longer hang the blame for their not doing so on their kings. Despite the removal of the guards they still did not go up to Jerusalem – and this was what finally sealed the decree of exile against the Ten Tribes in the days of Hoshe'a ben Elah (Gittin 88a; Rashi and RaDaK on v 2). The exile of the Ten Tribes took place in three stages (see Rashi on v 1). The first was when Pilesser king of Ashur sent the inhabitants of the Galilee (Naftali) to Ashur (ch 15 v 29). The second came eight years later, when he exiled the tribes of Reuven and Gad. This prompted Hoshe'a ben Elah to plot with Sou king of Egypt in the hope of changing the map of the entire Middle East by overthrowing Ashur, to whom he ceased paying tribute. This brought Shalmanesser king of Ashur to arrest

and imprison him (v 4) eight years after the exile of Reuven and Gad, but the remaining leadership of Shomron continued their resistance against the Assyrians, leading Shalmanesser to lay siege to the city for three years (v 5). After the fall of Shomron, the inhabitants were sent into exile by Sargon II of Ashur. The date of the final exile of the Ten Tribes (according to the dating system of Midrash Seder Olam) was in the year 3205 (-555 B.C.E.): this was 133 years before the destruction of the First Temple and the exile of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to Babylon. The Ten Tribes were exiled to a variety of locations, some in Mesopotamia and others east of the River Tigris in the mountainous areas of Medea (located in the great mountain chain of western Iran between Hamadan and Shiraz ). What happened to them afterwards and where, if anywhere, they wandered are mysteries to which no conclusive solution has been found until today. The major part of our present chapter is in effect the "indictment" against Israel, expressing the essential "moral" of the entire history contained in the Nevi'im (Prophetic writings): Israel's possession of the Land of Israel is conditional on their observance of the commandments of God's Torah, and it was their sins – in particular their lapse into idolatry – that caused their exile from the Land. "And the Children of Israel fabricated things that were not right against HaShem their God" (v 9). Metzudas David (ad loc.) explains that "in secrecy they said things about HaShem that are not fit to repeat, for they denied His knowledge of what goes on in the world and His providential government". "For they said, HaShem does not see us, for HaShem has abandoned the earth" (Ezekiel 8:12). RaDaK in a lengthy comment on v 27 explains that the Israelites did indeed continue to believe in HaShem even though they made the golden calves. They made them only to serve as an intermediary between themselves and HaShem. Thus we see that even the most wicked of the Israelites also sought out HaShem, such as when Jeraboam begged the prophets to intercede on account of his paralyzed arm and sick baby (I Kings 13:6; 14:2), or when Ahab agreed with Elijah about the prophets of Baal (cf. also I Kings 20:42; 21:27), or when his son Jehoram saw the hand of HaShem behind the danger hanging over his mission with the kings of Judah and Edom against Moab (II Kings 3:10). It was not that they did not believe in HaShem. Their flaw was to serve intermediaries. THE SAMARITANS "And the king of Ashur brought [people] from Babylon and from Kutah… and settled them in the cities of Shomron instead of the Children of Israel …" (v 24). This was part of the Assyrian policy of population exchange. However the new inhabitants of these areas of the Holy Land did not yet know the "Law of the God of the Land" (v 26), which is God's Torah, and indeed, having seen the Israelite population expelled from their land, they apparently thought that He had been unable to protect them against the Assyrians – until they found themselves being terrorized by lions, and the King of Ashur was compelled to send an Israelite priest back from exile in order to teach them Torah. This priest allowed them to continue worshiping the gods they had brought with them from their old homelands, while instructing them in the most serious prohibitions of the Torah, such as those against incest (see RaDaK on v 27). It seems like MIDDAH KE-NEGED MIDDAH, "measure for measure", that people who mixed in fear of HaShem together with idolatry came to replace the Israelites of Shomron, who had done the same. The section in vv 24-25 on the practices of

the new residents of Shomron – the Samaritans – is important for our understanding of the roots of the deep suspicion with which the rabbis viewed them, so that even though they were GERIM ("proselytes") there were many rabbinic ordinances limiting Jewish interaction with them, until after the discovery of an idol in the image of a dove on Mount Gerizim, after which they were ruled to be AKUM, idolaters, and cast outside the boundaries of AM YISRAEL.

Chapter 18 It was at this moment of extreme national crisis – when the link of Israel with their Land and their very survival as a people were hanging in the balance following the exile of the Ten Tribes and their assimilation into the surrounding peoples – that Hezekiah succeeded his father Ahaz as king of Judah. "In HaShem the God of Israel did he trust, and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah or among those that were before him" (v 5). The wicked, idolatrous Ahaz had left his son a kingdom torn apart and largely wasted as a result of the incursions of the neighboring Philistines, Edomites and Arameans etc. Hezekiah dealt a heavy blow to the Philistines (v 8) but in the It was in the fourth year of his reign Shalmanesser king of Ashur laid siege to Shomron, and its capture and the subsequent exile of the Ten Tribes made the looming threat of Ashur against Jerusalem even more palpable and fearsome. With the courage of a David, Hezekiah made a complete turnabout from the path of his father, going so far as to drag Ahaz's very bones through the streets (56a). For the first time since the reign of Solomon, Hezekiah finally removed the BAMOTH, the "private altars" that had been forbidden ever since the inauguration of the Temple in Jerusalem, and he cut down the Ashera tree-idol and even ground up the bronze serpent made by Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8-9), which by his time had turned into the focus of a healing cult. This, together with his "hiding away the book of remedies" (Pesachim ibid.), shows that he was determined to take away the intermediaries people had relied upon (idols, medicines) and lead them on the path of pure faith in HaShem. "In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Ashur came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them" (v 14). Tens of thousands of inhabitants of Judah were then exiled to Ashur. With Sennacherib bearing down on him in Lachish to the south of Jerusalem, Hezekiah was in such danger that at first he tried to buy him off (v 14). But Hezekiah was a rebel, who wanted a free, independent Judah that would serve God. His courage in defying the Assyrian superpower should serve as an example for the true Israelites of today when they see how successive governments of the state of Israel have turned it into little more than a client state of foreign powers whose dictates are followed consistently even when they are clearly against the interest of the Jews and contrary to the purpose and destiny of the Holy Land. "And the king of Ashur sent Tartan and Rav Saris and Ravshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a heavy force to Jerusalem …" (v 17). This was a major act of psychological warfare intended to frighten and demoralize the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were effectively under siege, and to encourage them to capitulate and agree to "transfer", i.e. exile. According to tradition, Ravshakeh was himself a MESHUMAD, a "lapsed Jew" (see RaDaK on v 17, Rashi on v 22 and Sanhedrin 60a).

Standing at the walls of the city dramatically calling to Hezekiah's chief ministers to capitulate, Ravshakeh intentionally addressed them in the Judaic vernacular so that all the people could hear him as he emphasized the great might of Ashur and mocked the flimsiness of Judah's remaining army, their trust in Egypt and their very trust in HaShem. A significant faction in Jerusalem were far from trusting that Hezekiah's courageous stand against Ashur was going to be successful, and one of the three royal ministers who stood on the ramparts of Jerusalem listening to Ravshakeh – Shevna the Scribe – was in fact a fifth-columnist who later tried to open the gates of Jerusalem to the Assyrians (RaDaK on v 18; see Isaiah 22:15ff). Ravshakeh promised that if the people would give in willingly, the king of Ashur would take them "to a land like your land" (v 32) – he could not say "to a better land" because everybody listening would have known he was lying since there was no better land than Judah – not even the "land of grain and wine" he mentioned, namely N. Africa (Rashi on v 32). However, if the people were stubborn and refused his offer, Ravshakeh threatened the full might of Assyria against them, and we are left at the end of the chapter wondering how King Hezekiah will respond.

Chapter 19 On hearing from his ministers about Ravshakeh's blasphemy, King Hezekiah rent his garments over the desecration of God's Name (Rambam, Laws of Idolatry 2:10). As King David's worthy successor, Hezekiah's response to the Assyrian taunts was to turn only to God – through his own prayers and through sending to Isaiah, the prophet of the generation. Hezekiah's main plea in both his prayers and his message to the prophet was that God should avenge the affront to His Name. In response, Isaiah prophesied of Sennacheriv: "Behold I shall put a spirit in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his land and I shall cause him to fall by the sword in his land" (v 7).As Rashi (ad loc.) explains, this prophecy was fulfilled in stages. The "rumor" that took Sennacheriv from Lachish near Jerusalem down to Egypt and North Africa was that Tirhakah king of Kush had decided to stand up to Ashur's sole world superpower aspirations. Sennacheriv went to fight against Kush and its allies, Phut and Egypt , and he was victorious, taking all their treasures. (RaDaK on v 7 explains that this was so that Judah would be greatly enriched with booty when the angel finally struck Sennacheriv's army.) The next stage of the prophecy – "he will return to his land" – was fulfilled after Sennacheriv lost his entire army in one night (v 35) and fled, and the last stage – "I shall cause him to fall by the sword in his land" -- took place when his own sons killed him (v 37). Meanwhile Sennacheriv was still riding on the crest of his wave of success. From the battlefields of N. Africa, Sennacheriv – swelled with pride – sent more emissaries to Jerusalem in order to intensify his psychological warfare against the tiny city under siege. The letters they brought were full of more ranting blasphemy as Sennacheriv paraded his many victories, unaware that they had come only because God had taken him as His rod and scourge against the nations for His own holy purpose. Through Sennacheriv's policy of exiling people from their own ancestral lands and moving them to areas with which they had no connection, he "mixed up all the nations" (Berachos 28a; Yoma 54a etc.). This in itself was in preparation for the eventual exile of Judah, just as "Joseph moved people from city to city as a reminder that they had no more share in the earth, and he sent the people of one city to another… His intention was to remove the disgrace from his brothers so that people would not be able to call them exiles" (Rashi on Ex. 47:21).

Hezekiah took the letters from the hands of Sennacheriv's emissaries and after reading them, went up to the Temple, where he "spread them out before God" (v 14). Of course God knows everything, but when Hezekiah spread out the letters, he was teaching that when we pray, we should talk out everything that is on our minds and weighing in our hearts. Setting everything out before God in detail is an essential part of personal prayer. Hezekiah's prayer vv 15-19 was a request to God to sanctify His name by thwarting Sennacheriv now despite all his earlier successes over idolatrous peoples in order to show that God alone rules and not idols of wood and stone. Hezekiah's argument is somewhat comparable to that of Moses when he interceded for Israel after the sin of the golden calf begging God not to destroy them so that the Egyptians should not be able to say that He was unable to save them in the wilderness (Ex. 32:12). Isaiah's prophecy (20-34) is an eloquent affirmation that everything is in God's hands and that He raised up Sennacheriv and He will destroy him for the sake of David and Jerusalem. But Sennacheriv was still riding high. Having completed his successful campaign against Kush and its allies, he again set his sights on Jerusalem and marched to Nov (whose priests had been killed by Saul), where he was poised ready to attack the nearby capital (Rashi on v 35). The outstanding miracle whereby his overwhelming forces were simply struck down in one night by God's angel is celebrated in the songs of the Pesach Seder night, on which it took place. The sages commented that while Pharaoh had uttered his blasphemies himself so that his armies were struck down at the Red Sea by God Himself, Sennacheriv's armies were destroyed by God's angel (MAL'ACH) because Sennacheriv's blasphemies were delivered by an emissary (MAL'ACH; Sanhedrin 94b-95a). It is said that his forces' bodies were burned up from the inside but their garments were left intact around them because they were from the descendants of Noah's son Shem, as it says, "The children of Shem, Eilam and Ashur" (Gen. 1:22), and Shem together with his brother Yapheth covered the nakedness of their father with a garment (Gen. 9:23). For this reason God said to the Angel Michael, "Leave their garments and burn their souls" (Gen. 9:23; Shemos Rabba 18:5). Sennacheriv's ignominious end was his just deserts for his overweening pride and arrogance.

Chapter 20 "In those days Hezekiah became mortally sick…" (v 1). Rashi (ad loc.) states that this took place three days before the destruction of Sennaheriv's army: it greatly adds to the drama of the mortally stricken king and his "great weeping" (v 3) when we understand that it took place precisely as the overwhelming hordes of Assyrian troops were encamped outside Jerusalem poised for their final attack. It looked like the very end for Judah, the House of David and the entire enterprise that started when Israel received the Torah at Sinai. There was an influential fifth column in Jerusalem ready to open the gates to Sennecheriv. Everything depended on the king – and the prophet was telling him "you are going to die…" – "in this world" – "…and you will not live" – "in the world to come" (Rashi). A lesser person might have resigned himself to his terrible fate, but not Hezekiah, who said, "I have a tradition from the house of my father's father (=David) that even if a sharp sword is resting on a man's neck, he should not hold back from prayer" (Berachos 10a). "And he turned his face to the wall and prayed…" (v 2). Rabbi Nachman explains that the "face" is the person's inner spiritual and

intellectual powers, while the "wall" is inside the stony heart, and that if our hearts are dulled and insensitive, we must turn our minds and intellectual powers and shine them into the heart (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #39). Hezekiah prayed, "…please remember … that I did good in Your eyes" (v 3). From here we learn the power of arousing our good points in our personal prayers and Hisbodedus. The rabbis commented that Hezekiah was specifically alluding to his having put away the Book of Remedies in order to take away material means of healing so that people would have no other option but to pray, believe and trust in God for healing. Now Hezekiah himself was faced with the challenge of lifethreatening illness – and his response was to repent completely and weep with all his heart. Hezekiah's miraculous healing through the power of complete repentance is the archetype of Torah healing, and is discussed in detail in "Wings of the Sun: The Torah Healing Tradition". The Talmud (Berachos 10a) teaches that the "sin" that led to the terrible decree against Hezekiah was that, having seen with holy spirit that he was destined to have a wicked son – his successor Menasheh – he refused to marry. The prophet castigated him for delving into Torah mysteries instead of carrying out the Torah commandment to procreate. Hezekiah asked if Isaiah would agree to give him his daughter in marriage so that they might produce righteous children, but Isaiah answered that the decree had already been made, and Hezekiah undertook to have children. In the merit of his complete repentance Hezekiah was granted healing and another fifteen years were added to his life (v 5). TURNING THE CLOCK BACK While still mortally sick but having heard the prophecy that he was to live, Hezekiah asked for a sign that he would indeed be healed and ascend to the House of God on the third day (v 9). Isaiah offered him his choice of a sign: either the sun would go forward by ten degrees on the special steps that were carefully positioned to serve as a natural clock like the sundial, or else it would go backwards. Hezekiah requested the harder option: that time should go backwards so as to have a tenhour longer day (v 11) and the prophet called out to God, who sent the sign. It is said that on the day Hezekiah's idolatrous father Ahaz had died, the sun set ten hours early to leave no time for any eulogies, and now, to compensate, it set ten hours later. Perhaps the miracle of time stopping still to make a longer day was a sign of the extra time Hezekiah was given to live and strengthen Judah in preparation for the decree of the destruction of the Temple and the exile to Babylon, which came about as the end result of his son Menasheh's idolatry in Jerusalem. The decree was irrevocable, but in Hezekiah's fifteen years of grace he was able to "stop the clock" for the time being, as it were, in order to continue with his spiritual revival in Judah. ENTER BABYLON Babylon, the very cradle of "civilization" in the era after Noah's flood (Genesis ch 11), was among the cities subject to Ashur at the height of its power (II Kings 14:24). The destruction of Sennacheriv's army at the gates of Jerusalem brought about the downfall of the Assyrian empire, enabling Babylon to advance to the center of the world stage. Babylon was destined to be the rod of chastisement that would complete the moralistic story of the Prophets with the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah. Everything had started in Babylon. Abraham had

gone out from Babylon and the "furnace of the Kasdim" in search of the Promised Land, and it was to Babylon that Judah would have to return in order to prove that it is possible to observe and study the Torah even in exile. Hezekiah's miraculous recovery was major news in the world of his time – it is said that on the day that time stopped still, the king of Babylon got up from his long post-breakfast/lunch sleep to find that it was morning. He thought it was already the next morning and was furious with his attendants for having let him sleep for so long, until they told him that the sun had gone backwards through the will of the God of Hezekiah (Psikta 14; Rashi on v 12). It was on hearing this that the Babylonian king Brodach Baladan ben Baladan (not to be confused with Bin Laden) sent greetings to Hezekiah (v 12). In the latter's great exhilaration in the aftermath of his own miraculous healing and the sensational downfall of Sennacheriv's army, both of which took place on the same day, he very injudiciously took his exotic Babylonian visitors on a detailed tour of all his treasure-houses and inside the Temple itself, where he even opened up the Ark of the Covenant and showed them the Tablets of Stone (Rashi on v 13). It is most unwise to show all one's treasures to unknown strangers, and Hezekiah's indiscretion planted the seeds of the Babylonian appetite for the Temple treasures that resulted in their being looted when it was destroyed.

Chapter 21 KING MENASHEH The account of King Menasheh and his 55 year reign as presented in our present chapter is one of unmitigated negativity, making it appear that he undid everything accomplished by his father King Hezekiah in the latter's whole-hearted return to the authentic Davidic pathway. Menasheh is portrayed as a voracious idolater who introduced every possible kind of foreign idolatry into Jerusalem and into the very Temple itself, including not only the Baal and Asherah worship followed by Ahab but all the "abominations of Canaan", including Molech-worship and all the different kinds of forbidden divination (v 6). The divine warnings to Menasheh that the consequent fate of Jerusalem would be one that would make the ears of all who heard it tingle (v 12) were delivered by the prophets Nahum and Habakuk (Rashi on v 10), but the voice of Isaiah was silenced, because Menasheh had him killed (Sanhedrin 103b). Thus among Menasheh's crimes was that "he spilled very much innocent blood until it filled Jerusalem from one end to the other (=PEH LA PEH, lit. 'mouth to mouth'" (v 16). In the words of Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10:2): "But how could any mortal fill Jerusalem with innocent blood from one end to the other? What this verse means is that he killed Isaiah, who was the equivalent to Moses, of whom it is said 'Mouth to mouth (PEH EL PEH) shall I speak with him' (Numbers 12:8)". Yet in spite of the unmitigated negativity of our present chapter, we should avoid jumping to hasty conclusions about Menasheh. We should take a lesson from Rav Ashi, the Babylonian Amora who was the redactor of the Talmud Bavli. One day he was teaching his students the Mishnaic chapter "HELEK" (Sanhedrin ch 10) discussing those who do and do not have a share in the world to come. Leaving off the day's class just before Mishneh 2, which lists the three kings who have no share in the world to come (Jeraboam, Ahab, and, according to one opinion, King

Menasheh), Rav Ashi concluded by saying, "And tomorrow we'll start off with our friends (HAVERIM)" referring to the kings as if they were the same kind of people as Rav Ashi and his fellow scholars. That night King Menasheh appeared to Rav Ashi in a dream and said: "So you call us your friends and the friends of your father? Let me ask you where on the loaf should one cut when making HA-MOTZEE (the blessing over bread)?" "I don't know," replied Rav Ashi. "You never learned where to cut the bread when you make HA-MOTZEE and you call us your friends? You cut it where the crust is baked the most..." "Then why did you worship idols" asked Rav Ashi. "If you had been there," replied King Menasheh, "you would have taken hold of the bottom of your robe and come running after me" (Sanhedrin 102b). In that mishneh, Rabbi Yehudah dissents from the opinion that King Menasheh had no world to come on the grounds that the more detailed account of his reign in II Chronicles chapter 33 tells us that he repented. Menasheh was undoubtedly taught Torah by his father Hezekiah, and he heard the dire warnings of the prophets of his day, yet nothing influenced him to repent except suffering. The remaining Assyrian armies came to Jerusalem and captured him, taking him to Babylon where they put him in a copper pot full of holes and lit an enormous furnace underneath. Targum on II Chronicles 33:12-13 tells how after calling out to all his idolatrous gods in vain, Menasheh finally cried out in pain to HaShem, and despite the protests of the angels, God then cut a tunnel beneath the throne of glory to hear and accept his repentance and prayer. The remaining narrative in Chronicles tells how Menasheh was restored to the kingship in Jerusalem , where he repented, removed his idols from the Temple , and told the inhabitants of Judah to serve HaShem the God of Israel. "And Menasheh knew that HaShem is the God" (II Chronicles 33:13). However, Menasheh's son King Amon, with the story of whose two-year reign our chapter concludes, reverted to the ways of the old Menasheh and not only worshipped all his idols but also burned the Torah and committed incest with his own mother (Sanhedrin 103:6).

Chapter 22 After the evil of Menasheh and Amon, the reign of King Josiah comes as the last burst of shining light before the inhabitants of Judah followed the Ten Tribes into exile and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed. The reign and the very name of the saintly Josiah had been prophesied at the very beginning of the split between Judah and the Ten Tribes, when Jeraboam was sacrificing on his idolatrous altar and God's prophet called to the altar saying, "Behold a son is born to the house of David, Josiah is his name…" (I Kings 13:2). How the eight-year old Josiah was able to turn from the corrupt ways of his evil father and grandfather is unknown. Perhaps the penitent Menasheh (who died when Josiah was six) saw his wayward son Amon and tried to do everything he could to inculcate in his little grandchild, third in line to the throne, the truth of HaShem as Menasheh now knew it. Josiah's restoration of the Temple structure is reminiscent of that of his ancestor, King Joash (II Kings ch 12), the Hebrew letters of whose name are contained in the letters of the name YOSHIAHU (="Joash"). Joash's restoration of the Temple had taken place 224 years earlier (RaDaK on v 4 of our present chapter). Since that time the evil kings (such as Joash's son Ahaz and Menasheh) had seriously modified

and damaged the original Temple structure for idolatrous purposes, and even the saintly Hezekiah cut down the golden doors of the Sanctuary to pay off Sennacherib (II Kings 18:16). This was why the Temple was badly in need of repair, and its restoration was emblematic of the tremendous spiritual revival that occurred under Josiah, exemplified by the great national Passover celebration he held in Jerusalem, as described in II Kings:21ff and II Chronicles ch 35. Our present chapter describes how, in the course of the Temple renovations the High Priest Hilkiah told the king's scribe, "I have found the scroll of the Torah in the House of HaShem…" The "discovery" of this scroll has provided grist for the mills of Bible commentators of all colors, not least those who have set themselves up as the "Bible Critics", who gleefully point to this chapter in support of their claims that the Five Books of Moses were (HAS VE-SHALOM) composed by a variety of later writers to support their own interests, and that the scroll of Deuteronomy with its dire warnings of destruction and exile which the priests now sent to the naïve young king was in fact a scam because the priests were simply interested in keeping the Temple going for their own sake. To lovers of the Torah who revere and caress every letter of the sacred text in their search for God's truth, these claims are patently absurd, as well as being negated by the very text of the Book of Kings, where when King Amatziah killed the assassins of his father Joash, he specifically did not kill their children "as is written in the book of the Torah of Moses that HaShem commanded saying, fathers shall not die because of their children and children shall not die because of their fathers…" (II Kings 14:6). The words of Moses quoted here appear precisely in the book of Deuteronomy (24:16), which was in the possession of King Amatziah two hundred years before its "discovery" in the time of Josiah. The authentic Torah commentators explain that because Ahaz and some of the later wicked kings actually burned Torah scrolls, the priests were concerned that they might try to seize the Torah scroll that lay by the side of the Ark of the Covenant, which Moses had written from the mouth of God, and for this reason they hid it away. Later generations no longer knew where it was until it was discovered during the Temple renovations under Josiah (Metzudas David on v 8; cf. RaDaK at length ad loc.). Our sages had the tradition that the scroll found now in the Temple was rolled up so that it opened at the curse in Deuteronomy 28:36: "HaShem will take you and the king that you shall set up over you to a people that you did not know…" (Yoma 52b). Hearing the reading of the curses of Deuteronomy so moved the tender young Josiah that he sent to Huldah the Prophetess. The question is asked why he sent to her since the Tzaddik of the Generation was now the prophet Jeremiah, who began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign, five years before the discovery of the scroll (see v 3). According to some opinions, Jeremiah was then absent from Jerusalem on his mission to try to restore the Ten Tribes, some of whom he did indeed succeed in bringing home to the Land of Israel. Others say that Josiah sent to Huldah because women are more compassionate (Megillah 14b). Hulda was one of the descendants of Rahab the harlot (Joshua ch 2ff). The "second quarter" where Huldah sat in Jerusalem – BA-MISHNEH (v 14 of our present chapter) – was outside the gate of the Temple courtyard that was called after her (Middos 1:3), where she taught the MISHNEH (Oral Law) to the elders of the generation (Rashi on v 14). Until today the bricked up gate in the southern wall of

the Temple Mount is called Hulda's Gate, and those who meditate near this holy spot may feel something of the spirit of the ancient prophetess. With all her compassion, Hulda could not hide the decree of doom and destruction hanging over Judah and Jerusalem, but could only assure the king that it would not be fulfilled in his days. The wise, saintly king took her message to heart. Although it is not recorded here, he took the precaution of hiding away the Ark of the Covenant and the Torah scroll of Moses that lay with it (together with the flask of the Manna and Aaron's rod) in the underground channels that Solomon had ingeniously built into the structure of the Temple Mount (see II Chronicles 35:3 and Yoma 52b).

Chapter 23 * * * II Kings 23:1-9 and 21-25 are read as the Haftara in Diaspora communities on the Second Day of Pesach * * * The great cleansing performed by Josiah in the Temple, Jerusalem and its environs shows the extent of the proliferation of idolatry in Judah in the previous generations. As discussed in a number of earlier commentaries, the idolatries involved were not just a matter of prostrating to some piece of wood or stone: they were backed up by elaborate theologies and sophisticated astrology, divination, occult arts etc. We get a picture of Jerusalem in the period just before Josiah as a kind of international center of pantheistic multiculturalism. Our present chapter enumerates virtually every kind of idolatry and divination proscribed in Torah sources. From v 13 we see that the cult centers built around Jerusalem by Solomon's wives were still there. Thus the flaw of idolatry that led to the destruction of the Temple had its roots in the foreign marriages of the very king who built it, even if his original intention was to bring the realm of the unholy under the dominion of the holy. All these idolatrous cult centers were destroyed by Josiah in a mission of national cleansing that even took him to Beit El and Shomron, the main idolatrous centers of the fallen kingdom of Israel. Josiah's destruction of the altar of Beit El and its priests was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Ido when Jeraboam first sacrificed there (I Kings 13:2) and the false prophet who detained Ido after his mission was wise to ask to be buried next to him, as his bones were thus saved from being dug up and burned in the merit of Ido (ibid. vv 31-2; our chapter vv 17-18). After all this cleansing, King Josiah held a jubilant Pesach in Jerusalem the like of which had not been seen since the days of Samuel prior to the division of the kingdom. Josiah struck a Covenant with the people to serve God faithfully and follow His commandments (v 3). Yet after all this: "But HaShem did not turn from the burning of His great anger against Judah … over all the provocations with which Menasheh provoked Him" (v 26). Why did He not when under Josiah the people renewed the Covenant with God? In the words of Metzudas David (ad loc): "Although Josiah repented with all his heart and taught the people the ways of HaShem, secretly the people still held to the provocations of Menasheh, wanting to serve idols just like him." JOSIAH AGAINST PHARAOH NECHO The campaign against Pharaoh Necho by Josiah was a literally fatal error which had the same effect as the various schemes based on mistaken calculations that were employed by the last kings of Judah who succeeded him, all of which simply brought the destined exile closer.

By the closing years of Josiah's reign, the empire of Ashur was crumbling, and initially the king of Judah showed great skill in taking advantage of the situation, expanding the boundaries of his kingdom until in his eighteenth year he was able to take his campaign of cleansing from idolatry up to Shomron itself, which had previously been an Assyrian client state, and he ruled over all of the Land of Israel (see II Chron. 34:33). He may also have held sway over territories east of the River Jordan, as had Hezekiah in his time. The decline of Ashur also filled Josiah's powerful southern neighbor Egypt with renewed imperial aspirations. Egypt hoped that by lending a hand to the embattled Assyrians against the rising star of Babylon, she herself would be able to establish her own supremacy over the entire swathe of territory west of the Euphrates all the way to Egypt (see Ch 24 v 7). Pharaoh Necho wanted to strike down the Babylonians at Kharkhemish (today called Jerablus), a strategic stronghold in the upper valley of the Euphrates near the present-day Syrian-Turkish border about 100 km north east of Aleppo. In order to advance to Kharkhemish, Pharaoh Necho had to march his troops all the way along the coastal plain of the Land of Israel before turning east some way south of Haifa in order to make his way inland and up into Syria. The rabbis stated that the reason why the saintly King Josiah went out to try to stop him was because he sought to bring the Land of Israel to a messianic state of peace where the promise would be fulfilled: "And no sword shall pass through your Land…" (Leviticus 26:6). Josiah interpreted this verse to mean not only that no enemy would come up against Israel but also that no foreign army would pass through the Land even if they were only on their way elsewhere (see RaDaK on v 29). In order to intercept Pharaoh Necho as he made his push from Israel's coastal strip inland, Josiah went up to Megiddo, which is in the hills running along the south side of Emek Yizre'el (by Route 65 about halfway between Um Al-Fahm and Afula). There Josiah met his death, which was a disaster for Judah as he had no worthy, righteous successor. Josiah's death was mourned in a special elegy composed by the prophet Jeremiah (II Chron. 35:25; Lamentations ch 3). Initially the people of Judah chose Yeho-ahaz to succeed Josiah even though he was not his oldest son. The reason they ANOINTED him (v 30) was precisely because he had at least one rival with stronger claims to the throne: it may be that the leaders of Judah hoped that Yeho-ahaz would be a more assertive leader on the international stage than his older brother. Pharaoh Necho meanwhile had been temporarily successful at Kharkhemish and came back to Egypt via Israel, where he installed Yeho-ahaz's older brother Elyakim as king, renaming him Yeho-yakim. However, Egypt retained her influence for no more than four years, after which Nebuchadnezzar struck Pharaoh, who thereafter did not any more go out of his land, as we read in the following chapter.

Chapter 24 The last kings of Judah appear to have been divinely inspired to misread the new geopolitical reality that was taking shape with the decline of Assyria, believing that they could defy the rising star of Babylon by depending on Egypt, which also wanted to thwart Babylon. In this way they deafened their ears to the message of Jeremiah and the other prophets, who were consistently warning not to depend on the "broken reed" of Egypt and not to meddle in international politics but rather to accept the divine decree of exile and submit to Babylon (see Jeremiah ch 25). The

prophets also emphasized that if the king swore allegiance to a foreign power with an oath in God's Name, he was obliged to keep his oath and forbidden to scheme and rebel, which would be a desecration of the Name. "But by the mouth of God it was against Judah, to remove him from before Him…" (v 3). Pharaoh Necho was struck by Nebuchadnezzar and could not help Judah even if he had ever wanted to. Yeho-yakim plotted against Nebuchadnezzar, who captured him to take him to Babylon. During the journey Yeho-ahaz was tortured and died. He was succeeded by his son Yeho-yachin, but the latter ruled no more than three months in Jerusalem before being taken into exile by the Babylonians together with a total of ten thousand "mighty warriors" (v 14) consisting of three thousand of the choicest members of the tribe of Judah (including the greatest sages and scholars, see Rashi ad loc.) and seven thousand members of Benjamin and the other Ten Tribes who had returned from exile under Sennacheriv. The exile of King Yeho-yachin, also known as Yehoniah, is the exile mentioned in Megillas Esther (2:6) which eventually brought Mordechai and Esther to Shushan. This was eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple. Those who accepted the divine decree and moved to Babylon did so with dignity and soon succeeded in establishing thriving communities devoted to Torah and prayer in their place of exile. As king over those who remained in Judah (where the Temple still stood for the moment) Nebuchadnezzar now appointed Yeho-achin's UNCLE, who was the son of Josiah and a brother of the late king Yeho-ahaz (see RaDaK at length on II Kings 23:29). The Babylonian king hoped that the new king would remain loyal, changing his name to TZIDKIYAHU as if to say, "God will justifiably exact judgment against you if you rebel against me". The new king swore allegiance, but even as he did so he was already plotting to rebel.

Chapter 25 The grim closing chapter of the Book of Kings laconically records stage by stage the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, the cruel fate of Tzidkiyahu king of Judah and other leading figures of the priesthood and royal court, the exile of most of the remaining population of Judea to Babylon and the final collapse of the last vestiges of Judean independence with the assassination of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Our present text is supplemented by the parallel account in II Chronicles ch 36 and in particular by the detailed narrative in Jeremiah chs 37-44 & 52, as well as in various passages in Ezekiel, who prophesied in Babylon during the period of the destruction of the First Temple. The full horror of the siege and capture of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile is graphically expressed in Lamentations and its accompanying midrashim as well as in many passages in the KINOS ("mourning dirges") recited on the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple on Tisha Be-Av (9 th of the month of Av, July-August). Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of Jerusalem "in the tenth month on the tenth of the month" (v 1). This is commemorated by the Fast of the 10 th Teves (December-January), the tenth month counting from Nissan. In verse 4 we learn that the city walls were breached "on the ninth of the month", and in Jeremiah 52:6 we learn that this was in the fourth month (=Tammuz, July). The Jerusalem Talmud (Ta'anis 4) brings an opinion that as a result of the great distress and confusion at that time, the actual date was confused, and that the

breach in the city walls in fact took place on 17 th Tammuz, the same date as the breach in the walls of Jerusalem by the Romans in the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. These events are thus commemorated in the fast of 17 th Tammuz. Rashi on v 4 tells us that King Tzidkiyahu had a secret tunnel that led from his house to the plains of Jericho through which he tried to flee. However the Holy One blessed be He arranged that a deer passed by over the opening of the cave outside the city, and when some Babylonian troops chased after the deer they saw the king and captured him, fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel, "And I shall spread My net upon him and he will be caught in My trap" (Ezekiel 12:13). Although we read in the previous chapter that Tzidkiyahu "did evil in the eyes of HaShem" (II Kings 24:19), the rabbis said that in fact Tzidkiyahu was the saving grace of his generation: "The Holy One blessed be He wanted to return the whole world to formlessness and void on account of the generation of Tzidkiyahu, but when he looked at Tzidkiyahu He calmed down. Then why does it say that 'he did evil in God's eyes'? Because he had the power to protest against what the people of his generation were doing but he failed to do so" (Sanhedrin 103a). "And in the fifth month on the seventh of the month… he burned the House of God…" (vv 8-9). The fifth month is Av. The parallel account in Jeremiah (52:12) states that the burning of the Temple took place on the TENTH of the month of Av. The rabbis resolved the discrepancy by explaining that the Babylonians entered the Sanctuary on the 7 th Av and then ate, drank and desecrated and damaged the Temple until the late afternoon of the 9 th , when they set it on fire, and it kept on burning until it was completely destroyed on the 10 th (Taanis 29a). Since the moment when the Temple was actually set on fire was the most serious, the fast commemorating its destruction was fixed on the 9 th Av. "And every GREAT house he burned with fire" (v 9): this refers to the study halls and synagogues of Jerusalem, which were destroyed together with everything else (Rashi ad loc.) Many of the Temple treasures had already been looted in earlier raids (II Kings 24:13), including the gold with which Solomon had overlaid the carved wood paneling that covered the Temple walls on the interior. The account of the bronze vessels that were now looted, including Solomon's pool and the massive pillars with their ornate capitals that flanked the entrance to the Sanctuary Vestibule (OOLAM) echoes the account of how these glorious adornments were originally made by Hiram four centuries earlier (I Kings ch 7) in order to enhance our understanding of the magnitude of the disaster that now struck. Unlike the Assyrians, the Babylonians did not go in for population EXCHANGE, but simply exiled most of the Judean population to Babylon without importing other peoples to occupy their former lands. Thus Judea was mostly left barren and empty, except for "the poor of the land" who were left to be "vine-dressers and fieldworkers" (v 12). According to the rabbis, these "vine-dressers" were in fact left to collect the luxury balsam oil from Eyn Gedi and the surrounding areas, while the "field-workers" continued to harvest the HILAZON snails whose blood was used in the manufacture of TECHEILES blue-dye from the coastal strip from Tyre to Haifa (Shabbos 26a). The Babylonians left Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the remaining Jewish population in Judea. Gedaliah, who was a Tzaddik, followed the policy endorsed by the prophets of accepting the decree of subjugation to Babylon and collaborating with the occupying power. Because of this he was assassinated by those who

stubbornly persisted in the belief that they could still fight for Judean independence. His assassination, which is described in greater detail in Jeremiah and which led to the final collapse of the last vestige of Jewish semi-independence in Judea, is commemorated annually by the Fast of Gedaliah on the 3 rd of Tishri (the seventh month, September), immediately following the two-day Rosh HaShanah festival. Our present chapter thus enumerates all the events that are commemorated in the four annual fasts relating to the destruction of the Temple: 17 Tammuz, 9 Av, 3 Tishri and 10 Teves. Only in the closing verses of this chapter (vv 27-30) is there any relief from the overall gloom with the account of how immediately after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, his son and successor Eveel Merodokh released Yeho-yachin (who had been exiled and deposed from the throne of Judah in favor of Tzidkiyahu) from prison. The Babylonian king gave Yeho-yachin food from his table. Thus the very curse that King David had put on his commander-in-chief Joab – that his descendants would be lacking in bread – was fulfilled on David's own descendant, who depended for bread on the king of Babylon (Sanhedrin 48b). May we speedily see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah that "the fast of the fourth and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth (months) will be for rejoicing and happiness for the House of Judah" (Zechariah 8:19).

Book of Isaiah THE PROPHET ISAIAH Isaiah's father Amotz was himself a prophet. According to rabbinic tradition, Amotz was the brother of King Amatziahu (son of King Jo'ash) of Judah (Megillah 10b), and thus Isaiah was a scion of the royal House of David. His Hebrew name Yishayahu (="God will save") signifies the promise of salvation and consolation that is the main theme of his prophecies. Isaiah's wife's name is unknown: she is simply referred to as "the prophetess" (Is. 8:3). A number of their children are mentioned in our texts and they were given names alluding to various aspects of Israel 's national destiny (Is. 7:3; 7:14; 8:3). Isaiah was one of the key links in the chain of the Torah tradition: he received it from the prophet Amos and transmitted it in turn to the prophet Micah (Rambam, Introduction to Mishneh Torah). Isaiah's prophetic ministry began on the day of the great "quake" when King Uzziah entered the Temple Sanctuary to try to offer incense (see Rashi on Isaiah 6:1 and on Amos 1:1) and continued throughout the reigns of Yotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah into the reign of Menasheh (who killed him, Yevamos 49b). Isaiah prophesied for longer than all the other prophets and is said to have lived until the age of 120. He mainly prophesied before the king and his ministers. He is considered the greatest of the prophets (Yalkut Shimoni). Isaiah saw all that Ezekiel saw in his prophecy of the Divine Chariot, but while Ezekiel was like a simple villager who once saw the king (because he prophesied outside the land of Israel) and was so impressed that he told all the details, Isaiah was like a man from the great capital (he prophesied in Israel): being accustomed to seeing royalty, he was less overwhelmed by what he saw (Chagigah 13b). In Isaiah's time the people were far from Torah observance, and King Ahaz energetically promoted idolatry and licentiousness. There were no limits on people's maltreatment of one another and corruption was rife. Isaiah repeatedly warned and rebuked the people, asking them to remember God's great goodness to Israel in each generation. Although he delivered many prophecies relating to the surrounding gentile nations and their destined destruction, the majority of his prophecies consist of consolation to Israel. All the harsh prophecies that Jeremiah delivered against Israel were preceded and sweetened in advance by Isaiah's prophecies of salvation (Eichah Rabbah 1). "What was unique about Isaiah causing him to prophesy more than all the other prophets about Israel's destined future wellbeing? It was because he accepted the kingship of heaven upon himself with greater joy than the other prophets" (Tanna d'vei Eliahu 16).

Chapter 1 Although chosen as the introduction to his book, the "vision" contained in this first chapter was not Isaiah's first prophecy – that is contained in chapter 6 (see Rashi on verse 1 of our present chapter and on Isaiah 6:1). This opening prophecy was given during the reign of Hezekiah, after the Ten Tribes had already gone into exile, as indicated by the fact that it is addressed to Judah and Jerusalem (Rashi on v 1).

Of the four kings mentioned in the first verse, only Ahaz was truly wicked, yet even in the reigns of the other righteous kings such as Yotham, "the people still acted corruptly" (II Chron. 27:2) and they were not whole-hearted with HaShem. For this reason Isaiah opened his rebuke with phrasing closely echoing that of Moses' last rebuke to Israel, "HA-AZEENU! Give ear O heavens… and listen O earth…" (Deut. 32:1). The only difference is that Isaiah switched around the two verbs, calling on the heavens to LISTEN and the earth to GIVE EAR. Thus both the heavens and the earth had each heard both expressions and would be able to testify on Israel's day of calamity that the people had been duly warned (see Rashi on v 2). "I have reared and brought up children but they have rebelled against Me" (v 2). God has remained faithful to Israel, elevating them above the other nations, but they have failed to reciprocate and act accordingly. An ox knows its owner and does not refuse to plow; a donkey knows who feeds it and does not refuse to carry its load. But although Israel was "acquired" and became "owned" by God through His redeeming them from Egypt, and although they were fed by Him with manna in the wilderness, they did not show gratitude by observing His commandments (see Rashi on v 3). The people have been repeatedly smitten yet continue to repeat all the deeds that have brought their blows upon them (Rashi on v 5). Vv 5-8 depict the national malady in terms of an illness that has left the entire organism seething with painful wounds that have not been softened with soothing oil – i.e. even the merest hint of some thought of repentance was absent from people's hearts (Rashi on v 6). "Your land is desolate, your cities have been burned with fire…" (v 7). The reign of King Ahaz in particular had been catastrophic for Judah, which was ravaged by the armies of Israel and Aram , while the Edomites attacked from the south east and the Philistines captured the major towns in the lowlands (II Chron. vv 5-7 & 17-18 etc.). Likewise in our times, following the 1967 Six Day War and the return to Israeli sovereignty of extensive territories making up the Promised Land, the secularist orientation of the country's ruling elite has led to the unilateral surrender of most of these territories, so that "as for your land, strangers devour it in your presence" (v 7). As a result "the daughter of Zion" – the few remaining faithful Jews – have been left abandoned and isolated (v 8). Were it not for God's mercy, the entire nation would have suffered the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (v 9). "Hear the word of HaShem, captains of Sodom … people of Gomorrah" (v 10). The prophet is complaining that the people have become as corrupt as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were legendary for their wickedness. "Why do I need the multitude of your sacrifices…?" (v 11). At the same time as the people were sacrificing at their own private altars and cult centers, they continued bringing sacrifices to the Holy Temple on the festivals and new moons etc. In verses 11-15 the prophet warns the people that the outward rote observance of the Temple sacrificial rituals is meaningless and unacceptable to God without inner devotion and penitence. "My Soul hates YOUR new moons and festivals" (v 14): the people did not celebrate them in the name of HaShem but for their own personal gratification. [Rabbi Nachman once quoted this verse to his followers when criticizing them for holding too many festive gatherings when they should have been devoting themselves to prayer and Torah study! Siach Sarfey Kodesh.] "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean…" (v 16). Verses 16-18 contain ten expressions of purification and self-correction, corresponding to the Ten Days of Penitence from Rosh HaShanah to Yom Kippur and to the ten verses relating to

Kingship, Remembrance and the sounding of the Shofar recited in the New Year service (Rashi on v 16). "Come now and let us reason together…" (v 18) – "you and Me, so that we will know who has acted badly to whom, and if it is you who have acted badly towards Me, I still give you hope that you may repent" (Rashi ad loc.). "But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of HaShem has spoken" (v 20) – "And where did He speak? 'And I shall bring the sword against you' (Leviticus 26:25; Rashi on verse 20 of our present chapter). Vv 21-23 depict the total corruption of justice that had become prevalent in the city that was intended to be full of justice. Once it could be said that "righteousness dwells in it" (v 21) – because "the morning Temple sacrifice atoned for the sins of the previous night while the afternoon sacrifice atoned for those of the day" (Rashi ad loc.). But now orphans were unable to persuade the judges to hear their cause, and as a result the case of the widow never even reached the judges at all – because having heard from the orphans how futile their efforts had been, the widow would not even attempt to gain a hearing (see Rashi on v 23). Likewise today many feel that the legal system has become so cumbersome that it is futile to seek justice. Even as the prophet warns that God will take vengeance on His enemies, he promises that God will eventually restore Israel's true judges and counselors (vv 25-26). The phraseology of our thrice-daily repeated prayer in the twelfth blessing of SHMONAH ESRAY, "restore our judges…" is based upon verse 26. "Zion will be redeemed with justice and her penitents with charity" (v 27). Wealth, military power and the like cannot bring about Israel's redemption, but only justice, penitence and charity! Isaiah chapter 1 vv 1-27 is read as the Haftara on Parshas Devarim on the Shabbos before Tisha B'Av, which is known as Shabbos Chazon ("Shabbos of the Vision") after the first Hebrew word of the text.

Chapter 2 "And it shall be at the end of days that the mountain of HaShem 's House shall be established on the top of the mountains…" (v 2). Isaiah immediately follows his prophecies of harsh retribution in the previous chapter with this beautiful consolatory vision of the future restoration, which is also prophesied in nearly the exact same phraseology in the prophecy of Isaiah's disciple Micah (4:1ff, see RaDaK ad loc.). "Wherever it says, 'At the end of days', this refers to the days of Mashiach" (RaDaK on verse 2 of our present text). "…HaShem's House will be established on the top of the MOUNTAINS" (v 2). The simple meaning is that the Temple Mount will be exalted above all other mountains and all the nations will give it honor and come there to serve God instead of the gods they used to serve on all the high mountains (Metzudas David). However the Midrash says that in time to come God will bring Mount Sinai, Tabor and Carmel together and build the Temple upon them (Psikta), implying that the Temple is bound up conceptually with the Giving of the Torah at Sinai and the miracles performed for Deborah and Barak at Mt Tabor and for Elijah on Mt Carmel.

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of HaShem , to the House of the God of JACOB" (V 3). The reason why the Temple is particularly associated with Jacob rather than Abraham and Isaac is discussed at length in The House on the Mountain by Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum based on Pesachim 88a). "And he shall judge between the nations and decide among many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares…" (v 4). "The judge will be King Mashiach: If any war or claim arises between one nation and another, they will come before King Mashiach for judgment because he will be master over all the nations and he will decide between them and determine who is at fault. For this reason there will no longer be any war between one nation and another, because he will make peace between them and they will not need weapons and they will break them down in order to make agricultural implements" (RaDaK on v 4). Following this prophecy of Israel's glorious future, Isaiah returns to his reproof to the nation (vv 5-8). The people have turned to foreign religions and taken foreign wives, fathering alien children who take up all their attention (v 6). They are obsessed with the pursuit of wealth and military might (v 7). Vv 9ff evoke God's coming Day of Judgment, when all the haughty and arrogant will be cast down. "This will be in the days of Mashiach, when all the nations will gather together to fight against Jerusalem, and then they will see that neither their silver or gold nor their might nor the multitude of their forces will avail them" (RaDaK on v 9). "And HaShem alone shall be exalted on that day" (v 17) – "The world will last for six thousand years, and for one thousand years it will be desolate, as it says, 'And HaShem alone shall be exalted on that day'" (Talmud Rosh HaShanah 31a). "And the idols shall utterly be abolished" (v 18). RaDaK (ad loc.) comments: "Even though idolatry has already ceased among the majority of nations today, there are still people who worship idols in the Far East … but in the days of Mashiach all the idols will be completely destroyed." "And they shall go into the holes in the rocks and the caves of the earth for fear of HaShem and for the glory of His majesty…" (v 19). On the fearful Day of Judgment, people will be so ashamed of their lifelong obsession with materialism that they will seek to hide themselves away. "On that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold" (v 20): with the coming of Mashiach, people will understand that wealth is of no importance, because only Torah and good deeds are of enduring value.

Chapter 3 "For behold, the Master, HaShem of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff…" (v 1). RaDaK (ad loc.) explains: "The previous section spoke of the retribution against the wicked and how they will be destroyed in the days of Melech HaMashiach. The new section tells how He will now [i.e. soon, prior to the days of Mashiach] carry out judgment against the wicked in Jerusalem and Judah, and how all the great people among them will die through hunger or the sword, leaving only the young and foolish. The prophet calls God 'the Master' in order to inform them that He is in control and that it is in His hands to destroy and to build, to give satisfaction or to make people hungry, but the wicked do not think that He is the Master and that He watches over their deeds, for if they did they would not sin and they would not go beyond the bounds of His commandments."

Vv 1-3 depict the coming loss of all the leaders and sages of Judah leaving only fools and jesters to rule over them (v 4) which will destroy all the norms of respect for elders and worthy members of the community (v 5). The dearth of true leaders will cause people to turn to anyone wearing a smart coat appealing to him to lead them (v 6), but he himself will know that he is unworthy: "I will not be a healer for in my house is neither bread nor clothing" (v 7). The Talmud darshens this reply as indicating his admission that he was never a regular student in the Beith Midrash and therefore knows neither Bible nor Mishneh nor Gemara – and therefore lacks all the qualifications for true leadership (Shabbos 120a). [Many feel that Israel today suffers from a terrible dearth of quality leaders and wonder which of the current candidates for leadership could possibly take the nation out of its predicament.] The collapse of the social fabric and the crisis of leadership are the results of the people's rebellion against HaShem in turning from His Torah (v 8). They do not even deny their sins (v 9). The prophet cries out to them to correct the distortions in their speech whereby "they call evil good and good evil" (see Isaiah 5:20): instead they should declare and affirm that it is the righteous who are good and who will eat the fruits of their works (verse 10 in our present chapter) while the evil of the wicked will wreak vengeance upon them (v 11). But the people have turned everything upside down, allowing children and women to rule over them, making all their pathways crooked (v 12). These ruling women (NASHIM), on whom the prophet elaborates later in this chapter (vv 15ff), may literally be women [as in Israel today, where in the tradition of Golda Meir, the current speaker of the Knesset, the Foreign Minister and even the President of the Supreme Court are all women, in defiance of Torah law, Rambam, Hilchos Melochim 1:5]. Alternatively, these NASHIM are NOSHIM, "those who have slipped" (cf. Gen. 32:32), i.e. men who have fallen from Torah observance (see Rashi and Targum Yonasan ad loc.). The prophet continues to put forward God's complaints against the corrupt leadership that has consumed the "vineyard" – i.e. the rest of the people, robbing the poor in their very homes (vv 14-15). His main complaint is that "the daughters of Zion are haughty…", strutting with the utmost immodesty and every kind of affectation in order to allure new partners in their immorality (v 16). Because of this God will smite them on the crown with leprosy (v 17) and remove all their ornaments and fancy clothing (vv 18-24). According to rabbinic tradition (Midrash Rabbah Shemos 41:5), verses 18-24 enumerate twenty-four kinds of ornaments with which it was customary to bedeck brides, and these twenty-four kinds of ornaments in turn correspond to the twentyfour books of the Bible, which are the "ornaments" of those Torah sages who are fully familiar with them. [The 24 books of the Bible are: the 5 books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve, the 5 Megilloth, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles.] The association of the bridal ornaments with the books of Biblical wisdom suggests that the criticism of the prophet against the "daughters of Zion" who used their ornaments for pompous self-aggrandizement are directed against the kind of Torah scholars who use their knowledge and proficiency as a "sword of arrogance" in order to rule over others. These self-seeking scholars cause the corruption of leadership, which in turn brings immorality (see Likutey Moharan II, 5:5-6). Isaiah prophesies that "on that day" (v 18) – i.e. "in time to come, when the Holy One blessed be He will come to restore Israel to His service" (Rashi ad loc.) God will remove all these ornaments of pride and sweep away this entire false leadership (vv 25ff).

Chapter 4 Verse 1 of Chapter four is a direct continuation of the previous section, and brings it to a conclusion: in the Hebrew text, a section break follows verse 1, and verse 2 opens a new section. Verse 1 is characterizing the sweeping nature of the disaster that was to overtake the men of Judah and Jerusalem, which would leave so many unattached and vulnerable woman that as many as seven women would all beg one man to marry them without even having to take responsibility for their support, just to remove their shame at being unmarried. [Midrash Eichah Rabbah 5:12 cited by Rashi on v 1 explains that Nebuchadnezzar's invading armies were ordered not to rape married women.] "On that day…" (v 2) – "this is the day of salvation that will arrive with the coming of the Redeemer" (RaDaK). "…the plant (TZEMACH) of HaShem will be beautiful…" TZEMACH is one of the names of Mashiach (TZEMACH has the same gematria as Menachem). After the great cleansing that will take place with the removal of the wicked, "he that remains in Zion and he that remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy, everyone in Jerusalem that is written for life…" (v 3). From this verse the Talmudic rabbis learned that "In time to come, people will call out 'Holy' before the Tzaddikim just as they do before the Holy One blessed be He" (Bava Basra 75b). [Thus people refer to ARI HaKadosh, Rabbenu KaKadosh.] "And if you say that the Tzaddikim who died before that time will have lost their glory, the verse says 'everyone who is written for LIFE', i.e. the life of the world to come, will be in Jerusalem (Rashi on verse 3). "And Hashem will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion and upon her assemblies [1] a cloud and [2] smoke by day and [3] the shining of a [4] flaming [5] fire by night, for upon all [6] the glory shall there be [7] a canopy" (verse 5). This verse speaks of seven canopies – each being one aspect of the "encompassing light" that will radiate over each of the Tzaddikim in time to come (Bava Basra 75a; Rashi on verse 5). Thus the righteous will have a tabernacle to protect them against the streams of fire flowing down from the River Dinoor and the rains that will come pelting down upon the wicked at the time of God's judgment (verse 6, see Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 5 "Let me sing for my Beloved – my Beloved's song about His vineyard" (v 1). The metaphor of Israel as God's vineyard was introduced in Chapter 3 verse 14 and is elaborated as a parable (MASHAL) in our present chapter vv 1-6, while the NIMSHAL (that which is symbolized by the metaphor) is explained in v 7. The prophet sings this "song" on behalf of his Beloved and as His emissary to His beloved people, using terms of endearment in order to emphasize God's great love for Israel despite the harshness of the allegory. The vineyard was planted on a very fruitful hill: this is the Land of Israel . The vine was the choicest species. In the Hebrew text, this is called a SOREK. The gematria of Sorek is 606, alluding to the 606 commandments God gave to Israel in addition to the Seven Universal Commandments of the Children of Noah, making a total of 613. Other Midrashic explanations see the choice vine as the Holy Temple (Succah 49a) or as the soul of Adam, which was planted in the Garden of Eden (see Rashi on verse 7).

The tragedy of this vineyard is that after all the care invested in cultivating it, it brought forth bad grapes, causing the owner to abandon it and leave it to go to rack and ruin. Vv 11ff: "Woe to those who rise up early in the morning that they may seek out strong drink…" The object of the reproof implicit in the allegory of the vineyard that went bad is the drunken rulers of the people, who drink and play music "but they regard not the work of HaShem neither consider the operation of His hands" (v 12). The "work of HaShem" specifically refers to the stars and constellations, the wisdom of whose movements and seasons leads man to apprehend the glory of the Creator (see RaDaK on v 12). Astronomy and the secrets of the heavenly cycles are the very summit of Torah wisdom, but those who have the capacity to understand them yet instead saturate themselves with drinking and feasting have despised the work of God (Talmud Shabbos 75a). The same applies to those who neglect to recite the blessings of YOTZER OHR before the morning SHEMA and MA'ARIV ARAVIM before the evening SHEMA, both of which praise God for the luminaries of the heavens (see Rashi on v 12). "Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge" (v 13). The collapse of Torah knowledge among the people is the main cause of the exile, leading to degradation (v 15). In vv 18f the prophet further elaborates his complaints against the sinners, who begin with thin cords of vanity and end up being tied and bound by their sins as with the thick ropes of a cart (v 18). "They say, Let Him make speed and hasten His work…" (v 19): the sinners heard the prophet's warnings of coming doom and mockingly challenged Him to bring it speedily in order for them to test if it would really come. Verses 20-23 typify the culture of evil, in which moral language becomes twisted out of its proper meaning in order to rationalize and justify the worst excesses. It is because the people have despised God's Torah that they will be smitten with His retribution (vv 24ff). "And He will lift up a banner to the nations from far…" (v 26). This refers generically to all Israel's enemies and persecutors, but specifically to the armies of Assyria, which in the time of King Hezekiah invaded and ravaged the whole of Judea (RaDaK on v 29).

Chapter 6 "In the year of the DEATH of King Uzziah…" (v 1) As discussed in the Introduction to the book of Isaiah (KNOW YOUR BIBLE Isaiah 1-2) and also in the commentary on II Chronicles ch 26 dealing with the reign of Uzziah, Targum and all the commentators agree that Uzziah's "death" refers to his being struck with leprosy in punishment for trying to usurp the role of the priests by burning incense in the Temple Sanctuary (II Chron 26:16-21). It was in that year that Isaiah's prophetic ministry began despite the fact that the chapter in which it is described does not stand at the beginning of his book. Yet it is clear that our present chapter marks the beginning of his ministry, because it says: "Who shall I send and who will go for us? And I said, here I am, send me" (v 8). "…and I saw the Lord (A-D-N-Y) sitting upon a lofty and exalted throne…" The use of the holy name of Lordship (ADNUS) indicates that Isaiah's vision was of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) "seated" upon the "Throne of Glory". The "train" (i.e. the lower levels garbing and hiding the upper levels) extended down to and "filled the Sanctuary". RaDaK (on v 1) explains that "the Sanctuary" (HEICHAL) may mean the Temple but can also refer to the heavens (cf. Psalms 11:4).

"Serafim stood above Him" (v 2) – "Serafim were ministering on high before Him" (Targum). "These are the holy angels that exist forever" (RaDaK ad loc.). The "wings" of the Serafim refer to the causal nexus through which these angels accomplish their missions: "wings are the cause of the fastest of all kinds of movements" (RaDaK). While Ezekiel, prophesying after the destruction of the Temple , saw the Chayos with only four wings, Isaiah, prophesying while the Temple was standing, saw the Seraphim with six wings (Hagigah 13b). Rashi (on our verse) explains that each Saraph hid his "face" with two wings so as not to gaze in the direction of the Shechinah, hiding his legs with two wings out of modesty, so that his whole body should not be visible before his Creator. The "flying" that was the function of the third set of wings refers to the actual service that each Saraph performed. The Hebrew word for "wing" is KANAF, which has the connotation of covering, hiding and concealing (cf. Is. 30:20). I.e. the prophet perceived an outer garb that both revealed yet at the same time concealed the inner essence. "And this whole vision was a prophetic vision through the apprehension of the intellect and not through any apprehension outside of the intellect [i.e. not through sensory perception] for these angels that he called Seraphim have neither faces nor legs nor wings… He called them Seraphim because he saw them in his prophetic vision in the likeness of burning fire, and this was in order to reveal the sin of the generation – for they were liable to complete destruction" (RaDaK ibid.). "And one cried to another and said…" (v 2) – "They ask permission from one another so that not a single one should begin [the heavenly chant] before all the others, thereby making himself liable to be burned, but rather, they all begin together, as it says in the blessing of YOTZER OR, 'all of them answer the Sanctification TOGETHER'" (Rashi ad loc.). All the angels are in complete unison in their praise of God, for all creation is a unity. The formula with which the heavenly angels praise God as revealed here in Isaiah was adopted as the formula with which Israel daily sanctify Him at the height of the communal repetition of the Amidah prayer in the KEDUSHAH ("Sanctification") at every morning, afternoon and Musaf service in fulfillment of the commandment in Leviticus 22:32, "And I shall be sanctified amongst the Children of Israel". "Holy, holy, holy is HaShem of hosts…" "Holy" (KADOSH) means "separate". HaShem completely transcends His entire universe. "It mentions 'Holy' three times corresponding to the three worlds: [1] The supernal world of the angels and souls; [2] The intermediate world of the heavenly spheres, stars and planets; [3] The lower world – i.e. This World, the most glorious member of which is man. The prophet says that He is holy, exalted and elevated above all three worlds… Yonasan's Targum, which says 'Holy in the supreme heavens, the house of His indwelling presence, holy upon earth, the work of His might, holy for ever and ever' includes all the upper worlds as one, thereafter mentions the earth, this lowly world, and finally says that just as this is true now, so it will be for ever" (RaDaK ad loc.). "…the whole earth is full of His glory" – "for He created everything" (RaDaK). "Then I said, Woe is me for I am ruined…" (v 5). Likewise Mano'ah, father of Samson, was convinced that he and his wife would die after seeing the angel (Judges 13:22). "Then one of the Serafim flew to me with a live coal (RITZPAH) in his hand…" (v 6). Touching the prophet's mouth with the coal was to cleanse him of having uttered an evil report against Israel in saying "I am in the midst of a people of impure lips" (v 5). Thus RITZ-PAH has the connotation of "smash" (=RITZ) "the mouth" (=PEH).

Likewise Elijah ate a "cake of coals" (RETZAPHIM, I Kings 19:6) on account of having reported that Israel had broken the Covenant (Rashi on v 6). It was the living coal FROM THE ALTAR that cleansed the prophet's mouth in preparation for receiving the word of Hashem. Likewise, when we sanctify the way we eat at our table (=the Altar) we are able to speak words of purity and wisdom. "And He said, Go and say to this people, Hear indeed but understand not! And see indeed but perceive not! Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and smear over their eyes…" (vv 9-10). God was warning the prophet that his rebukes and admonitions were liable to have the effect of making the people even more stubborn. For when the sinner wants to sin, God withholds from him the ways of repentance until he receives his punishment, as in the case of Pharaoh (Ex. 9:12) and Sichon king of the Emorites (Deut. 2:30; see RaDaK on v 9 of our present chapter). "…lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return and be healed" (v 10): This verse expresses the three conditions of Teshuvah (Repentance). It is not sufficient to "see with one's eyes" – to attain a perception of God – without "hearing with the ears", i.e. seeking to contemplate, grasp and internalize the perception in order to come to "understanding in the heart", whereby the perception actually governs one's future actions. It is repentance that brings true healing (Likutey Moharan I, 6). "And I said, until when, O Lord?" – "How long will they harden their hearts and not listen?" "And He said, Until the cities be wasted…" – "I know that they will not repent until the punishments come upon them and they go into exile" (verse 10 with Rashi's explanations ad loc.). "And if one tenth remain in it, then that shall again be consumed…" When this prophecy was given in the reign of Uzziah, ten kings were yet destined to rule in Judah prior to the exile: Yotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Menasheh, Ammon, Josiah, Yehoahaz, Yeho-yakikm, Yeho-yachin and Tzedekiah (Metzudas David, RaDaK). The image of the oak tree and the terebinth repeatedly shedding their leaves (v 13) expresses how all the sinners will be successively cast off with repeated refining until only the trunk of the tree – the complete Tzaddikim who will return to God with all their hearts – will be left (Rashi on v 12).

Chapter 7 "And it was in the days of Ahaz…" (verse 1). The prophecy in the previous chapter was dated to the year that King Uzziah was struck with leprosy. Uzziah lived another twenty-five years during which his son Yotham was regent. Yotham then reigned in his own right for sixteen years, after which he was succeeded by King Ahaz. The invasion of Judah by the armies of Retzin king of Aram and Pekah ben Ramaliah king of Israel took place in the early years of King Ahaz (see II Chronicles 28:5-8 & 16). Thus we have now fast-forwarded over forty-one years from the previous chapter to the present chapter, yet the two prophecies are thematically linked because we now see Isaiah engaged in his mission of reproof despite the stubbornness of his listeners. "Ahaz son of Yotham son of Uzziah…" (v 1). "Why does the text trace Ahaz' lineage? To explain why Retzin and Pekah were unable to fight against Jerusalem (as it says in v 1) – because the merit of Ahaz' fathers Uzziah and Yotham protected him. The ministering angels said to the Holy One blessed be He, 'This king is wicked', but He

said to them, 'His fathers were righteous Tzaddikim and I cannot stretch out My hand against him'" (Rashi on v 1). V 2: "And it was told to the House of David" – "Because Ahaz was wicked, it does not mention his name" (Rashi; cf. v 13). The narrative in II Chronicles 28 about the joint campaign against Judah by the Arameans and the kingdom of Israel tells of the colossal blow they struck. Pekah alone slew Judean 120,000 warriors in one day, and leading members of the Ahaz' household were killed. This would explain why "his heart was moved and the heart of his people as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind" (v 2). "And HaShem said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and She'ar-yashuv your son…" While the simple meaning is that She'ar-yashuv ("the remainder will return") was Isaiah's son, Targum renders "the remainder of your students who have not sinned and who have repented of sin" – i.e. Isaiah went out with his students, who are called sons. The specification of the precise location of Isaiah's encounter with King Ahaz – in "the highway of the field of the washer (KOVEIS)" (v 3) – is explained in Talmud Sanhedrin 104a as alluding to Ahaz' having tried to hide (KOVEISH) his face from Isaiah out of shame. Because of this shame Ahaz merited not to be enumerated among the wicked kings who have no share in the world to come. The prophet reassured the king that Retzin and Pekah were nothing more than smoking firebrands (wooden rods used repeatedly to turn the logs of a fire until the rods are so thin that they are useless and are discarded). Rashi explains that "Ben Tav'al" – whom they wanted to appoint as king of Jerusalem – was none other than Pekah ben Remaliah himself: in the ALBAM cipher (where Aleph is replaced with Lamed, Beis with Mem etc.) TaVAL = ReMaL[i]A. But God said this would not come to pass. "Within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces and no more be a people" (v 8). Rashi explains that the exile of the Ten Tribes was to take place not sixty-five years after Isaiah's present prophecy but rather, sixty-five years after the prophecy about it by his teacher Amos, which was delivered two years before Uzziah was struck with leprosy (Amos 1:1). Uzziah had lived for 27 years after that prophecy; Yotham and Ahaz then reigned for 16 years each, followed by Hezekiah, in the sixth year of whose reign the Ten Tribes went into exile. 27 + 16 + 16 + 6 = 65. Vv 10ff tell how God asked Ahaz to specify a sign of his own choosing that would testify to the truth of the prophecy, but Ahaz disingenuously declined, excusing himself on the grounds that he did not want to "test" God – "I don't want His name to be sanctified through me" (Rashi on v 12; see RaDaK). Accordingly God himself gave a sign: "Behold, the young woman is with child, and she will bear a son…" This cannot be a prophecy of the birth of Ahaz' son Hezekiah since he was already nine years old when Ahaz came to the throne (Rashi on v 14; RaDaK on v 15). RaDaK states that the prophesied son was either a son who would be born to Isaiah's wife or another son who would be born to Ahaz. The essence of the prophetic sign was that by the time this son would have the intelligence to distinguish between right and wrong – at about the age of three or four years old – the threat to Judah from Aram and the kingdom of Israel would disappear. Indeed, in the fourth year of the reign of Ahaz, by which time the newborn son would have been three years old, the Assyrians conquered and exiled Aram, killing Retzin (II

Kings 16:9), while Pekah ben Remaliah was killed in the same year in a conspiracy (ibid. 15:30). It is perfectly obvious that it would have been quite pointless for Isaiah to have offered Ahaz a sign that would only take place more than 400 years after his death – yet this is exactly how some Christians try to explain this passage, claiming that a prophetic allusion to the "virginal conception" of their founder is contained in the words, "Behold, the young woman (ALMAH) is with child…" This interpretation is based upon a severe distortion of the meaning of the Hebrew word ALMAH, which cannot be a virgin since it is specifically used in Proverbs 30:19 to refer to a maiden with whom a man has intercourse. ALMAH is simply the feminine form of ELEM meaning a "young man" (I Samuel 17:56). RaDaK on v 15 cites a work called Sepher HaBris (The Book of the Covenant) written by his father decisively refuting such distortions of the meaning of our text. "HaShem will bring upon you and your people and upon the house of your father days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, namely the king of Assyria" (v 17). Isaiah had already alluded to the looming specter of Assyria (Isaiah 5:25ff), which was soon to become a world empire that would radically transform the geopolitical realities of the entire region. Yet although the Assyrian armies would occupy all of Judah at the time of Sennacherib's siege against Jerusalem , God would "shave them with a hired razor" (for which one only pays money because it is very sharp, Metzudas David), miraculously decimating his army and killing his officers and finally Sennacherib himself. Although the vineyards of Judah would become prey to briers and thorns, its hills and mountains would provide pasture for plentiful sheep and cattle bringing great blessing to the inhabitants (vv 21, 23 and 25). God's miraculous providence over Judah even amidst the worst ructions would prove that God is with us – IMMANU-EL. Isaiah 6:1-13, 7:1-6 and 9:5-6 are read as the Haftara of Parshas Yisro (Ex. 18:120:23) containing the account of the Giving of the Torah.

Chapter 8 Like the prophecy in the previous chapter, the present prophecy dates to the fourth year of reign of King Ahaz, when Judah was under the most serious threat from the invading armies of Retzin king of Aram and Pekah ben Remaliah king of Israel. V 1: "And HaShem said to me, Take a great scroll and write on it in the pen of a man: the spoil speeds, the prey hastens." The prophet was commanded to write a document attesting to God's promise of salvation to Judah, because the kingdoms of Aram and of Israel would soon fall prey to Assyria . V 2: "And I took to myself faithful witnesses…" It is customary for a document to be signed by a minimum of two valid witnesses. Although the simple meaning of the verse is that Isaiah took as witnesses two men who were living in his time, the Midrashic explanation is that he invoked two future prophets – Uriah, who was to prophesy in the reign of King Yeho-yakim that "Zion will be plowed like a field" (Jeremiah 26:20; Micah 3:12) and Zechariah, whose book is included in the Twelve "minor" prophets, and who was to prophesy at the beginning of the Second Temple period that "old men and women will yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem" (Zechariah 8:4). "What is the connection between Uriah and Zechariah? Uriah prophesied harsh punishments whereas Zechariah offered consolation! This comes to teach that the prophecy of Uriah testifies to the prophecy of Zechariah: Just as the prophecy of Uriah has been fulfilled, so will the prophecy of Zechariah be fulfilled" (Maccos 24b).

V 3: "I drew near to the prophetess and she conceived and bore a son." Rashi's opinion (ad loc.) is that this son of Isaiah's is the same as the son whose birth was prophesied in the previous chapter (Isaiah 7:14) and who was there called Immanuel as a sign that God would be with Hezekiah when he would reign after Ahaz and have to face Sennacherib. In the present prophecy, God tells Isaiah to call this son by names indicating the imminent defeat of Retzin king of Aram and Pekah ben Remaliah king of Israel. This was an aspect of His providence over Hezekiah since the two invaders sought to bring the rule of the House of David to an end. V 5: "And HaShem spoke to me further…" The commentators explain that the following passage alludes to a fifth column that was already present in Jerusalem in the time of Ahaz, when Pekah ben Remaliah wanted to rule over Judah, and which developed into a major threat in the time of Hezekiah, when Jerusalem came under siege by Sennacherib and Shevna, who was Hezekiah's scribe (Isaiah 22:15 & 37:2), wanted to go out to him and capitulate. "Because this people refuse the waters of Shiloah, which go softly, and rejoice in Retzin and the son of Remalyahu" (v 6). The gentle waters of the Shiloah spring (which is at the southern foot of the Temple Mount) allude to the House of David, whose kings were anointed by their side. "Many of the inhabitants of Judah despised the kingship of the House of David, which seemed weak in comparison with the kingdom of Ephraim, and they wanted Pekah ben Remaliahu to be king" (Metzudas David ad loc.). The Midrash explains that the people were disgruntled with Hezekiah because he did not aspire to royal grandeur but contented himself with a modest dish of vegetables before throwing himself into his Torah studies, while Pekah would consume forty seahs of fledglings for dessert (Rashi ad loc.). "And therefore the Lord will bring up against them the mighty multitude of waters of the river – the king of Assyria" (v 7). Yet again Isaiah brings home the message that the geopolitical realities of the entire region were being radically transformed with the ascent of Assyria, which would sweep away Aram and the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and which would eventually "sweep through Judah" (v 8), i.e. in the time of Hezekiah, when the Assyrians would reach the "neck" – Jerusalem – destroying Shevna and his party of traitors as well before being miraculously defeated, showing that God is with us: Immanuel! "Take counsel together but it shall come to naught; speak a word, but it shall not stand, for God is with us!" (v 10). Many customarily repeat this verse after each of the daily prayer services as a powerful protection against the machinations of the wicked. V 11: "For HaShem spoke thus to me with a strong hand and warned me that I should not walk in the way of this people." The "strong hand" with which God spoke to Isaiah was the "hand" of prophecy (cf. Ezekiel 3:14). Rashi explains that His warning to Isaiah was not to join Shevna and his party, which apparently enjoyed the support of the majority in Judah, while Hezekiah and those who wanted to defy Sennacherib were numerically in the minority. Although it is a Torah mitzvah to follow the majority (Exodus 23:2), this only applies if they are righteous, but if they are wicked they do not count (Rashi on v 12). V 16: "Bind up the testimony, seal the Torah among My disciples." The simple meaning of the verse is that God's salvation is promised to those who seal His Torah in their hearts and those of their children and students. The Talmudic sages also adduced this verse as alluding to King Ahaz' efforts to "seal" the Torah – i.e.

prevent its study – by closing down the children's cheders and the study halls (Sanhedrin 103b). V 17: "And I will wait for HaShem even though He hides His face from the House of Jacob…" One of the hardest challenges of faith in the times of Ahaz and Hezekiah was that Judah witnessed the catastrophe that befell the Ten Tribes with their exile. This was the hiding of His face from the House of Jacob as prophesied in Deuteronomy 31:18 – yet Isaiah had faith that He would not hide His face from Judah if they would keep His Torah (see Metzudas David on v 17 and Rashi on v 18). V 19: "And when they say to you, Consult the mediums and the wizards that chirp…" The prophet warns people to reject all forms of divination and punditry and put their faith only in the Torah and the true prophets. Vv 21-23 prophetically depict the calamity that would befall the Ten Tribes when they would be exiled by the Assyrians and would angrily curse their king and their idols after they had let them down so badly, and would finally look upward to search out Hashem (see Rashi on v 21). Verse 23 alludes to the three stages in which the exile of the Ten Tribes took place. The first came in the fourth year of the reign of Ahaz, when the Assyrians exiled the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. The second came in Ahaz' twelth year, when they exiled the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Menasheh living east of the River Jordan. The third and last stage came with the exile of the remainder of the Ten Tribes in the sixth year of Hezekiah.

Chapter 9 "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light" (v 1). This beautiful prophecy, which is the direct continuation of that in the previous chapter delivered in the fourth year of King Ahaz (there is no section break in the Hebrew text), foretells the miraculous delivery of Jerusalem from the clutches of Sennacherib's armies that was to take place twenty-six years later in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, as described in detail in the narrative portion of Isaiah chs 36ff. V 2: "You have multiplied the nation and increased joy to it." The Hebrew word for "to it" (LO) is written (KSIV) in the parchment scroll as LO with an Aleph (="not") even though it is read (KRI) as if it were written with a Vav (="to it"). This indicates that Hezekiah's joy was NOT complete, because shortly after the overthrow of the Assyrians the prophet told him that his descendants would go into exile (Isaiah 39:6; Rashi on our verse). "…they rejoice before You according to the joy in the harvest" (v 2). This alludes to the fact that the overthrow of Sennacherib's armies took place on the night of the sixteenth of Nissan, when the Temple Omer offering is harvested. Likewise, Gideon's miraculous defeat of the Midianites generations earlier, mentioned in verse 3, had taken place on the same auspicious night (Judges 7:13). "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…" (v 5). Rashi (ad loc.) paraphrases: "Even though Ahaz is wicked, the son born to him some years ago to be our king in his place (=Hezekiah) will be a Tzaddik, and he will serve the Holy One blessed be He and bear His yoke on his shoulders. He will study the Torah and observe the commandments and take His burden upon his shoulders." "…for the increase of the realm and for peace without end…" (v 6). Hezekiah had the potential to be Messiah and Sennacherib's assault would then have been the

fulfillment of the destined assault of Gog and Magog on Jerusalem and the complete repair would have been accomplished. However Hezekiah failed to sing a song over the miracle and thus lost the chance to be Messiah. For this reason the Hebrew word LE-MARBEH ("for the increase") in our verse is written in the parchment scroll with a closed instead of an open MEM in the middle, even though the closed MEM is normally reserved for use at the end of a word – to indicate that the opening for Hezekiah to be Mashiach became closed (Sanhedrin 94a). We daily await the coming of the Son of David to "establish and sustain the kingdom with justice and charity from now and forever" (v 6). Following his prophecy of the messianic delivery of Judah from Sennacherib that would take place in the time of Hezekiah, Isaiah now returns to his prophecy of the calamity that would overtake the Ten Tribes some time before this with their exile by the Assyrians (verses 7-20). "Therefore HaShem shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall He have mercy on the fatherless and widows. For everyone is a flatterer and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks obscenity!" (v 16). The Talmud learns from this verse that "The sin of speaking obscenity brings on many troubles and harsh decrees" (Shabbos 33a). Let us learn to purify our speech!

Chapter 10 "Woe them that decree unrighteous decrees…" (v 1). Chapter 10 is a new section in the series of interrelated prophecies that started at the beginning of Chapter 7 with the description of the attack on Judah by the kingdoms of Aram and Israel early in the reign of King Ahaz, and which runs until the end of Chapter 12. In the earlier sections Isaiah's message was that Judah did not have to fear these two kingdoms because they would be conquered by Assyria, while in the section in Chapter 9 vv 7-20 he depicted the coming exile of the Ten Tribes. The opening section in our present chapter (vv 1-4) explains the essential reason why the Ten Tribes were exiled – because of the rampant injustice and the oppression of the fatherless and widows which they practiced (vv 1-2). However, they would find themselves helpless "on the day of visitation" with the "desolation" that would come from afar (v 3). The Hebrew word for "desolation" is SHO'AH, which is today used to refer to the Holocaust. In retribution for their injustice, they would be imprisoned in exile and there die – "…but for all this His anger is not turned away and His hand is still outstretched" (v 4). This is the same refrain as in the previous chapter vv 12, 16 & 20. Having concluded his prophecy about the exile of the Ten Tribes, Isaiah turns in vv 5-19 to their Assyrian conquerors, who after having been emboldened by their earlier successes would in the reign of Hezekiah set Jerusalem as their target. While it may seem that these prophecies deal with long past historical events, they are highly relevant to us today because as our sages have taught (Sanhedrin 94a), Sennacherib's advance against Jerusalem was the prototype of the destined attack by Gog and Magog at the end of days, while Hezekiah's role was messianic. Isaiah's teachings in these prophecies can thus provide us with timely lessons as to how we should see and respond to the protracted campaign of the nations of the world against Israel today. "Woe Assyria, rod of My wrath…" (v 5): The prophet is teaching us that the nations that rise up against Israel are nothing but God's rod of chastisement – and this is exactly how we must view Iran , Syria , the "Palestinians", "Hizbullah" and all the others who persecute Israel today. God sends them "against a hypocritical nation"

(v 6, cf. ch 9 v 16) in order to rebuke and chastise it, but they imagine that they have the power and the license to cut off Israel completely. Thus Sennacherib thought that Jerusalem would prove to be just one more nation for him to conquer like all the idolatrous nations over whom God gave him victory. "Just as my hand has reached the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved idols are from Jerusalem and Shomron… so shall I do to Jerusalem and her idols" (vv 10-11). Interestingly, Rashi (ad loc.) comments that "we learn from here that the wicked Israelites used to provide the images of their idols to all the nations around them". But God would not deliver Jerusalem into Sennacherib's hands, because he was nothing but a tool to used to accomplish a specific purpose and then discarded. "And it shall be after HaShem has performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I shall punish the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria" (v 12). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that God's purpose in sending Sennacherib was to take vengeance on the Ten Tribes and on the sinners in the cities of Judah that he overran, and to cause such FEAR among the inhabitants of Jerusalem that they would be humbled, repent and turn to God. I.e. it was NOT to destroy Jerusalem. Likewise God's purpose in sending enemies against Israel and the Jews in our time is NOT to destroy them but only to bring us to repent with all our hearts. Having served his purpose, Sennacherib would be cut down in retribution for his overweening arrogance, which is depicted in vv 13-14. But "shall the axe boast against he that hews with it…?" (v 15). The prophet emphasizes that Sennacherib is merely a tool in God's hand and can do no more than God gives him license to do. "And the light of Israel shall be for a fire and his holy one for a flame…" (v 17). Here the prophet explains what it is that will kindle the fire that will burn up Sennacherib and his mighty warriors. The "light of Israel" is the Torah to which Hezekiah devoted himself, while the "flame" is the righteous Tzaddikim of the generation (Rashi ad loc.). "And it shall come to pass on that day that the remnant of Israel and those of the House of Jacob that escape shall no more rely upon the one that smote them…" (v 20). This verse begins a new short section of this prophecy (vv 20-23) depicting the repentance that would come about as a result of the miracles God would perform with the overthrow of Sennacherib. This would teach the nation to rely on Him alone instead of turning for succor and support to the very nation that was striking them. [Likewise we hope that Israel will soon be cured of the malady of placing its hopes on an ally that constantly pursues policies which have the effect of undermining the nation's security.] In verses 24-32 Isaiah – prophesying in the fourth year of King Ahaz, twenty-six years before Sennacherib's advance on Jerusalem – foretells that he would be overthrown through a miracle that would bear comparison with the overthrow of the Midianites in the time of Gideon and that of the Egyptians at the Red Sea (v 26). "And it shall be on that day that his burden shall be taken away from off your shoulder and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed BECAUSE OF THE OIL" (v 27). On one level this "oil" refers to Hezekiah, God's anointed king, but our sages darshened that it alludes specifically to the fact that Hezekiah kindled oil in all the synagogues and study halls, bringing the people back to the Torah. "What did he do? He stuck a sword over the entrance to the study hall and said: Everyone who does not devote himself to the Torah will be stabbed with this sword. They checked from Dan to Beersheba but could not find a single ignoramus or a single boy, girl, man or woman who was not fully conversant with the laws of purity and impurity" (Sanhedrin 94b).

Verses 28-32 describe the exact route that Sennacherib, inebriated with his own arrogance, would take in his frenetic march from town to town in order to reach Jerusalem. "This very day he will halt at Nov; he will shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem" (v 32). "For the whole journey he was burning to reach Nov while it was still day because his astrologers had told him that if he would attack Jerusalem that day he would conquer it. But when he reached Nov and saw from a distance how small Jerusalem was, he ignored his astrologers, shaking his hand proudly: 'Did I amass all these armies just for such a little city? Camp here tonight and tomorrow each man will cast his stone.' But that very night the angel came and wiped out his entire camp. As people say: If the judgment is delayed, the judgment is nullified." (Sanhedrin 95a).

Chapter 11 The concluding verses of the previous chapter (Isaiah 10:33-4) described how God would "lop the bough" of Sennacherib's "tree" and cut down the "thickets of the forest" (his mighty warriors) so that "Lebanon" (his armies) would fall through a "mighty one" – the angel. In contrast, the stem of the "tree of Jesse" – the House of David – will regenerate and produce a new rod: Melech HaMashiach! "And a rod shall come forth out of the stem of Jesse…" (v 1 of our present chapter). Rashi (ad loc.) explains why this most famous and inspiring prophecy about the Messiah, whose coming we daily await, is positioned immediately after the prophecy about the delivery of Jerusalem from Sennacherib. "If you say that these consoling words to Hezekiah and his people promising that they will not fall into his hand are all very well, but what will happen to the Ten Tribes whom Sennacherib exiled to Halah and Habor etc. – perhaps all their hope is lost? IT IS NOT LOST because in the end King Mashiach will come and redeem them!" Thus verses 11-12 of this chapter specifically prophecy the return of ALL THE EXILES from the various countries of their dispersal, including the lost Ten Tribes. "And the spirit of HaShem shall rest upon him…" (v 2). This and the coming verses (vv 2-5) describe the attributes of King Mashiach. "Wisdom (CHOCHMAH) refers to what a person learns and knows, whereas understanding (BINAH) refers to the inferences he makes about what he has not learned on the basis of what he has learned. Counsel (EITZAH) is one's understanding and habitual pursuit of the proper way to act, particularly in interpersonal relations" (RaDaK ad loc.). "And his delight shall be in the fear of HaShem…" (v 3). The Hebrew word here translated as "delight" has the connotation of fragrance and smell, expressing Mashiach's subtle, intuitive grasp of who is good and who is evil without needing to see or hear. Unlike today's corrupt system of "justice", which favors the wealthy and mighty against the poor and weak, Mashiach "will judge the poor with righteousness and decide with equity for the meek of the earth" (v 4). He will "strike the earth with the rod of his mouth" (v 4) – he will not need to use armed force in order to assert his authority but will do so through the power of his words. "And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins" (v 5). Targum (ad loc.) renders: "And the Tzaddikim shall be round about him". "And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb…" (v 6). RaDaK (ad loc.) comments that some explain that in the time of Mashiach the very nature of the wild animals will change and revert to what it was at the beginning of creation, when they did not consume one another (for if they had, the weaker species would never have survived). However, others explain all this as an allegory in which the predatory animals symbolize the wicked oppressors while the lamb, the cow, the calf and the kid symbolize the meek of the earth, and in the time of Mashiach there will be

peace on earth and men will not harm their fellows… RaDaK dissents from the opinion that the nature of the wild animals will change throughout the world but maintains that in the Land of Israel they will do no harm, as promised by Moses: "I shall cause evil beasts to cease from the land" (Lev. 26:6). RaDaK (on v 8 of our present chapter) continues: "In the days of Mashiach the serpent's hatred for man that was decreed after Adam's creation will cease in all the land of Israel, and wherever the people of Israel go, no serpent or wild beasts will harm them". "They shall not do harm and they shall not destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of HaShem as the waters cover the sea" (v 9). It is the knowledge of God that dispels the cruelty that rules in its absence. "The 'sea' (Hebrew, YAM) refers to the place that contains the waters, while the waters fill it so that the bottom of the sea is not seen" (Metzudas David ad loc.). We know that the bottom of the sea is uneven, having its own "hills" and "valleys". From above the waters will be seen covering the sea uniformly in the sense that everyone will be filled with the knowledge of God, but just as the bottom of the sea is uneven, in some cases people's understanding will be shallower and in others it will be deeper (Rabbi Gedaliah Koenig ztz"l). "…and his resting place shall be glorious" (v 10). "Most kings are ashamed to be at rest, as if it is a sign of weakness not to challenge some other nation, but Mashiach's very tranquility will enhance his glory because all will show him obedience" (Metzudas David). Verses 11-12 depict the return of the exiles of Israel from all their places of dispersal. The medieval commentators explain that the "isles of the sea" (v 11) refer to the Greek islands, which were probably an early stopping place for many of the Israelite exiles, but with hindsight we can understand that these islands must also include Britain, Ireland, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand etc. which are also "isles" in relation to the Europe-Africa-Asia land mass. "And the envy of Ephraim shall depart…" (v 13). With the coming of Melech HaMashiach the historical rift between the House of David and the Ten Tribes under the leadership of Ephraim will be healed. "But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines westwards…" (v 14). Instead of ignominiously retreating from Gaza, in the time of Mashiach Israel will conquer it. "They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab " (ibid.) RaDaK (ad loc.) comments: "Even though they are not identifiable today as nations – because only Israel have maintained their separate identity from the nations through the Torah, while the other nations have all become mixed up and are either Moslems or Christians – when it mentions Edom, Moab and the children of Ammon, it means their lands and those who dwell in them today." The inheritance of these lands by Israel will be the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:19 (see Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 12 "And you shall say on that day, I will give thanks to HaShem although You were angry with me…" In the Hebrew text there is no section break between the end of the previous chapter and the beginning of this chapter: they are one continuous prophecy. Here the prophet foretells the new consciousness that will dwell in the people of Israel with the coming of Mashiach. Retroactively they will understand the purpose of their checkered history of exile and persecution, which was to refine them and bring them to repent. They will come to a new level of trust in God and His saving power (v 2). "And you shall draw waters with joy from the wellsprings of

salvation" – "You will receive a new teaching – for He will expand their hearts through the salvation that will come to them and all the secrets of the Torah that were forgotten during the exile because of the troubles will be revealed to them" (Rashi). * * * Isaiah 10:32-12:6 is read as the Haftara in Diaspora communities on the Eighth Day of Pesach * * *

Chapter 13 Following Isaiah's prophecy about the fall of Assyria in chapter 10, his prophecy against Babylon in this and the following chapter begins a cycle of prophecies against the various peoples that surrounded and oppressed Israel, including Egypt, the Philistines, Moab and Tyre. The cycle begins with the retribution against Babylon because of the great power and prestige of Nebuchadnezzar's empire at its height and the fact that he destroyed the First Temple. The prophecy against Babylon opens with God's call to the warriors of Medea and Persia to gather for war against Babylon (vv 1-5). It was Darius of Medea together with his son-in-law, Cyrus of Persia, who eventually captured Babylon and killed king Belshazzar exactly seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar's rise to power. The fall of Babylon, as prophesied in our present chapter, came over ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY YEARS after the death of King Ahaz of Judah, which is given as the date of the prophecy in the next chapter (Is. 14:28), indicating that the prophecy in our present chapter was said before that. In Isaiah's time Babylon had not even attained global stature, yet the prophet already saw that she would knock out Assyria (which came about when Nebuchadnezzar captured Nineveh) and finally – 190 years later – be knocked out herself. "I have commanded my sanctified ones…" – "These are the Persians, who are sanctified and marked out for Gehennom" (Berachos 8b). Vv 6-8 depict the terrible fear that will fall on the inhabitants of Babylon. "Howl, for the day of HaShem is at hand: it will come like destruction (SHOD) from the Almighty (SHA-DAI)" (v 6). This Divine Name (which should be pronounced SHAKKAI except in prayer or when chanting the Hebrew Bible text) reveals the power of the Sefirah of Yesod, which channels Godly power into the world. The play on words in the Hebrew text indicates that the attribute of Yesod, expressed by SHA-DAI, includes the vengeful power of destruction (SHOD) in retribution for wickedness. Vv 9-18 depict God's anger against Babylon and the terrible punishment destined to come upon them. "All the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not radiate their light…" (v 10). RaDaK (ad loc.) explains that the prophets speak figuratively and talk of a person struck by some trouble as sitting in darkness so that the sun and the stars do not shine upon him. The vengeance against Babylon was primarily on account of its overweening arrogance (v 11). "But I shall make a man more honored than finest gold…" (v 12). Rashi explains that this verse alludes to Daniel, who was called by Belshazzar to his feast in order to explain the meaning of the "writing on the wall" and whose holy spirit was revealed to all when he said that it signified the fall of Babylon, which took place that very night (Daniel ch 5).

"Therefore I shall shake the heavens and the earth shall quake and move from her place…" (v 13). This verse reveals that God "shakes the heavens" BEFORE the earth quakes. From here we learn that God does not exact retribution from a nation without first exacting retribution from its guardian angel in the higher world (Rashi). The same idea also comes out from the verse in the following chapter: "How are you fallen out of the heaven, O bright star, son of the morning" (Is. 14:12). The "star of the heaven" is NOGAH (=Venus), Babylon's guardian angel (see Rashi on Is. 14:12). Verses 19-22: The lot of the once glorious Babylon will be total destruction and devastation. Its ruins, haunted only by wild animals, will be enduring testimony to God's stern, relentless justice.

Chapter 14 V 1: "For HaShem will have mercy on Jacob…" The fall of Babylon, about which most of the present chapter continues to prophesy, would itself be a salvation for Israel because Cyrus of Persia, who succeeded Darius the Mede one year later, began his reign by permitting the exiles from Judah to return to Jerusalem under Zerubavel, and they started to rebuild the Temple. "…and He will yet chose Israel and set them in their land…" (ibid.) This refers to the future redemption, which will be complete (Rashi on verse 1). "And it shall come to pass on the day when HaShem will give you rest… and you shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon " (vv 3-4). Nebuchadnezzar was proverbial for his cruelty: anyone who entered his prison was never released to go back home (v 17). But now his ignominious end would make him a byword for God's retribution against the proud. With his demise, feelings of joy and relief would come to all the nations (v 8). Vv 9-17: Hell itself would shudder and tremble with the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar. Isaiah's depiction of all the amazed shadows in hell, the souls of the dead kings and mighty of history, as they wonder over the fall of the mighty Nebuchadnezzar, opens a tiny chink for us into the netherworld, where the souls of the wicked seem to be imprisoned in a never-ending time warp. "And you said in your heart, I shall ascend to the heavens… I shall sit on the Mount of Assembly, on the flanks of the north" (v 13). The "Mount of the Assembly" alludes to the Temple Mount, Israel's meeting place on the pilgrim festivals. The choicest part of the AZARAH (central Temple courtyard) was the north, where holy of holies sacrifices had to be slaughtered. It was because Nebuchadnezzar dared to set his hand against God's Temple that he came to such an ignominious end. Vv 18-19: "All the kings of the nations lie in glory… but you are cast out of your grave like an abhorred branch…" Rashi (on v 19) tells that when Nebuchadnezzar was reduced to the status of a wild beast (as told in Daniel ch 4), his son Eveel Merodach became regent, but after Nebuchadnezzar returned to the throne, he put Eveel Merodach in prison. When Nebuchadnezzar died, the people released Eveel Merodach and asked him to become king, but he refused, fearing that his father was not really dead and that if he returned to the throne he would kill him. In order to prove that Nebuchadnezzar was dead they pulled him out of his grave – in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.

The contemporary relevance of the present prophecy about Nebuchadnezzar's fall may become clearer if we reflect that Saddam Hussein of Iraq – who is known to have considered himself the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar – also met a highly ignominious end. He was actually filmed being hanged after some years of imprisonment following his capture while hiding in an underground pit. Likewise the bloodshed and destruction that have overtaken Iraq since the invasion of the country in 2002 seem to be a latter-day fulfillment of these ancient prophecies about the calamity that would befall Babylon. 24-27: The prophesied fall of Assyria, which actually came about in Isaiah's own time in Hezekiah's fourteenth year, would be proof that God's word would later be fulfilled against Babylon as well. Verses 28-32 make up a complete prophecy in itself about the retribution that was to come upon the Philistines. The specific dating of this prophecy to the year of the death of King Ahaz suggests that the previous prophecies about the fall of Babylon and Assyria were delivered prior to this. Ahaz practiced blatant idolatry in Judah and was punished by being beset by enemies. The earlier chapters of Isaiah (chs 7ff) spoke about the invasion of Judah by Retzin king of Aram and Pekah ben Remaliah king of Israel. We also learn in the Book of Chronicles (II Chron. 28:18) that the Philistines rebelled against Judean dominion in the lowlands and coastal region in the time of Ahaz. The present prophecy, dating from his death and the ascent to the throne of his son the righteous Hezekiah, foretells that "out of the serpent's root shall come a viper" (our present chapter verse 29). The "serpent" refers to Ahaz, while the viper – which is much more dangerous – refers to Hezekiah, who "smote the Philistines to Gaza and her borders from the watchers' tower up to the fortress city" (II Kings 18:8, see Rashi on our verse). We look forward to the re-fulfillment of this prophecy against the Philistines in our time, when the fire of violence and destruction that today emanate from Gaza will be extinguished forever "and the firstborn of the poor [i.e. the people of Israel , see Rashi] shall feed and the needy shall lie down in safety" (v 30).

Chapter 15 "The burden of Moab …" (v 1). In this chapter and the next, Isaiah continues his series of prophecies about the fate of the main biblical nations with a prophecy over the coming exile of the Moabites that is almost a lament. "My heart cries out for Moab …: (v 5): Rashi (ad loc. comments): "The prophets of Israel are not like the prophets of the nations of the world. Bila'am sought to uproot Israel for no reason, while the prophets of Israel mourn over the punishments of the nations." The Moabites were descended from the incestuous relations between Abraham's nephew Lot and his oldest daughter after the destruction of Sodom (Gen. 19:3338). The mountainous strip of land east of the Dead Sea above Sodom to which Lot had fled became the inheritance of the children of Moab , while the children of Ammon, born from his relations with his second daughter, inherited the territories further north, east of the River Jordan, around the present-day Jordanian city of Amman . The territories of the Moabites, lying largely on a plateau 4,300 feet above the level of the Dead Sea, consisted of steep but fertile hills that provided excellent pasture for their many sheep and cattle as well as abundant grain and wine. Thus although

this region of the south of the modern kingdom of Jordan is not particularly famous or noteworthy today, in ancient times it was the center of a thriving kingdom with its own idolatrous religion and culture and a mighty army. Although "cousins" of the Israelites, the Moabites were traditionally hostile to Israel in the times of Moses, the Judges and Kings. In this they were seen as the epitome of ingratitude because Abraham had taken Lot from Haran and saved him from captivity by the four kings, and in Abraham's merit Lot was saved from the destruction of Sodom. Yet not only did the Moabites not help Israel; they sent Bilaam to curse them and made war against them in the time of the Judges and Kings. When Sennacherib took the tribes of Reuben and Gad through their territory into exile, the Moabites mocked them saying they were simply returning to the other side of the river (Euphrates) from which their ancestor Abraham had come (see Rashi on v 7 of our present chapter). The Moabites' final expression of ingratitude was when they came to assist Sennacherib when he laid siege to Shomron for three years (see Rashi on Isaiah 16:14). In retribution, many of the Moabites themselves were taken into exile by Sennacherib, and any that were left were later exiled by Nebuchadnezzar. According to rabbinic tradition, the Moabites became completely assimilated with the other nations and all trace of them was lost (Rambam, Hilchos Issurey Bi'ah 12:25), although Jeremiah prophesied that at the end of days God will return the captivity of Moab (Jeremiah 48:47). Vv 1-4 depict the destruction of the cities of Moab when Sennacherib would take their inhabitants into exile, and the mourning that would ensue. Vv 5-6: Isaiah laments their destruction. The nation that was like a fat, prosperous three-year old heifer would flee screaming over their own devastation. "For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate, for the hay is withered away, the grass fails, there is no green thing" (v 6): From this verse we can understand how lush and prosperous were the pastures of the Moabites at the height of their greatness. Vv 7-9 explain the cause of their destruction because of their historical failure to support Israel (see Rashi on v 7, of which a synopsis was given above) and how Nebuchadnezzar – the "lion" referred to in verse 9 – would complete their desruction.

Chapter 16 Vv 1-4: The reason for Moab's punishment is that they did not help and support Israel. This is alluded to in verse 1, "Send the lamb to the ruler of the land… to the mountain of the daughter of Zion ". Meisha king of Moab had been subject to King Ahab of Israel, to whom he used to send one hundred thousand sheep (II Kings 3:4), but after the death of Ahab, he rebelled. Isaiah is saying here that the Moabites should have sent lambs to the Temple in Jerusalem, and had they done so in the time of Hezekiah they would have been saved from exile, but because of their failure to do so they would be punished. "Take counsel, execute judgment, make your shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday: hide the outcasts, betray not the wanderer. Let My outcasts, O Moab, dwell with you" (vv 3-4). Here Isaiah asks the Moabites to give succor to the Israelites when they would later try to escape from Nebuchadnezzar's armies by taking refuge in their territory. If they would do so they would avoid exile, but since they would not, they would be exiled.

V 5: "And in mercy a throne will be established and he shall sit upon it in truth…" Our commentators interpret this verse as an allusion to the throne of Hezekiah (see Rashi ad loc.). This was greatly strengthened after the overthrow of Sennacherib, which came after he had already exiled the Moabites. The House of David itself was descended from the Moabite princess Ruth, daughter of King Eglon, who was King David's great grandmother. Ruth embodied the spark of holiness that came down from the line of Abraham's nephew Lot. When she converted, the vital spark for whose sake Moab was kept alive left it, and thus the kelipah (husk) – the remaining people of Moab – fell away into exile, while the throne of David was simultaneously strengthened. Vv 6-11: The arrogance of Moab. Their destruction is compared to that of a fruitful vine. "Therefore my heart shall moan like a lyre for Moab" (v 11). Again the Israelite prophet shows his great compassion for the suffering of the nations with this metaphor evoking the plaintive melody of the lyre. V 12: The Moabites' prayers to their gods will not help them. Vv 13-14: Prophecy on the looming calamity that would strike Moab after their three years in the service of Sennacherib besieging Shomron like wage laborers: its glory would be cast down and the tiny remnant would be left with no power.

Chapter 17 "The burden of Damascus …" (v 1). The opening short prophecy in Chapter 17 vv 13 continues the series of prophecies about the downfall of the nations surrounding and oppressing Israel by foretelling the calamity that was to befall the Aramean kingdom centered in Damascus (v 1). However after mentioning Damascus, verse 2 of this short prophecy immediately turns to Israel, for Aro'er mentioned in this verse was a city in the territories captured by Moses east of the Jordan (and thus part of Israel) that was built up by the tribe of Gad (Numbers 32:34). Then verse 3 prophecies the destruction of the fortress of Ephraim (Shomron). The intertwining of the fate of Aram with that of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes arose because, as we learned in Isaiah ch 7, Retzin king of Aram in alliance with Pekah ben Remaliahu king of Israel both invaded Judah in the reign of King Ahaz. As discussed previously, Aram and the Ten Tribes were both eventually exiled by Sennacherib before his advance on Jerusalem, and it is about their joint fate that Isaiah is prophesying in these verses (see Rashi on v 2). Rashi (loc. cit.) also cites a Midrash telling that while Damascus had 365 streets each with their own idol, each of which was worshipped one day of the year, the idolatrous Israelites established a center in Aro'er where they imported and worshipped all 365 idols every day of the year. Verses 4-6 prophecy how the glory of the House of Jacob would become lowly with the exile of the Ten Tribes. Just as a reaper picks all the best, so Sennacherib would exile all of them at one time, "gleaning" and capturing anyone trying to escape. Verse 5 specifies that this reaper harvests in Emek Repha'im ("Valley of the Giants") which is immediately south of Jerusalem, emphasizing that Sennacherib's armies would overrun all of Judah and only Jerusalem itself would hold out against his siege. As a result, only a few remaining impoverished berries would be left: these allude to King Hezekiah and the loyal Tzaddikim besieged in Jerusalem (Rashi on v 6).

"On that day shall a man look to his Maker…" (v 7). The effect of Sennacherib's siege on Jerusalem would be to bring the Tzaddikim inside the city to a level of complete TESHUVAH (repentance) to the point where they would give up all forms of idolatry (v 8). Verse 9 depicts the devastation in the land of Israel after the exile of the Ten Tribes followed by Sennacherib's invasion of Judah , while verse 10 explains the sin of forgetting God that caused this to happen. Verse 10 and then verse 11 speak of the strange kinds that would grow when the people would plant. This alludes to the way that Israel in exile would intermingle and intermarry with the other nations and produce mixed stock not like the pure breed God intended (see Rashi on vv 10-11). Verse 12 starts a new section continuing on from the previous section by foretelling the miraculous destruction of Sennacherib's armies that would take place in one night. "Woe to the multitude of many peoples…" (v 12). On this Rashi makes a very important comment: "An attribute that runs through all the generations is that the whip with which Israel are beaten ends up being beaten itself, and therefore when the prophets prophesy the punishment of Israel at the hands of the nations, they immediately afterwards prophesy the punishment of the nation used to punish Israel" (Rashi on v 12). "Woe to the multitude of many people who make a noise like the noise of the seas..." (v 12). Midrash Tanchuma comments: "Israel are compared to the sand, as it says, 'The number of the Children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea' (Hosea 2:1) while the nations are compared to the sea, as it says in our present verse. The nations take counsel against Israel but God weakens their might… In the case of the sea, the first wave says, 'Now I will rise up and flood the whole world' but when it reaches the sand it bends and is broken. Yet the second wave does not learn from the first. Pharaoh rose up against Israel but God cast him down, just as he then cast down Amalek, Sichon, Og, Bilaam and Balak – but not one of them learned from the previous one!" "And behold, in the evening trouble, and before the morning they are no more" (v 14). Here Isaiah prophecies the miraculous destruction of all Sennacherib's armies in one night by the angel – paradigm of the destined destruction of the armies of Gog and Magog at the end of days. "This is the portion of them that spoil us" (v 14) – "One portion was received by Sennacherib and another portion will be received by Gog and Magog when they come to plunder us" (Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 18 "O land of buzzing wings that fly beyond the rivers of Kush …" (v 1). RaDaK (ad loc.) comments: "After having prophesied the salvation that was to occur in the days of Hezekiah, Isaiah follows it immediately with the great salvation that is destined to come about in the days of Moshiach." This is the overthrow of the forces of Gog and Magog. Once again the overthrow of Sennacherib is compared to the overthrow of Gog and Magog. Just as the overthrow of Sennacherib actually took place, so will that of Gog and Magog. Many people take the phrase "beyond the rivers of KUSH" to refer to Africa – Kush is usually taken to refer specifically to Ethiopia. However Targum Yonasan renders KUSH as HODOO (India), which is in agreement with one opinion in the Talmud (Megillah 11a commenting on Esther 1:1) and would also be in agreement with those today who point to the energetic sea-faring and colonizing activities of the ancient Ethiopians along the Arabian and Indian coastlines and see African ancestry

in important peoples of the Indian subcontinent. If the forces of Gog and Magog are to come from BEYOND THE RIVERS of India, could this refer to China??? The "buzzing wings" in verse 1 are interpreted by Targum as referring to the sails of the ships in which the hordes of Gog and Magog will travel, swifter than eagles. These and the light papyrus vessels mentioned in verse 2 could seemingly allude to aircraft or even missiles??? Rashi explains that the "messengers" in verse 2 [U.N./Quartet envoys?] are traveling to see if "a nation tall and smooth, a nation awesome from their beginning onward…", i.e. Israel , have really returned to their land after such a lengthy exile. This nation has suffered time and time again in their history (see commentators on v 2) and now Gog and Magog come to attack them. From verse 3 we see that the entire world will be watching and witnessing this cataclysmic event, knowing full well that Israel have come home. Verse 4 begins a new subsection of this prophecy about the war of Gog and Magog. In Isaiah 62:1 God says "For the sake of Jerusalem I SHALL NOT BE QUIET until her righteousness goes forth like radiance and her salvation like a burning torch." But here God says "I SHALL BE QUIET and look on in My dwelling place": we may infer this can only be after Jerusalem has been saved, when God's presence will again rest in the Holy Temple (see Metzudas David on verse 4 of our present chapter). "For before the harvest, when the blossom is past and the bud is ripening into young grapes, he shall both cut off the springs with pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches" (v 5). In a lengthy comment on this verse, RaDaK explains that Gog and Magog will steadily gather strength with more and more nations joining them, as it says, " Persia, Kush [Pakistan? China?] and Phut with them" (Ezekiel 38:4), and they are therefore likened to developing vine fruits. But just as they are about to reach complete ripeness, when they will have invaded and exiled half of Jerusalem (as prophesied in Zechariah 14:2), God will miraculously strike them all down. "They shall be left together to the predatory birds of the mountains…" (v 6). This is as prophesied in Zechariah 14:12ff and in Ezekiel ch 39. The fallen armies of Gog and Magog will be left unburied in the hills of Israel for a whole year (Eduyos 2 commenting on verse 6 in our present chapter), after which they will be brought to burial. "At that time a gift (SHAI) shall be brought to HaShem of Hosts…" (v 7). "The nations of the world are destined to bring a gift to King Masiach, as it says, 'Until SHILOH will come' (Gen. 49:10) – do not read this as SHILOH but as SHAI-LO, a gift to him" (Yalkut Shimoni).

Chapter 19 "The burden of Egypt …" (v 1). The prophet continues his series of prophecies about how the various nations that surrounded and oppressed Israel would fall, foretelling in this and the following chapter the downfall of Egypt. The classical rabbinic Bible commentators (Rashi, Metzudas David and RaDaK) take this prophecy of the coming downfall of Egypt to refer not to the End of Days (although End of Days prophecies may be embedded in it) but rather to the disaster that struck Egypt at the hands of Sennacherib at the time of his campaign against Jerusalem. On his way to Judea he heard that Tir'hakah king of Kush (= Ethiopia) was coming to make war against him and went down to fight against Kush and Egypt, conquering both of them. Sennacherib then returned to Judea bringing their captured populations with him in chains (RaDaK on Isaiah 20:1; see Rashi on verses 4 & 18 of our present chapter).

According to this interpretation, the "swift cloud" upon which HaShem rides to come into Egypt (v 1) would be the army of Sennacherib, sowing panic and civil strife among the Egyptians (vv 2-3). "And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up…" (v 5). This and the following verses (vv 5-10) depict the calamity to Egypt as a colossal ecological disaster in which the waters of the Nile – upon which the country is completely dependent, having no rainfall – dry up causing all the vegetation, food crops and flax etc. to wither and the fish that were an essential part of the national diet (cf. Numbers 11:5) to disappear. However the opinion of RaDaK (on v 5) is that all of this is an allegory, and that precisely because of the great importance to Egypt of the Nile, the prophet depicts the destruction of the country wrought by Sennacherib as if the flow of the river had ceased. "Surely the princes of Tzo'an are fools, the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh has become brutish…" (v 11). The Egyptian defeat at the hands of Sennacherib is portrayed as a massive blunder on the part of its ruling elite. This would appear to be because they sought to contain the rising star of Assyria in the hope of restoring Egyptian primacy over the entire region. Like drunkards reeling in their own vomit (v 14) the Egyptian princes and sages misread the geopolitical situation and misled their own people, taking them out to a war that would prove to be disastrous. "And the land of Judah shall be a trembling to Egypt: everyone to whom it is mentioned shall be afraid because of the counsel of HaShem of hosts…" (v 17). RaDaK (ad loc.) explains that those Egyptians remaining in their own land would be stunned when they would hear of the downfall of Sennacherib's armies at the very gates of Jerusalem, and having witnessed the destruction of Egypt at his hands they would know that only HaShem could have cast him down and that their own downfall could only have been brought about through His counsel. "On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan …" (v 18). To explain this verse, Rashi cites Seder Olam (ch 23), which states that after the fall of Sennacherib, King Hezekiah arose and released all the captives from Egypt and Kush that the Assyrian king had brought with him in chains to Jerusalem. They then took upon themselves the kingship of Heaven [i.e. the Seven Universal Laws of the Children of Noah] and returned to their own lands, building an altar to HaShem in Egypt in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in verse 19. RaDaK (on v 18) explains that because Mitzrayim and Canaan were brothers (Gen. 10:6) and the land of Canaan fell to Israel, the Egyptians viewed the Israelites as aliens. But after witnessing the miracles done for them they would speak their language as if it was the language of their own brother – the "language of Canaan " – because they would then see the Israelites as brothers. [The Talmudic sages saw in the prophecy of an altar to HaShem in Egypt an allusion to the altar of Beit Honyo built there by Honyo, the son of Shimon HaTzaddik, Menachos 109b). Vv 20-22 prophesy the great sanctification of the Name of HaShem that would come about through the recognition by the Egyptians of His dominion and saving power. When the Egyptians would repent and pray to God, He would heal them. "On that day there shall be a highway from Egypt to Assyria… and Egypt shall serve with Assyria" (v 23). The Egyptians would know God's power from having heard what had happened to Sennacherib's armies, while the Assyrians would know it through their firsthand experience of the blow dealt to them by God's angel (Metzudas David).

"On that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land…" (v 24). Rashi (ad loc.) explains: "At that time there was no other people in the world more important than Egypt and Assyria, while Israel were lowly in the days of Ahaz (king of Judah) and Hosea ben Elah (the last king of Israel), and the prophet says that through the miracle that would be performed for Hezekiah the name of Israel would be magnified and they would be as prestigious as any one of these kingdoms on account of the blessing and greatness they would enjoy." "Whom HaShem of Hosts shall bless saying, Blessed be My people [from] Egypt and the work of My hands [from] Ashur, and Israel My inheritance" (v 25). The insertions in this translation of the present verse reflect the commentary of Rashi (ad loc.) who explains that the verse means that God chose Israel for His people when they were in Egypt, and that they would become "the work of His hands" as a result of the mighty deeds He would perform against Assyria, because through the miracles they would witness they would repent and it would be as if God had made them anew just now so as to become His inheritance.

Chapter 20 According to the rabbinic sages, Sargon king of Assyria is Sennacherib, who had eight names (Sanhedrin 94a). Tartan was the name (or title) of one of his chief officers, whom he sent to campaign against Ashdod while he himself fought against Egypt and Kush before returning to Judea for his abortive assault on Jerusalem (see RaDaK on verse 1 of the present chapter). "At that time HaShem spoke by the hand of Isaiah son of Amotz saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off your loins and put off your shoe from your foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot" (v 2). According to Metzudas David (ad loc.) the reason the prophet was instructed to "loose the sackcloth" from off his loins is because he had been wearing it as a sign of mourning over the exile of the Ten Tribes, which had taken place some years earlier. Now he was instructed to display an even more demonstrative sign of calamity by going naked and barefoot like a captive. As explained in verses 3-4, this was as a sign that Egypt and Kush would be carried into captivity. RaDaK (on v 2) states that we cannot take the words "he did so and went around naked and barefoot" literally, because it is unthinkable that God would command the prophet to do such a thing (just as God did not literally command the prophet Hosea to take an immoral woman as his wife, Hosea 1:2). Rather, Isaiah received this "command" in his prophetic vision, and saw himself in his vision going naked and barefoot. "And they shall be afraid and ashamed on account of Kush, their expectation and of Egypt, their glory, and the inhabitant of this coast land shall say on that day…" (vv 5-6). The "inhabitant of this coast land" (the literal meaning of the Hebrew is "island") refers to the people of Israel, specifically those in Jerusalem who were counting on Egypt and Kush to come to their rescue from the clutches of Sennacherib. Witnessing their terrible downfall, they would finally understand that they were broken reeds and that without the help of God no-one on earth could save them.

Chapter 21 "The burden of the wilderness of the sea…" (v 1). The first twelve verses of this chapter make up a prophecy against Babylon falling into two sections: vv 1-5 and 6-11. Babylon is called the "wilderness of the sea" because she was conquered by Persia and Media, which are to her northeast across the "wilderness", and in order to reach her they had to go towards the YAM, "the sea", i.e. westwards (RaDaK on v 1). Despite the fact that Isaiah has already prophesied the fall of Babylon (Is. 13:1ff), he returns to this again and again because of the great evil she perpetrated against Israel (RaDaK ibid.). The prophecy against Babylon is "harsh" because this "traitor" and "plunderer" will herself be betrayed and plundered (v 2). "Therefore are my loins filled with anguish…" – "This prophet is compassionate and mourns over the retribution of the nations" (v 3 and Rashi ad loc.). In verses 4-5 the prophet depicts in brief stabbing images the scene that would take place on the night that Belshazzar would make his feast, thinking he had defeated the Persians, only to see the "writing on the wall" and be killed that very night, as told in Daniel ch 5. "For thus has the Lord said to me: Go, set a watchman; let him tell what he sees" (v 6). The simple meaning of this and the following verses is that the prophet is relating how the Babylonians would set a watcher on the ramparts of the city out of fear of the invading Persians and Medians, and that he would cry out that they were coming. However, the Midrashic explanation is that God was already telling Isaiah that he would appoint a "watchman" – i.e. a seer or a prophet – who would complain about the length of the bitter exile under Babylon. This was the prophet Habakuk, who traced a circle in the ground and declared that he would not step out of it until he received an answer from God as to why the wicked prosper (Ta'anis 23a, see KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on Habakuk 1 & 2). Habakuk was eventually granted a vision of the destruction of Babylon under Belshazzar, and Isaiah alludes to Habakuk's vision, in which the "watcher" riders on a camel and a donkey: these symbolize Persia and Media. The "lion" who cries in verse 8 is the prophet Habakuk. The gematria of ARYEH = 216 = HABAKUK (Rashi ad loc.). The watchman declares that Babylon has fallen. He repeats it twice – because "Babylon has fallen and is destined to fall again" (Targum). Perhaps we are witnessing the destined future fall of Babylon in our times as Iraq tears itself to pieces. Babylon is trodden underfoot like corn on the threshing floor (v 10). "The burden of Dooma…" (v 11). This (vv 11-12). Rashi (on v 11) identifies and RaDaK (ad loc.) both state that Ishmael (cf. Gen. 25:14), saying that Se'ir.

opens a new short prophecy of two verses Dooma with Edom , while Metzudas David the people of Dooma are descendants of the destroyer of their land will come from

The literal meaning of the words of the prophecy indicate that the fearful people of Dooma, who are under attack, appoint a watchman and anxiously ask him if enemies are coming in the night (v 11). In verse 12 the watchman replies that even after the morning arrives, another fear-filled night will follow and that the people will continue asking anxiously (RaDaK on vv 11-12). [All this is reminiscent of present day high terror alerts.] However Rashi explains the Midrashic interpretation of the verses: The prophet is crying out to God over the burden of the rule of Se'ir (Edom), asking the Guard (=Shomer Yisrael, the Guardian of Israel, Psalms 121:4) what will be of this long "night". God answers that He has the power

to shine the light of morning to Israel while causing the darkness of night to fall upon the wicked Esau at the end of days, and God tells the people of Israel: If you seek to quicken the end, return and repent (Rashi on vv 11-12; cf. RaDaK ad loc. and Yerushalmi Taanis 3b). "The burden of Arav (= Arabia)" (v 13). The simple meaning of the prophesy is that the people of Arav would be forced to lodge as fugitives in the forest, desperately in need of water and bread from anyone who would have pity on them. Midrash Eichah darshens that the exile of the Dedanim would take place because of their lack of compassion, for while God provided their ancestor Ishmael with water in the desert, the DEDANIM refused to give water to the thirsty Israelites when they went into exile despite the fact that they were their cousins (BNEY DODIM; see Rashi on vv 13-14). Thus KEDAR (v 16) was one of the sons of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13) and therefore a cousin of Jacob, who was the son of Ishmael's brother Isaac.

Chapter 22 "The burden of the Valley of Vision …" (v 1). The "Valley of Vision" is Jerusalem – the "valley" about which the majority of the prophecies prophesy (Rashi ad loc.). Verses 1-14 of this chapter prophesy the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. "What ails you now that you have all gone up to the roofs?" (v 1). One interpretation is that when the enemy would come against Jerusalem, all the people would climb onto the roofs to see what was happening and to mobilize for war. The Midrash tells that before the destruction of the Temple the priests went up onto the roof and handed back the keys to heaven (see Rashi ad loc. and Taanis 29a). The prophet foretells that the fate of those who would starve in the siege would be worse than that of those who would be killed in battle (v 2). "All your rulers have fled together…" (v 3): this alludes to the night-time flight of King Tzedekiah and his ministers, which led to his capture (Rashi ad loc.). "Therefore I said, Look away from me: I will weep bitterly…" (v 4): God Himself mourns secretly over the plight of His people. "And He bared the covering of Judah, and you looked on that day to the armor of the house of the forest" (v 8). The "covering of Judah" was the Temple, which the people thought would protect them. But God allowed it to be destroyed – because instead of repenting, the people looked to the armor that was stored in the Temple treasury ("the house of the forest", cf. I Kings 10:16-17), putting their faith in arms and armaments, as depicted in the coming verses, which describe how the people defiantly fortified the city in preparation for a siege. Vv 12-14: God called for mourning and repentance – but instead, the people ate, drank and celebrated, "for tomorrow we die". It was because they showed no qualms of conscience over the imminent destruction of the Temple that God refused to grant them atonement except through their death. Our sages learned from verse 14 that if a person publicly desecrates the Name of HaShem he cannot secure complete atonement through repentance alone but only with his death (Yoma 86a). The closing section of our present chapter in verses 15-25 is a separate prophecy in itself against "this steward Shevna who is over the house". As discussed in KNOW YOUR BIBLE Isaiah ch 8, Shevna was the leader of a "fifth column" in Jerusalem in the time of King Hezekiah. He is specifically mentioned in Isaiah's narrative about the siege of Sennacherib as having been one of the Hezekiah's envoys sent to the

ramparts of Jerusalem to speak with Sennacherib's spokesman Ravshakeh (Isaiah 36:3). There the text calls Shevna the "scribe" while El-yakim son of Hilkiah is described as being "over the house" (meaning either the king's chamberlain or perhaps the chief Temple officer). However in our present chapter, it is Shevna who is said to be "over the house" (v 15). RaDaK (on v 20 of our present chapter) conjectures that Shevna was initially the king's chamberlain but that he was demoted to the position of scribe while El-yakim was appointed "over the house" as prophesied in vv 20-24 of our present chapter. At the height of the siege of Jerusalem, Shevna, as Hezekiah's "scribe", put on an outward display of loyalty but was secretly bent on treachery. The Hebrew word for "steward" in verse 15 – SOCHEN – has the connotation of one who is given over to a life of pleasure (Rashi ad loc. cf. I Kings 1:2). From v 16 we can infer that Shevna had prepared a magnificent mausoleum for himself with the kings of Judah (Rashi ad loc.). Apparently he intended to break out of Jerusalem and go over to the side of Sennacherib, expecting that he would be appointed king in place of Hezekiah. The Talmud relates that Shevna shot an arrow to the Assyrian camp with a message that he and his party were in favor of capitulation while Hezekiah was defiant. However, after Shevna left Jerusalem the angel Gabriel closed the city gates, preventing any of his followers from leaving, and when Shevna came alone to Sennacherib's camp the king had him tied to horses tails and dragged over thorns (Sanhedrin 26a-b).l In Rabbi Nachman's teaching in Likutey Moharan II:1, Shevna is seen as the archetype of the false leader while El-yakim ben Hilkiah is the archetype of the true Tzaddik.

Chapter 23 "The burden of Tzor…" (v 1). In this chapter the prophet foretells and laments the terrible coming destruction of the great sea-trading city of TZOR. According to the simplest and most obvious interpretation of this prophecy, TZOR refers to the city of Tyre in Lebanon, which under King Hiram had showed favor to Israel in the days of King David and King Solomon but which later betrayed her. The identification of TZOR in this chapter with Tyre is endorsed by Rashi (on verse 5) on the grounds that the prophesied fall of Tzor is said to bring shame to Sidon , which is not far north of Tyre on the Lebanese coast. However Rashi also mentions the opinion of Rabbi Elazar ben Pedath (brought in Midrash Tanchuma Va-era ch 13) that the prophecy in this chapter is directed against Edom-Rome, whose great fall in time to come will strike terror into people's hearts like the terror inspired by the fall of Egypt at God's hands. This comparison between the impact of fall of Tzor and that of Egypt is contained verse 5: "According to the report as to Egypt, so will they will tremble at the report of Tzor". Rashi (ad loc.) lists "Ten Plagues" that according to various verses in the prophets will befall Edom, each corresponding to one of the Ten Plagues in Egypt. Rabbi Elazar ben Pedath's opinion is founded on the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, that "every place in the Bible text where TZOR is spelled CHASSER ("defective", i.e. without the letter VAV in the middle, as in our present text), it refers to the kingdom of Edom, while every TZOR that is spelled MALEH ("full", i.e. WITH the VAV) refers to the city of Tyre (Tanchuma loc. cit.). The root TZAR, without a VAV, means a trouble or oppressor, while the root TZOR with a VAV means to form or create. Regardless of whether this prophecy applies only to the city of Tyre [which in recent times has distinguished itself mainly by giving shelter to Hizbullah terrorists while firing missiles into Israel] or also to EDOM, which is today still desperately clinging

to the last vestiges of its ascendancy, the calamity portrayed is one of cataclysmic proportions. A city that was a teeming, busy, prosperous international trading center (vv 2-3) is cast down only to see many of its finest young men and women destroyed as if they had never existed (v 4), while the remaining inhabitants flee into exile in all directions (vv 6-7). The calamity is from God alone in order to take vengeance on Tzor for its arrogance (vv 8ff). In verse 12 God tells the inhabitants of Sidon to migrate to Kittim, which means Italy (see Targumim on Numbers 24:24). This seems to suggest a kinship between the people of ancient Tyre & environs and the city of Rome, which was a relatively recent habitation in the time of Isaiah. Verse 13 seems to indicate that Tzor itself was originally established by the Chaldees (KASDIM) under the auspices of Assyria , the irony being that they would now come to destroy it. "And it shall come to pass on that day that Tzor shall be forgotten for seventy years like the days of ONE KING…" (v 15). Despite her one-time majesty, Tzor will be cast down for seventy years. This was the number of years that King David lived. Metzudas David suggests that it was because Tyre had made a covenant of friendship with David but later betrayed Israel that she had to suffer seventy years of devastation corresponding to the years of the life of David, in order to understand that her punishment was divinely decreed.) "Take a lyre, go about the city, you harlot that has been forgotten…" (v 16). When a forgotten harlot wants to get back into business, she goes around singing to attract people's attention. So too Tzor after her seventy years of devastation would again begin to go around hiring herself out to the all the kingdoms of the world (v 17) – except that all her gains will be "sanctified to HaShem" (v 18) for at the end of days, the profits from Tzor's trade will flow to Jerusalem, where they will be consumed by the Tzaddikim after the coming of Melech HaMashiach (Rashi, Metzudas David & RaDaK ad loc.). The "stately clothing" (MEKHASSEH ATEEK) which the Tzaddikim will enjoy at that time refers to the secrets of the Torah and the reasons for the commandments, which are things that the Ancient of Days (ATEEK) has covered over (KEESSAH) (Pesachim 118a).

Chapter 24 "Behold HaShem makes the land empty and makes it waste…" (v 1). The very terrible prophesy of devastation, exile, grief and mourning contained in this chapter (vv 1-12) is considered by many of the commentators to refer to Israel – including both the Ten Tribes and the people of Judah. Thus Rashi (on v 1) states: "This is a prophecy of retribution against Israel, because Isaiah delivered a prophecy of consolation [in the closing verses of the last chapter and in v 14ff of the present chapter], but prior to its fulfillment they would see great trouble. Therefore he said to them: It is not to you that I am saying you will inherit it, because God will empty you out of the land. Only those of you who will be left on the day of redemption shall raise their voices and exult, as it says later in the prophecy in verse 14, and it is to them that I delivered the good prophecy." Another opinion, however, proposed by RaDaK (on v 1 and v 5 etc.) is that this prophecy refers to the earth as a whole and to the devastation that will strike the nations at the time of the redemption of Israel. Rashi and Metzudas David likewise apply the closing prophecies of doom (vv 17ff) to the nations. "And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest, as with the servant, so with his master…" (v 2). In a secure, stable society, people show respect for worthy notables, but when a whole population is taken into exile, the captor makes no

distinction between the honorable and the lowly, herding them all together indiscriminately (see Rashi on v 2). The Talmud points out that lack of respect for those of status had already become a feature of life in Jerusalem prior to the destruction of the Temple. "Rabbi Yitzchak said: Jerusalem was only destroyed because small people and great people were equated with one another" (Shabbos 119b). Today things seem even worse: the small people have seized control while the truly great are treated like the dust of the earth! "The earth also is defiled (CHANPHAH) under its inhabitants" (v 5). The root here translated as "defiled" means to flatter and act hypocritically. The earth is said to act hypocritically when it produces weeds and empty pods instead of edible crops. This prophecy implies that when Israel and the nations defy the Torah, it generates an ecological catastrophe causing freak crops. [And often the beautiful-looking produce on the supermarket shelf also turns out to be tasteless and nutrientdeficient, another example of hypocrisy.] "For they have transgressed Torahs, they have changed the law; they have broken the eternal covenant" (v 5). If this prophesy refers to Israel, it is referring to the transgression of the two Torahs, the written and the oral (Metzudas David). If it refers to the nations of the world, it refers to their persecution of Israel in excess of what God decreed, thereby violating the covenant of brotherhood that should have existed between Esau, Ammon, Moab and Ishmael and their close relative Israel (RaDaK on v 5; cf. Amos 1:10). Vv 6-12 portray the ecological collapse that will occur, destroying all rejoicing and happiness. After all this devastation, only a few will be left to rejoice in God's salvation: they will be like the few remaining olives and grapes left on the trees and vines after the harvesting is over (v 13) – yet they will raise their voices and sing, just as Israel sang and praised God's mighty acts after the splitting of the Red Sea (Targum on v 13). "Therefore glorify God in the regions of light…" (v 15). Targum renders: When light will come to the Tzaddikim, give glory to God. "From the corner of the earth we have heard songs, glory to the Tzaddik…" (v 16). Rashi renders: "We have heard from behind the PARGOD [the screen that conceals God's court from man] that songs are destined to arise from the corner of the earth. And what are those songs? 'Glory to the Tzaddik' – the Tzaddikim are destined to arise and endure." The "corner of the earth" alludes to the rebuilt Temple: "From the Holy Temple joy will spread to all the inhabitants of the earth" (Targum ad loc.). "…and I said, a secret [is revealed] to me, a secret [is revealed] to me! Woe to me! Traitors have dealt treacherously; traitors have dealt very treacherously" (v 16). Rashi (ad loc.) explains: "Woe to me that two secrets are revealed to me, a secret concerning retribution and a secret concerning salvation, and the salvation will remain far off, coming only after plundering enemies will come – plunderers after plunderers and robbers followed by more robbers. The Hebrew text contains five expressions of betrayal, referring to Babylon, Media, Persia , Greece and Edom , all of whom will subjugate Israel prior to their redemption". The Hebrew word RAZI in verse 16 means not only "my secret" but also has the connotation of leanness – because the terrible prophecy that Israel's final redemption will be accompanied by harsh retribution caused the prophet's flesh to shrink in horror (see RaDaK on v 16).

"Fear and the pit and the trap are upon you O inhabitant of the land" (v 17). "This refers to Edom, Ishmael and the other nations, who are the dwellers in the land and the lords over it, while Israel are in exile among them. The prophet is saying, Do not think that Israel alone will be in trouble, for all of you too who think you will be the lords and dwellers of the earth will be made to move out of it, and each and every nation will move from its place, but Israel will be saved from the trouble and the Tzaddikim will be written for life while you will not escape" (RaDaK ad loc.). "He who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the trap" (v 18). "One who escapes from the sword of Mashiach ben Yoseph will fall to the sword of Mashiach ben David, and whoever escapes from this will be caught in the trap in the war of Gog" (Rashi ad loc.). "And it shall be on that day that God will punish the host of the high ones on high and the kings of the earth on the earth" (v 21). First God will cast down the guardian angels of the nations from heaven, and then He will throw down the nations themselves (Rashi ad loc.). When a people's genius and culture decline, the people itself declines. "And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit" – This is the pit of hell (v 22, see Rashi ad loc.). "Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed…" (v 23) – "Those who worship the moon shall be confounded and those who bow to the sun will be humbled" (Targum). People will know that God rules over everything, including the laws of nature.

Chapter 25 "HaShem, You are my God, I will exalt you; I will praise Your name…" (v 1). The closing sections of the previous prophecy (Is. 24:16-23) depicted the overthrow of the nations in the war of Gog and Magog, when God will assert His rule in Jerusalem and restore honor to His elders, the righteous. Our present chapter begins with the response of these elders, who will acknowledge God for having done wondrously in gathering them in from their scattered places of exile among the nations to the Land of Israel and for having cast down the armies of Gog and Magog on its hills (RaDaK on verse 1 of our present chapter). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that God's "counsels of old in faithfulness and trust" refers to His covenant with Abraham in the Covenant between the Pieces (Gen. ch 15) when He promised him that his descendants would possess the Land. Vv 2-5 depict God's overthrow of the cities and strongholds of the nations at the end of days, and how this will bring them to fear Him. The closing words of verse 2 tell how God will make "a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built". Targum renders: "…the temple of the deity of the nations in the city of Jerusalem shall never be built." One wonders if prior to their overthrow at the end of days, the nations will attempt to build an idolatrous temple in Jerusalem, only to be thwarted by God, as seemingly implied by the Targum. Vv 6ff specifically refer to the overthrow of the armies of Gog and Magog when they gather to campaign against Jerusalem. The nations will come expecting that Jerusalem will be as easy to conquer as oil and bone marrow, but the oil and bone marrow will turn into pure lees and waste (Rashi, Metzudas David and RaDaK on v 6). Everything will turn from one extreme to the other.

"And He will destroy in this mountain the covering that is cast over all the people and the veil that is cast over all the nations" (v 7). Targum explains that the "cover" and the "veil" that are cast over all the nations refer to their leader and ruler, who until his overthrow covered them protectively [like a seemingly benevolent world dictator?]. RaDaK (ad loc.) brings an explanation in the name of his father, that the "covering" (LOT) alludes to "the people who cover their faces" [reminiscent of masked Islamic terrorists???]. "He will destroy death for ever…" (v 8). This verse with its promise of resurrection and eternal life is recited at Jewish funerals and is often inscribed on monuments to the dead. RaDaK (ad loc.) explains that in time to come "chance death" (MEESAH MIKREES) will disappear but not "natural death", defining "chance death" as the kinds of killings that Israel have endured at the hands of the nations during their exile. However, Rashi (ad loc.) states that God will "hide and conceal death from Israel eternally", which suggests that there will be no more death of any kind for Israel . The Talmud asks how our present verse, "He will destroy death for ever", can be reconciled with the prophesy that "a youth shall die at the age of a hundred" (Isaiah 65:20), answering that death will be destroyed entirely in the case of Israel, while the people of the nations will live long but will eventually die (Pesachim 68a). "And it shall be said on that day, Behold our God, THIS (ZEH) is the One in whom we hoped and He has saved us, THIS (ZEH) is Hashem for whom we hoped, let us rejoice and exult in His salvation" (v 9). It is not unusual when using the word THIS (ZEH) to POINT in the direction to the person or thing to which one is referring. "Rabbi Elazar said: In time to come, the Holy One blessed be He will make a dance circle of the Tzaddikim and He will sit among them in the Garden of Eden, and each and everyone will POINT WITH HIS FINGER, saying, Behold our God, THIS is the One in whom we hoped…" (Ta'anis 31a). The "finger" of each Tzaddik alludes to his perception of God. "For in this mountain shall the hand of HaShem rest, and Moab shall be trodden down in his own place" (v 10). This verse implies that God's overthrow of the armies of Gog and Magog will take place at Mount Zion, while the Moabites will be overthrown in their own country. RaDaK (on v 10) explains that today the nations are mixed up and it is impossible to know which is Ammon, Moab or Edom etc. and this will also be the case at the time of the war of Gog and Magog. But while these three nations will be saved from the hand of the king of the north (Daniel 11:21), they will not escape from the hand of God in the war of Gog and Magog. For even though they are unrecognizable and mixed up with one another, it is possible that certain known families among the nations come from these specific peoples. It is also possible that the prophet gives the name Edom to those who dwell in the land of Edom , and the name of Moab to those who dwell in the land of Moab . The reason why he mentions Moab here is because Moab will aid the nations coming from the north to attack Jerusalem together with Gog and Magog. Being close neighbors of the land of Israel, the Moabites will help the oncoming armies by preparing roads and they will give them their support, and this is why Moab is mentioned specifically (see RaDaK on v 10).

Chapter 26 "On that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah" (v 1). Just as Israel sang to God after the miraculous overthrow of the Egyptians into the waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 15) and just as Deborah sang after the miraculous defeat of Sissera and his armies (Judges 5), so the Tzaddikim who survive the war of Gog and Magog will sing the song and prayer to God contained in our present chapter. "The city is our strength…" (v 1): Having put their faith in God's promise to dwell in His eternal

city in the end of days, the Tzaddikim will praise Him for saving them in the merit of their faith and commitment to Jerusalem . "Open the gates that the righteous nation that keeps faithfulness (SHOMER EMUNIM) may enter in…" (v 2). The Talmud darshens: "Everyone who answers AMEN with all his strength has the gates of the Garden of Eden opened up for him. Read the word not as EMUNIM but AMENIM: he that guards (SHOMER) the Amens (AMENIM) shall enter!!!" (Shabbos 119b). "Trust in HaShem for ever, for the Lord God is an eternal rock" (v 4). Because of its great importance as an affirmation of trust, this verse is included among those recited in the daily prayer service after the KEDUSHAH DE'SIDRA (=UVA LETZION…) following the repetition of the Amidah and ASHREY. The divine Name here rendered as "the Lord" is the two-lettered name spelled Yod-Heh. The Talmud explains that the Yod alludes to the Word to Come while the Heh alludes to This World, stating that "Whoever puts his trust in the Holy One blessed be He will have His protection in This World and in the World to Come" (Menachos 29b). Our study today of Israel's future song of faith and trust as contained in our present chapter is intended to inculcate this same faith and trust in ourselves and in our dear ones, children and students in preparation for the coming trials of the war of Gog and Magog, whenever this may come. Thus in the song we read already how God will "bring down those who dwell on high, the lofty city" (i.e. the strongholds of the nations, v 5), and how the "feet of the poor and the steps of the needy" shall trample it down (v 6). The "poor" refers to Melech HaMashiach, who is "a poor man riding on a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9), while the "needy" refers to Israel, "who were needy until now" (Rashi on verse 6 of our present chapter). The blatant injustice that is rampant in today's world is an apparent contradiction to the rule of the God of Justice, and thus Israel prays to God to keep the Tzaddikim on the path of righteousness (v 7), hoping throughout their bitter persecution during their exile to see God's righteousness vindicated when He will overthrow the wicked at the end of days (vv 8ff). When God's judgments finally strike the earth, it teaches all its inhabitants to know and fear Him (v 9), whereas if favor is shown to the wicked (personified in the figure of Esau), he will never learn righteousness (v 10, see Rashi ad loc.). "HaShem, when Your hand is lifted up they will not see, but they shall see with shame Your zeal for the people, the fire which shall devour Your enemies" (v 11). "When suffering comes upon the wicked, they do not think that it comes from Your hands, but they will see that it is Your hand at the time of the salvation, when You avenge Your people and save them – they will be ashamed, because then they will not be able to say it is chance, because they will see how a tiny people are saved from many nations" (RaDaK ad loc.). Vv 13ff: After their redemption from the armies of Gog and Magog , Israel will recall how they were dominated by earthly masters throughout their long exile yet they never applied God's Name to anything or anyone other than Him (v 13). "They are dead, they shall not live…" (v 14). RaDaK (ad loc.) explains this as a reference to the lifeless idols of the nations, while Rashi (ad loc.) takes it as a prayer that the wicked should not live the life of the world to come and that the "shades" (REPHAIM) – i.e. those who weakened (REEPOO) their hands from the Torah and refused to keep it should not arise. "You have increased the nation [Israel], HaShem…" (v 15). "You have given them increased Torah, greatness and glory, and the more You have increased them, the

more You are glorified, because they give thanks and praises before You over every goodness, whereas this was not the practice of the nations, and for this reason You have distanced them from before You…" (Rashi ad loc.). "HaShem, in trouble they besought You, they poured out a silent prayer when Your chastening was upon them…" (v 16). In their future song of salvation, Israel recalls how their very suffering in exile caused them to seek out God through prayer. Vv 17f depict the tribulations prior to the final redemption as the painful contractions of a woman screaming as she is about to deliver. "It was as if we gave birth to wind; no salvations were wrought in the earth, and it seemed as if the inhabitants of the earth would not fall…" (v 18). Israel recalls how it seemed as if all the pains and tribulations were for nothing, because no baby was born – there was no redemption and no salvation. In the darkness of the exile it seemed as if the wicked nations would never fall (see Rashi on v 18). "The dead men of thy people shall live! My dead body shall arise…" (v 19). "Previously he prayed that the wicked should not live, but here he prays that the righteous should live" (Rashi). It is as if the prophet puts words into the mouth of HaShem to decree the resurrection of the dead martyrs. "Awake and sing, you that dwell in the dust, for your dew is as the dew on herbs…" This verse alludes to the "dew" through which the dead will be resurrected. The Hebrew words translated in the phrase "dew on herbs" are TAL OROTH. OROTH has the connotation of "lights", while TaL, "dew" is spelled Teth Lamed (=39), alluding to the sum of the numerical values of the letters contained in the expansion of the first three letters of the Tetragrammaton: Yud-Vav-Daleth; Heh-Aleph; Vav-AlephVav. These are the higher spiritual powers or "lights" of the Holy One blessed be He that will shine down to the NUKVA (Malchus) and revive the dead. "Come My people, enter into your chambers…" (v 20). RaDaK (ad loc.) explains that this verse contains the prophet's counsel to the people of Israel in the time of the war of Gog and Magog. At that time Israel will be in dire trouble for a short time. The prophet advises the people to seclude themselves in good deeds and complete Teshuvah, for the anger will only be for a short moment and the good will be saved. Rashi (ad loc.) explains that the "chambers" allude to the synagogues and study halls in which Israel are to gather in their time of crisis, or to the inner chambers of the heart in which each one should conduct his or her own deep self-reckoning.

Chapter 27 V 1: "On that day HaShem will with His harsh, great and mighty sword punish Leviathan the slant serpent and Leviathan the crooked serpent and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." RaDaK (ad loc.) states that this verse alludes to the overthrow of the nations in the war of Gog and Magog. Rashi (ad loc.) explains that "Leviathan the slant serpent" refers to Egypt and "Leviathan the crooked serpent" to Assyria (both of which are mentioned explicitly at the end of this chapter, verse 13) while the "dragon that is in the sea" refers to Edom-Rome. V 2: "On that day sing to her: A vineyard of foaming wine." After the future redemption the nations will sing this song in praise of Israel . In Isaiah's earlier allegory about Israel as God's vineyard (Isaiah 5:2), he had complained that despite being tended so carefully, the vineyard produced bad grapes. In contrast, at the time of the future salvation it will produce the best wine!

The following verses (3-6) are highly allusive. While our commentators interpret them in a variety of different ways, they are agreed that they refer to God's unique protective providence over Israel during their exile and/or at the time of the redemption. God may punish them, but He does not give vent to all His fury. Rashi interprets these verses as God's appeal to Israel to repent in order to enable Him to answer the attribute of Justice, which objects that Israel also sin and should thus be treated no differently from the nations. If Israel will only repent, God will be able to exact retribution from "those who make war against Me – that is, ISHMAEL" without the attribute of Justice being able to protest (Rashi on v 4). "Oh let him take hold of My strength that he make peace for Me" (v 5): God appeals to Israel to take hold of His Torah, which is His "strength", for this will assuage His anger and frustration at not being able to take vengeance on His enemies, and He will then have peace from the attribute of Justice, which will no longer be able to make accusations against Israel (see Rashi ad loc.). In time to come, when Israel will repent, they will take root and flourish and fill the earth with fruit (v 6). Vv 7ff continue with God's "appeal" to Israel to repent, pointing out that He has never smitten them in the same way as He has smitten the nations that have risen up against them (v 7). Rather, He has contended with them only in a measured way (v 8). For this reason all that is required of them in order to merit their redemption is to destroy their idolatrous altars (v 9) because if they repent of idolatry they will come to repent for all their other sins as well (RaDaK ad loc.). "For the fortified city will be solitary…" (v 10). Rashi paraphrases: "For if they do this [i.e. if Israel repents], the fortified city of ISHMAEL shall be solitary." It is noteworthy that twice in his commentary on this chapter Rashi singles out Ishmael as the chief contender against Israel at the end of days. "…There shall the calf feed…" (v 10). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that this alludes to Ephraim, who is compared to a calf (Jer. 31:17), and who will in time to come inherit the territories that will be abandoned by Israel's enemies. "And it shall come to pass on that day that HaShem shall beat out His harvest from the strongly flowing river as far as the brook of Egypt…" God's ingathering of the exiles is compared to the way a harvester beats the stalks and branches with a rod in order to separate the berries and gather them together (Metzudas David). The "strongly flowing river" is either the Euphrates (Rashi) or the River Sambation (RaDaK), to the other side of which the Ten Tribes were taken into exile by the Assyrians. From there they doubtless spread to many parts of the world, and from all of these they will be gathered in. "And on that day a great shofar shall be blown…" (v 13). The "great shofar" alludes to the spirit of prophecy that will come into the world in the final redemption to signal to the lost souls that the time of the ingathering has arrived. The prophet promises that in the final redemption all of the lost members of Israel will be gathered in from all their places of exile in order to worship God on the Temple Mount.

Chapter 28 "Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim…" (v 1). After having prophesied the final remedy – the ingathering of all the exiles, including the lost Ten Tribes, at the time of the future redemption – the prophet turns to address the

people of his own generation, the "drunkards of Ephraim", the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, who at this time stood on the very threshold of their coming exile at the hands of the Assyrians. This took place during Isaiah's prophetic ministry, in the sixth year of the reign of King Hezekiah. "Behold the Lord has one who is mighty and strong…" (v 2). This alludes to Sennacherib, who was to carry the Ten Tribes into exile. "On that day HaShem of Hosts will be for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty to the residue of His people…" (v 5). With the destruction of the sinners, God's "crown of glory" would adorn the remaining Tzaddikim – i.e. Hezekiah and the righteous among the people of Judah (see Rashi and RaDaK ad loc.). He would teach them to practice true justice and give strength to those fighting the war of Torah (Rashi on verse 6). "But these also reel through wine…" (v 7). Here the prophet begins to castigate those in Judah and Benjamin who behaved like the drunkards of Ephraim. "For all tables are filled with vomit and filth…" (v 8). The rabbis cited this verse as referring to the tables of those who eat but do not speak words of Torah during their meal (Pirkey Avot 3:3). "To whom shall one teach knowledge (YOREH DE'AH)?" (v 9). The prophet is complaining that the people have strayed onto the path of evil and nobody is left with sufficient understanding to grasp his message. The phrase YOREH DE'AH was adapted as the name of the second of the four sections of the Arba'ah Turim ("Four Rows") and Shulchan Aruch ("Arranged Table") codes of Torah law, dealing with the laws of Kashrus, Family Purity, Ribis (forbidden interest) and many other important areas of ISSUR VE-HEITER ("what is prohibited and what is permitted"). "For it is precept upon precept… line upon line… here a little and there a little…" (v 10). The prophet complains that the people are so intent on their own enjoyment and so far from God's commandments that it is necessary to add fence after fence to protect the law (Metzudas David ad loc.). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that for every commandment that the prophet urged the people to fulfill in the name of HaShem, they adduced a counter-commandment which they felt constrained to fulfill for the sake of their idols. "For with stammering lips and another tongue shall one speak to this people" (v 11) – "Whoever speaks to them any word of prophecy or reproof seems to them like an unintelligible stammerer" (Rashi ad loc.). "For He said to them, this is repose – to give respite to the weary…" (v 12). God wanted to teach the people the way to true tranquility and rest – by leaving the poor and weak instead of robbing and oppressing them (Metzudas ad loc.) but "they did not want to listen" (v 12) and therefore God would send them oppressors who would impose their own commands on the people in retribution for their neglect of God's commandments (v 13). Vv 14ff warn the leaders of the people of how God would deal with them because of their boasting that they had made a "covenant with death and an agreement with hell" (v 15). It may be that Isaiah had in mind those fifth columnists in Jerusalem like Shevna the scribe, who plotted to capitulate to Sennacherib thinking that this would save them from death. [After the 1993 "Oslo Agreement" between the Israeli government and the P.L.O. leading Torah scholars applied this verse to those in Israel who thought they could make a protective covenant with terrorists. Thus the Targum renders the phrase "we have made a covenant with death and an

agreement with hell" as: "we have made a covenant with a KILLER and we have made peace with a TERRORIST (MECHABEL)". "Therefore says the Lord God, Behold I am establishing for a foundation in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation" (v 16). This alludes to Melech HaMashiach (Rashi) and to Hezekiah (Metzudas David & RaDaK). Just like the corner stone is the foundation of the entire building, so the righteous Messianic king is the secure foundation for every believing Israelite. "He that believes shall not make haste" (v 16): "A true believer does not say that if it is true, he should come quickly" (Rashi ad loc.). The "covenant with death" made by the wicked would only be atoned through the terror that would be unleashed by Sennacherib against Judah (vv 18ff). "For the bed is too short for a man to stretch himself…" (v 20): the territory of Judah would be too narrow to accommodate all of Sennacherib's armies (RaDaK ad loc.). The work that God would do in the land of Judah would be "strange" (v 21) because He would use an alien and merciless proxy, i.e. Sennacherib, to carry out His plan. The prophet pleads with the people not to mock him for his prophecies (v 22). Verses 23-28 present an allegory about how an expert farmer goes about his work, sowing and later processing each crop in the way uniquely suited to it. God is the "plowman" while Israel is the "land". The "plowman" prepared the "land" for sowing by taking Israel out of Egypt with many miracles. But the work of plowing does not continue for ever. As soon as the land is ready, it is time to "sow" the seeds. Thus God gave Israel the Torah and the commandments, but different people are on different levels and the different crops have to be tended in different ways in order to bring each to perfection. The work of threshing (separating the grain from the chaff) cannot go on for too long because if it does, all the berries will disintegrate. It would be better for the people to imbibe the message of rebuke (the "threshing") quickly instead of being stubborn and having to be beaten down continuously (see Rashi and RaDaK). "This also came from HaShem of hosts: He is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom" (v 29). Just as the "farmer" uses many subtle skills in producing a diversity of good crops, so God exercises His providence in the most wondrous ways in order to bring all the diverse souls to produce their crop of good deeds, each in accordance with its own unique potential. The Haftara of the first parshah in the book of Exodus, SHEMOS (according to the custom of the Ashkenazi communities) consists of selections from the chapters discussed in the present commentary: Isaiah 27:6-13; 28:1-13 and 29:22-23.

Chapter 29 "Ho Ariel! Ariel!" (v 1): Ariel, literally "the lion of God", refers to the Temple in general and specifically to the Altar (cf. Ezekiel 43:16), because "the fire that came down upon the Altar from heaven crouched upon it like a lion" (Metzudas Tzion on verse 1). The Temple building itself – the back of which was narrow while the front was broad – also resembled a lion (Tractate Middos 37a). The reason why King David is mentioned in this verse is because it was he who discovered the true site of the Altar (see I Chron. 21:18ff; RaDaK on our present verse). The prophet is grieving over the coming assault on Jerusalem by Assyria, chastising the people because "you add year upon year; the festivals will be cut off" (v 1). He is warning that if they would not repent, the Altar would be destroyed and then

their sins would accumulate from year to year instead of being atoned through the daily and festival sacrifices (Metzudas David). Sennacherib would lay siege to Jerusalem, where the people would mourn the many that he would kill in the surrounding towns of Judah. Then Jerusalem – surrounded by the bodies of the dead – would itself be like an Altar surrounded by its slaughtered animals (v 2). The people would have to suffer this because of the insincerity with which they brought sacrifices to the Temple. Only the terrors of the siege of Jerusalem – which the prophet depicts in verse 3 – would humble their hearts, and they would then pray to God in a lowly, barely audible voice like that of a necromancer (v 4). And as soon as the people would turn to God, "The multitude of your strangers [=the enemy] shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be like chaff that passes away, and it shall be in an instant suddenly" (v 5). Here the prophet foretells the overthrow of Sennacherib's armies, who would be consumed by the fire of God's angel and turned to ashes (Rashi ad loc.). The enemy's vain ambitions of conquering Jerusalem would turn out to be as empty as a passing dream (vv 7-8). The fact that our commentators relate this prophecy to the overthrow of Sennacherib, which took place over two thousand five hundred years ago, in no way detracts from its relevance in our times, because Sennacherib's onslaught against Jerusalem was the prototype of the destined assault against Jerusalem by the armies of Gog and Magog at the end of days. Then too the people will have to repent and call out to God from a position of abject lowliness in order to merit the tremendous salvation that He will bring about at that time. Verses 9-12 can be seen to address the bewildered Jews of today who suddenly find themselves confronting a hostility from the nations not seen since the days of the Holocaust, with daily-renewed threats to the survival of their tiny country. Many seem to be as in a drunken stupor and a sleep, bereft of guidance from true prophets and seers. "And the vision of all this has become to you as the words of a book that is sealed…" The vision that applies to our times is indeed contained in these prophecies in this very book of Isaiah, but it has become "sealed" and closed up because of people's inability – or unwillingness – to see its relevance. The prophet's rebuke is directed not only against those who do not observe the Torah at all. Even more, he castigates those who give the outward appearance of piety while in truth being far from true devotion. "For this people draw near with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me, but they have removed their heart far from Me and their fear of Me is like a commandment of men learned by rote" (v 13). Each one of us must seriously consider how this rebuke applies to us and how we can correct what we must correct. For the mindless, mechanical repetition of our prayers out of mere habit without inner feeling and devotion leads to the loss of wisdom and understanding (v 14). It is a terrible mistake when people believe they can hide behind an outer façade of piety while "secretly" following the devices of their own hearts, as if God is unaware of their deeds. How can a mere creature imagine that He who created him does not understand what is in his heart? (vv 15-16). The people's complacency will lead to the complete overthrow of the world order with which they are familiar (v 17), and only at that moment of supreme crisis will the "deaf" finally hear the message of the books of the prophets and the eyes of the "blind" see (v 18). The redemption that will sprout through the repentance engendered by the attack on Jerusalem will bring joy to the meek and humble (v 19) while the wicked will be destroyed (vv 20-21).

The sight of the Children of Israel repenting at the end of days will be to the glory of the patriarchs, whose descendants will again display heroic devotion to HaShem just as their ancestors, bringing about a great sanctification of His Name (vv 22-24).

Chapter 30 The rebuke of the prophet in this chapter against the "rebellious children" who take counsel and prepare plans to face the enemy without consulting true Torah sages and prophets (v 1) is directly primarily against those who "travel to go down to Egypt" (v 2). RaDaK points out that we find nothing in any of our sources relating to the reigns of Uzziah, Yotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah in which Isaiah prophesied that might indicate that there was a party in Jerusalem seeking aid from Egypt against Assyria . There was indeed such a party seeking Egypt 's help against Babylon several generations later, prior to the destruction of the Temple in the time of King Tzedekiah, but it is hard to interpret the present prophecy as referring to them since it explicitly foretells the redemption from Assyria in the time of Hezekiah (see v 31). RaDaK surmises that despite the absence of any explicit reference in the book of Kings or Chronicles, such a party may well have existed in the time of King Ahaz or in that of Hezekiah, who was faced with the challenge of dealing with a highly recalcitrant leadership elite (see RaDaK on v 1). The contemporary parallel to the ancient "pro-Egyptian" party in Jerusalem is obviously the sizeable number of Jews today who believe that Israel is totally dependent upon the favor of America and other temporal powers for its survival, when the truth is that Israel's only true supporter is HaShem, and the only way to elicit His favor and compassion is through repentance, prayer and the fulfillment of His Torah. "And the strength of Pharaoh shall be for shame and the trust in the shadow of Egypt for confusion" (v 3). The shuttle of treasure-bearing asses and camels carrying bribes down to Egypt (v 6) is reminiscent of the endless shuttle of briefcase-bearing Israeli officials trying to curry favor in Washington and other capitals. "For Egypt shall help in vain and to no purpose" (v 7). "Now go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, so that it may be for time to come for ever and ever…" (v 8). The prophet states quite plainly that his message applies to future ages – i.e. TODAY! The problem remains that we are "children that will not hear the Torah of HaShem, who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not to us right things but speak to us smooth things, prophesy delusions" (vv 9-10). People prefer to hear how the pundits rate the latest "Peace Plan" rather than hearkening to the prophet's call to repent! The prophet warns that the people's recalcitrance will lead to calamity, and the entire structure of trust and faith in temporal salvation would be smashed to useless little bits (vv 12-14). "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In ease and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength – but you did not want it" (v 15). If the people would only put their faith in HaShem and devote their main effort to the fulfillment of His Torah, the path to redemption would be easy. But if they stubbornly try to save themselves through worldly stratagems, "Therefore HaShem will WAIT to be gracious to you…" (v 15). The redemption will surely come, but only after a long period of hardship. "Happy are all who wait for Him" (ibid.) – "i.e. who wait for the consolations He has promised, for not one word will be unfulfilled" (Rashi).

Verses 19ff prophesy that the time will come when the Tzaddikim remaining in Jerusalem will be answered by God. "And HaShem shall give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, and your Teacher shall not be hidden any more but your eyes shall see Your teacher…" (v 20). Rashi explains that God will feed the people "the bread of adversity" "because you will not be attached to worldly pleasures as you are now" and then "your Teacher" – i.e. "the Holy One blessed-be-He, who teaches you how to succeed" – will no longer be concealed. Targum on verse 20 renders: "And HaShem will bring to you the possessions of the enemy and the plunder of the oppressor and He will no longer remove His Indwelling Presence from the Holy Temple but your eyes will see My Shechinah in the Holy Temple ". "Your eyes shall see your Teacher" also applies to seeing the true Tzaddik in the flesh. Thus Rabbi Judah the Prince said, "The reason I am sharper than my companions is because I once caught sight of Rabbi Meir from behind. And if I had seen him from in front I would have been sharper still, as it says, 'Your eyes shall see your teacher'" (Talmud Eiruvin 13b). In vv 23ff the prophet depicts the great blessing that will come into the world when Israel will cast away their idols. "And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of the seven days…" (v 26). This verse depicts the radiant spiritual light that will shine when Israel will repent at the end of days. The moon (the receiver, Malchus, the Shechinah) will receive the full light of the sun (Kudsha Berich Hu, Zeir Anpin), and the "sun" itself will shine 7 x 7 x 7 as brightly as the original light of creation, i.e. 343 times as brightly (see Rashi and Targum on v 26). Vv 27ff prophesy the downfall of Sennacherib's armies. "And the song shall be for you like on the night of the sanctification of the festival" (v 29). The delivery from Sennacherib was to come on the festival of Pesach, which is celebrated with song (Rashi ad loc.). "For its hearth is ordained of old, it is prepared for the king" (v 33). The "hearth" (TOPHTEH) refers to Gehennom, "because everyone who is seduced (MIT-PHATEH) by his evil inclination falls there" (Rashi). A place in hell had already been prepared for Sennacherib and his armies.

Chapter 31 "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help…" (v 1). On the surface the prophecy contained in this relatively short chapter seems simply to continue the theme of the previous chapter, castigating those in Judah in the time of Ahaz and Hezekiah who sought help from Egypt against the Assyrian threat instead of putting their faith in HaShem. Yet Rabbi Nachman of Breslov revealed that this chapter has a more timeless significance and contains deep secrets about the future redemption, taking it as the basis for one of his lengthiest stories, "The Prayer Leader" (see Rabbi Nachman's Stories translated by R. Aryeh Kaplan, p. 350f). The plot of the story revolves around a certain Country of Wealth where the people had made money and material wealth the basis of a most elaborate system of idolatry. They were being threatened by a mighty warrior, whom they sought to escape by seeking assistance from another even wealthier country, but only the Prayer Leader proved able to save them from the mighty warrior, taking them on a highly circuitous pathway in order to cure them of their idolatry, as told at length in the story. The Country of Wealth seems to symbolize our national establishment, which has lapsed into the pursuit of wealth as an end in itself, believing that only through

material means is it possible to accomplish anything in this world while spurning the pathway of the Torah, where the spiritual purpose of life is paramount. The idolatry of materialism is prevalent among the secular Jewish "leadership" of today both in Israel and the Diaspora. Whereas the true leadership of the Jewish people – the rabbis of the Sanhedrin – are appointed only on account of their wisdom, today's most prominent secular Jewish leaders owe their influence entirely to their wealth – for if they did not have it, nobody would pay them the slightest attention. The very respect these leaders are accorded proves that those who give it to them and see them as their leaders are also entrenched in mental enslavement to the idolatry of wealth. It is obvious that the consensus among the materialistic secular Jewish leadership of today is that Israel can only be secure with a strong army combined with vast amounts of aid from its mighty "allies". This leadership not only ignores the Torah but actively fights it. "Woe to those who go down to Egypt [=USA etc.?] for help and depend on horses and trust in chariots… and they have not looked to the Holy One of Israel and they have not sought out HaShem" (v 1). "Yet He too is wise and will bring evil…" (v 2). The people use every kind of sophistication in the material means they employ to protect themselves from the threats they face, seeking "help from Egypt ". But God is wiser and He will thwart all their efforts (see Metzudas David ad loc.). Likewise today we are all witnesses to the fact that no matter what worldly means (military, technological, diplomatic, economic, scientific, cultural etc.) Israel's secular leadership have used in the hope of inducing the country's enemies to end their hostility, everything has always ended in utter failure and Israel is today confronted with greater hostility than ever throughout the world. In order to show the futility of relying on worldly means while spurning God's Torah, "When HaShem will stretch out His hand, the helper shall stumble and the one who is helped shall fall down, and they shall all perish together" (v 3). Verses 4-5 depict the might and speed with which God would in the end miraculously intervene to save Jerusalem – as when He would wipe out the armies of Sennacherib in one night, and as He will do at the end of days, when He will overthrow the armies of Gog and Magog. His might is compared to that of a fearless lion snatching its prey (v 4), while His speed is compared to that of swooping birds (v 5). "Turn to Him from whom you have deeply revolted…" (v 6). The prophet calls on the people to cast aside their idolatry of wealth and worldly means, because in the end they would have to anyway when faced with the dire threat of Sennacherib/Gog and Magog: "for on that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold which your own hands have made to you for a sin" (v 7). When the time of crisis would arrive, everyone would see that the idols of this world cannot help at all. The overthrow of Sennacherib – like the future overthrow of Gog and Magog – would come about not by means of the sword of a human being but through God's miracles (vv 8). So said the prophet in the name of God, "whose hearth is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem" (v 9). On one level the "hearth" and the "furnace" symbolize the "fire" with which God would burn up the enemies at the very gates of Jerusalem. On another level, they refer to the Temple Altar, in whose honor God would carry out the miracle (RaDaK). The Temple Altar represents the very opposite of the worship of wealth, for man takes his choicest produce and animals (=wealth) only to burn them into nothing on the Altar for the sake of God,

in order to atone for his sins and to correct his spiritual flaws, which are themselves rooted in the desire for wealth.

Chapter 32 "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness…" (v 1). The opening verses of this prophecy foretell the return of the rule of justice with the ascent to the throne of the Messianic king. In the time of Isaiah this was to be Hezekiah, who would steer the nation through the worst moments of Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem through his great might in the fear of HaShem (see Rashi on v 2). It was precisely because of his pursuit of justice and righteousness that the great salvation would take place in his days (RaDaK on v 2). This prophecy also alludes to the future Mashiach. "And the eyes of them that see shall not be turned away, and the ears of those who hear shall hearken" (v 3). Earlier God had told the prophet that his words would have no effect on the people except to "make their ears heavy and smear over their eyes" (Isaiah 6:10). But in the great arousal of Teshuvah that would take place under the shadow of Sennacherib and at the end of days under the shadow of Gog and Magog, they will now see the truth and hearken to the prophet. "The vile person shall no longer be called generous…" (v 5ff). A good part of the work of Melech HaMashiach is the repair of language, which in the time of Isaiah had been corrupted through flattery and glib sophistication just as it has been corrupted in our times, when the vilest killers, robbers, oppressors, cheats and liars parade on the stage of world leadership to the adulation of the compliant media. But in the time of Mashiach the masks and veils will be removed and people will see and talk about things in their true light (vv 5-8). A new section of this prophecy begins in verse 9 calling upon the "women that are at ease" and the "complacent daughters" to realize that very hard times lay ahead and to prepare themselves for the horrors of exile and destruction (vv 11-13). RaDaK (on v 10) writes: "It is possible to interpret this prophecy as referring either to the future destruction of the whole of the land of Israel and the destruction of the Temple in the days of Tzedekiah, or to the destruction of the Second Temple, in which case the consolation in v 15, 'until a spirit be poured upon us from on high', refers to the days of Mashiach. Or alternatively, this prophecy could refer to the destruction of the cities of Israel and the exile of the Ten Tribes in the days of Hosea son of Elah, and of the cities of Judah that Sennacherib captured, in which case the consolation would refer to the days of Hezekiah, after the plague in the camp of the Assyrians." "…The fort and the tower shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks" (v 14). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that the wild asses are Ishmael while the pasturing flocks are Edom. All this will last "until a spirit will be poured upon us from on high" (v 15) – this is the indwelling spirit that will emanate from the Shechinah at the time of the redemption (see Targum on this verse). "Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness and righteousness in the fruitful field" (v 16). The "wilderness" refers to Jerusalem during the time of the exile, while the "fruitful field" is the land of Israel, "which will in those days be like a fruitful field" (Rashi ad loc.). "And the work of righteousness (TZEDAKAH=charity) will be peace" (v 17). True peace comes not through the machinations of crooked politicians but only by sowing the seeds of righteousness and charity.

"And it shall hail in the downfall of the forest and the city shall descend into the valley" (v 19). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that the Holy One blessed be He will rain down "hail" upon the wicked, who are now built up with full cities thick as a forest. In view of the contemporary world situation, it is noteworthy that Rashi specifically identifies the "city" that "shall descend into the valley" as being the capital of PERSIA (Rashi on v 19). "Happy are you…" – Israel – "…who sow…" – i.e. acts of charity – "…over all waters, sending away the foot of the ox and the donkey." The ox is Edom while the donkey is Ishmael (Yalkut Reuveni).

Chapter 33 "Woe to the spoiler – you who have not yet been spoiled…" (v 1). This prophecy can be interpreted as referring to the time of King Hezekiah, when Sennacherib was the "spoiler" who as yet had not suffered the same fate as the many victims of his conquests – until he was finally overthrown at the gates of Jerusalem. Equally this prophecy can be interpreted as a future prophecy about the days of Mashiach, when the king of Edom, the fourth empire in Daniel's vision (Daniel 2:40ff), will be called "the spoiler" (RaDaK on verse 1 of our present chapter). Here the prophet foretells that as soon as the mission of the "spoiler" – to bring Israel to repent out of helpless fear – will have been accomplished, he will immediately be overthrown.? This prophecy about the coming overthrow of the oppressor elicits a prayer and affirmation of faith from the lips of the people in verse 2: "HaShem: be gracious to us…" (v 2). The prophet then begins to depict the overthrow of the oppressor – referring to Sennacherib and/or the armies of Gog and Magog: "At the noise of the multitude, the peoples fled…" (v 3). Their booty will be left for Israel (v 4). The miraculous salvation from an enemy that seemed invincible will show that God alone reigns supreme – and then Zion will be filled with justice and charity, because the greatness of the miracle will inspire everyone to follow this pathway (v 5, see Metzudas David).? "And your faith in your times [of trouble] shall be the stronghold of salvations, wisdom and knowledge…" (v 6). Rashi explains that Israel's stronghold is the faith they have in God during the hard times they have undergone, always waiting and hoping for salvation. The Talmud (Shabbos 31a) darshens each of the six terms in the first part of this verse as alluding to one of the six orders of the Mishneh: "Your faith" refers to the order of ZERA'IM ("Seeds"), because it is a matter of faith to pray to God and observe all the agricultural laws of the Torah before being able to eat of one's harvest. "Your times" refers to the order of MO'ED, dealing with the festivals. The "stronghold" is NASHIM, dealing with marriage, because one's house is one's stronghold. "Salvations" refers to NEZIKIM, because the laws of damages etc. bring salvation and peace between people. "Wisdom" refers to KODOSHIM dealing with the Temple sacrifices, while "knowledge" refers to TOHOROS dealing with the laws of ritual impurity and purification, for only with purity can there be true knowledge and understanding.? "Behold, the mighty ones shall cry outside; ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly" (v 7). Following the prophecy of salvation and consolation in the previous verses, the prophet now speaks of the suffering that Israel would have to endure prior to the overthrow of the oppressor – Sennacherib or Gog and Magog. Thus Sennacherib overran the whole of Judah before his overthrow at the height of his siege of Jerusalem. In vv 7-9, the "mighty ones" – celestial angels or earthly messengers – weep bitterly over the spectacle of devastation in Judah because of the attacking enemies.?

"Now I shall arise, says HaShem…" Precisely when all seems lost, God will intervene to save His people.? "You shall conceive chaff and you shall bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire that shall devour you" (v 11). This is addressed to Israel's enemies, who advance towards Jerusalem drunk with the thought of conquering it, but in fact this very thought will be the cause of their downfall.? "Hear, you that are far off, what I have done, and you that are near, know My might" (v 13). God's miraculous salvation of His people will be a challenge to all to acknowledge His supremacy. Rashi's thought-provoking explanation of the phrase "you that are FAR OFF" is that it refers to "those who have believed in Me and carried out My will from their youth", while "you that are NEAR" refers to "the BAALEY TESHUVAH ('returnees') who have drawn close to Me anew" (Rashi on v 13). Perhaps Rashi is teaching us that veteran Torah-observers are in danger of being "far off" if they imagine they are "near" while their practice is mechanical, but that everyone can become "near" by renewing and refreshing their devotion at all times.? Verse 14 depicts the terrible consternation that will take hold of the Israelite sinners under the looming threat of the oppressor – Sennacherib or Gog and Magog. They will ask who can possibly still the burning fire of the enemies' hostility. The prophet answers by depicting the pathway of integrity, honesty and the rejection of evil that will bring the people to salvation (v 15). It is the man of righteousness who will dwell securely on high as in a fortress, adequately provided with his bread and water (v 16). The simple meaning of verse 17 is that the righteous will be worthy of seeing the Messianic king – Hezekiah, or Melech HaMashiach – in all his glory, but Targum explains that they will see the Indwelling Presence of the King of the Universe, while simultaneously witnessing the descent of the wicked into hell. "Your heart shall muse on terror: where is the scribe…?" (v 18). Rashi (ad loc.) explains: "When you see the princes and sages of the nations who were rulers in their lifetimes and now they are judged in hell, your heart will muse on terror and you will say, Where is their wisdom and greatness, where is the one who was a scribe in his lifetime and who used to weigh every question involving wisdom when they asked his counsel on issues of government...?"? Vv 19-20: The fierce oppressors with their stammering, incomprehensible language will disappear from sight, while Jerusalem will remain, tranquil, serene and unmovable.? V 21: "A place of broad rivers and streams wherein no galley with oars will go…" The future Jerusalem will be as if surrounded by rivers that no enemy will be able to cross. This verse alludes to the "spring that will go forth from the House of HaShem" (Joel 4:18; cf. Ezekiel 47:3), surrounding Jerusalem with the waters of the knowledge of God, making it a haven of spirituality (see Rashi on v 21).? "Your ropes have become loosened; they could not strengthen the socket of their mast…" (v 23). Israel's enemies are here symbolized as warships whose rigging has been entirely pulled down, leaving them immobilized as the helpless prey of Israel (see Targum). At that time none of the inhabitants of Israel will any more have reason to feel sick and burdened by the troubles of exile, because they will all be forgiven their sins at the time of the redemption (see Rashi on v 24).?

Chapter 34 "Draw near O nations to hear…" (v 1). RaDaK (ad loc.) states that "this prophecy refers to the future destruction of Rome, after which the prophet foretells the salvation of Israel (in chapter 35). He refers to Edom by the name of Batzrah (v 6) because Batzrah had been a great city in the original kingdom of Edom (cf. Gen. 36:33, where Batzrah was the city of one of the kings of Edom). The kingdom of Rome mostly consists of Edomites who adhere to the Christian religion, and even though many other peoples have become mixed up with them, the emperor Caesar was an Edomite and likewise all the kings who came after him in Rome."? The prophet calls on the whole earth and all its inhabitants to attend to his message of coming doom. Vv 2-3 foretell the terrible calamity that will befall the nations, accompanied by the overthrow of their guardian angels in heaven (v 4).? "For HaShem has a sacrifice in Batzrah" (v 6). The original Edomite city of Batzrah was in the mountains of Moab east of the Dead Sea, in the southern territories of the present-day kingdom of Jordan. Batzrah should not be identified with the latterday Iraqi city of Basra even though this is now proving to be a considerable stumbling block to the British (Edomite?) army that is fighting there. Metzudas David (ad loc.) suggests that BATZRAH is related to the word MIVTZAR, which means a fortress, and that it is used here to refer to "the great city of Rome ".? The collapse of Edom will lead to the fall of many other nations with them (v 7) in vengeance for their persecution of Israel throughout history (v 8). Verses 9-10 depict the demise of Edom as a lasting ecological catastrophe that will serve as an eternal warning to all humanity never to repeat their evil. Edom will be desolate "from generation to generation" (v 10) because, as prophesied by Moses, God's war against Amalek (= Edom) is "from generation to generation" (Exodus 17:16, Rashi on verse 10 in our present chapter). Vv 11-15 depict how the ruins of Edom will be the haunt of every kind of wild animal as well as of demons and demonesses. The prophet promises that when people will witness this devastation in time to come, they will look in the Book of HaShem – i.e. this prophecy – and see that not a single detail will have been left unfulfilled (RaDaK).?

Chapter 35 "The wilderness and the arid land shall rejoice…" (v 1). This very beautiful prophecy of the future glory of Israel and Jerusalem comes as the conclusion of Isaiah's lengthy series of prophecies about the coming downfall of the nations, before leading into the narrative portion of the book telling of Sennacherib's abortive siege of Jerusalem , his downfall and the events that followed (chs 36-39). The present prophecy of how the "wilderness" will burst into blossom comes in contrast to the prophecy in the previous chapter (ch 34) about the utter devastation that will befall Edom in the end of days. "We may interpret the 'wilderness' and the 'arid land' as referring to the Land of Israel, which was like a wilderness from the day Israel went into exile from there, but now, with the destruction of the land of Edom, Israel will rejoice and be glad, for with the destruction of Edom, Israel will be restored" (RaDaK on v 1). Every visitor to modern Israel is witness to the literal fulfillment of this prophecy in our times with the influx of returning Jews to the land and the subsequent transformation of the arid desert waste left after nearly two thousand years of neglect into the greatest agricultural wonder of the world.

"…the glory of the Lebanon shall be given to her" (v 2). "'Lebanon' is the Holy Temple " (Rashi ad loc.). [It is called Lebanon – LeV NuN – because the Temple is the manifestation of the perfect unification of Chochmah-Wisdom, which consists of 32 Pathways=LeV, together with Binah-Understanding, which consists of 50 Gateways=Nun. LeV-Nun = Lebanon.] "Strengthen weak hands and make firm tottering knees" (v 3). The prophet calls on all the prophets of salvation to give encouragement to those who have fallen into despair of ever being redeemed. Those of "fearful" (lit. "speedy") hearts (v 4) are those who yearn for a speedy redemption and are thus full of sorrow over its delay: they need not fear that it will not come because God – here called ELOKIM (alluding to the attribute of Justice) – will surely avenge His people and execute justice (Metzudas David ad loc.). "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped" (v 5). The "blind" and the "deaf" refer to Israel in the time of their exile, suffering the taunts and insults of the nations while acting as if they do not see or hear them (Metzudas David ad loc.; Rashi on v 6). "And the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water" (v 7). When one sees an arid desert, it is almost impossible to believe that it could be ever turned into a water-rich, fertile land. Yet Israel has witnessed such miracles in our times, and this should strengthen our faith that all the other promises of the prophets will be fulfilled. "No lion shall be found there nor any ravenous beast" (v 9). These are the nations that formerly oppressed Israel (Targum ad loc.). Thus the lion alludes to Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the First Temple (cf. Jeremiah 4:7; see Rashi on verse 9 of our present chapter). "And HaShem's redeemed people shall return and come to Zion with songs and EVERLASTING JOY ON THEIR HEADS" (v 10). This is a prophecy that Israel will be restored to the spiritual level they attained at the Giving of the Torah prior to the sin of the golden calf. In the words of the Talmud: "At the moment when Israel said they 'We shall DO and we shall HEAR' (Exodus 24:7) – i.e. they would PRACTICE the precepts of the Torah even before they would HEAR (=UNDERSTAND) their meaning – six hundred thousand ministering angels came and attached two crowns on the head of each Israelite, one corresponding to 'we shall do' and the other corresponding to 'we shall hear'. But when Israel sinned, twelve hundred thousand destroying angels descended and removed them, as it says, 'And the children of Israel were stripped of their ornaments from Mt Horeb (Ex. 33:6). But in time to come the Holy One blessed be He will restore them to us, as it is written, 'And HaShem's redeemed people shall return… and EVERLASTING JOY (SIMCHAS OLAM) on their heads' – i.e. the joy of yore that was on their heads" (Shabbos 88a).

Chapter 36 The narrative contained in the coming chapters (36-39) about Sennacherib's assault on Judah and his siege of Jerusalem, Hezekiah's mortal illness and recovery and his showing all his treasures to the emissaries from Babylon appears with certain variations in II Kings chs 18-20 and also in a somewhat more abbreviated version in II Chronicles ch 32. The miraculous delivery of Jerusalem from the clutches of Sennacherib was undoubtedly the most outstanding and dramatic event that occurred during Isaiah's

prophetic ministry. As discussed in our commentary on the earlier portions of Isaiah, years earlier he had prophesied repeatedly that this would take place. The fact that it actually did should greatly strengthen our faith that all his other prophecies and consolations about the end of days will also be fulfilled. Sennacherib's attack was the prototype of the destined future attack on Jerusalem by the armies of Gog and Magog (see Sanhedrin 94a), and Sennacherib's overthrow is the sign that Gog and Magog will also be overthrown. "Sennacherib came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them" (v 1). In order to appreciate the full drama of Ravshakeh's psychological warfare against the people of Jerusalem as told in this chapter, it is necessary to realize that Sennacherib's armies had overrun and were occupying the entire territory of Judah. Only King Hezekiah and the remnants of the population who were walled up with him in the besieged city were holding out against the Assyrian world superpower, which had already swallowed up all the other nations in the region. Moreover, Hezekiah and his party, who with the support of Isaiah were in favor of continuing their defiance, were in the minority, while Shevna and his "fifth column", who were ready to capitulate, were in the majority (Sanhedrin 26a; see KNOW YOUR BIBLE on Isaiah ch 22). Ravshakeh himself was a living testimony to the apparent benefits of capitulation, for according to rabbinic tradition, Sennacherib's henchman was a MOOMAR – an apostate, i.e. an Israelite who had embraced idolatry (Sanhedrin 60a). Vv 4-10: Ravshakeh contemptuously dismisses any notion that Hezekiah can succeed in defying Sennacherib. Hezekiah's only possible ally, Egypt , is a broken reed that merely pierces the hand of anyone who takes hold of it. And if Hezekiah thinks his campaign of religious purification in Jerusalem will elicit God's favor, he must realize that he does not even have two thousand riders, let alone two thousand horses, to confront Sennacherib's vast armies, which had already overrun all the rest of Judah with God's assent. "Please speak to your servants in the language of Aram for we understand it and do not speak to us in the Judean language in the hearing of the people that are on the wall." Aramaic was the international diplomatic language of the time (as we find in the books of Daniel and Ezra etc.) and would have been known to the king's courtiers but not to the general populace. Since Ravshakeh had initially called to Hezekiah's courtiers asking them to convey a message to the king (v 4), they did not think that he was intentionally trying to sow fear among the people. They also may have hoped that Ravshakeh might accede to their request because although he was acting under orders from Sennacherib, as an apostate he may have had some residual feelings in his heart for his native family (Rashi on v 11). The courtiers' request to Ravshakeh to be more discreet had the opposite effect, making him even more bombastic – for his intention was indeed to sow fear among the people. "Thus says the king of Assyria : Make an agreement with me and come out to me… until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards." (v 16). Sennacherib was the first champion of "population exchange", sending all the peoples he conquered into exile far away from their native territories, thereby cutting their ties with their lands, which would make them far less liable to revolt. Ravshakeh described the land to which he proposed to exile them as "a land LIKE YOUR OWN LAND". "Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, Ravshakeh was a fool, because he did not know how to persuade. If someone wants to marry a woman and he

says, Your father is a king and I am a king, your father is wealthy and I am wealthy, your father feeds you meat, fish and old wine and I will feed you meat, fish and old wine, this is no inducement. What is an inducement? If he says: Your father is a commoner but I am a king, your father is poor but I am rich, your father feeds you vegetables and beans but I will feed you meat and fish… Even when Ravshakeh came to recount the praises of the foreign land he was offering as an inducement, he was unable to find anything derogatory to say about the Land of Israel!" (Sifri, Ekev #1). Ravshakeh's undoing came because of his arrogant confidence in Assyria's earthly might. He bragged that just as the idols of all the nations that Sennacherib had conquered had failed to save their peoples, so HaShem would be unable to save Jerusalem. This was outright blasphemy, and since it came not from a heathen but from an Israelite apostate, Hezekiah's courtiers rent their garments on hearing it (Rambam, Laws of Idolatry 2:10).

Chapter 37 On hearing his ministers' report about Ravshakeh's blasphemies, Hezekiah was obliged to rend his garments (Rambam, Laws of Idolatry 2:8). It is a sign of his loyalty to the path of King David that in the face of the Assyrian threat, Hezekiah immediately sent messengers to the prophet in order to know what to do. Isaiah told the king's ministers that God would put another spirit into Sennacherib "and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land" (v 7). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that Sennacherib would hear the rumor IMMEDIATELY but that his return to his own land would take place only LATER. This is what actually happened. As we read in verse 9, Sennacherib heard a report that Tirhakah king of Kush (in Africa) was on his way out to war against him, and he immediately turned south to march to Egypt to fight him. It was then that he sent messengers to Hezekiah not to think that he was abandoning his plan of capturing Jerusalem (vv 10ff). After defeating the armies of Egypt and Kush Sennacherib did indeed return to Jerusalem laden with plunder, and this was when "the angel of HaShem went out and smote the camp of Assyria" as we read near the end of the present chapter (v 36), forcing Sennacherib to return in disgrace to his land, where he was killed by his own sons (v 38). The message Sennacherib sent to Hezekiah when he went to fight Tirhakah king of Kush was filled with exactly the same kind of arrogant bombast that his henchman Ravshakeh had spouted forth at the walls of Jerusalem, as described in the previous chapter. Hezekiah took Sennacherib's letters and spread them out in the Temple , where he skillfully used the Assyrian king's blasphemies to add strength to his own appeal to God to deliver Jerusalem in order to show that He alone has power, unlike the idols of wood and stone that had proved incapable of saving the nations who worshipped them (vv 15-21). God answered Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah (vv 21-35), castigating Sennacherib for his arrogance. "Through your servants you have taunted HaShem saying, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon" (v 24). "The height of the mountains" is the Temple Mount , while " Lebanon " refers to the Temple building (Rashi ad loc.), which Sennacherib evidently had visions of destroying. "Have you not heard long ago how I have done it, and from ancient times that I have formed it?" (v 26) – "Why should you boast? None of these are your achievements. It has been My decree for many years that you should be the one to

exact retribution from the nations, as it says, 'Woe Assyria, rod of My wrath' (Is. 10:5)" (Rashi ad loc.). Precisely because of Sennacherib's arrogance, God would put His hook in his nose and His bridle in his lips (v 29) in order to show him forcibly that he was nothing but His instrument. "And this shall be a sign to you: you shall eat this year such as grows of itself…" (v 30). In this verse the prophet is no longer addressing Sennacherib but Hezekiah, telling him that the coming destruction of the Assyrian army and Sennacherib's ignominious return to his land would be the sign of another miracle that would take place thereafter. This would be that the people of Jerusalem and Judah would have ample food to eat in the coming three years despite the fact that the Assyrian armies had devastated their entire country and that during the siege of Jerusalem cultivation of the land had been completely impossible (see Rashi on v 30). Just as Isaiah prophesied, Sennacherib was forced to return to Nineveh . Rashi (on v 38) explains that Sennacherib had vowed to his god that if he returned home safely he would offer his two sons as a sacrifice, and this is what motivated them to kill him before he could kill them!

Chapter 38 "In those days Hezekiah fell mortally sick…" (v 1). Rashi (ad loc.) states that Hezekiah fell sick three days before the fall of Sennacherib's armies. The king's mortal illness just as the armies of the world's greatest superpower were closing in on his last remaining stronghold in the capital immeasurably increased the direness of the peril facing his kingdom. Isaiah's grim message that Hezekiah was to "die" (in this world) and "not live" (in the world to come, Rashi on v 1) would have thrown any lesser person into complete despair, but Hezekiah had an ancestral tradition that "even if a sharp sword is resting on a man's neck, he should never hold himself back from prayer" (Berachos 10a). "And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed" (v 2). The "wall" to which he turned is the "wall in the heart". He directed his "face" i.e. the power of his mind, to this "wall" in order to break down all his inner barriers to complete repentance. As discussed in KNOW YOUR BIBLE on II Chronicles ch 33, the rabbis taught that Hezekiah's flaw was that he had never married because he had seen with holy spirit that his son Menasheh was destined to be a terrible villain. The act of repentance that now saved Hezekiah's life was that he nevertheless took it upon himself to marry and have children. There is a hint of this in Hezekiah's prayer of thanksgiving after his recovery as recorded in our present chapter, when he said, "A father shall make known Your truth to children" (v 19). We know that Menasheh was twelve years old when he succeeded Hezekiah (II Kings 21:1), and since the latter lived for another fifteen years after his illness, we may infer that Menasheh was born three years after his recovery. Hezekiah's recovery was not an unequivocal joy to him because it came not in his own merit but in the merit of King David. Thus Isaiah said to him, "So says HaShem the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer…" (v 5). For a full discussion of the sign God gave to Hezekiah – turning the clock back ten hours – see KNOW YOUR BIBLE on the parallel account in II Kings ch 20.

"The writing of King Hezekiah king of Judah when he was sick and he lived from his illness" (v 9). Hezekiah's evocation of the suffering he endured in his illness (vv 1019) is somewhat reminiscent of Job's cries of pain over his suffering. Hezekiah was aged only thirty-nine when he lay on what seemed to be his deathbed, contemplating what he thought would be his complete excision from this world and the next. His miraculous delivery filled him with faith in the resurrection: "The Lord is upon them, they shall LIVE" (v 16). The Targum renders: "HaShem, You have said of all the dead that they shall live, and before all of them you have revived my spirit and brought me to life and sustained me". "Behold, for in peace I had great bitterness" (v 17) – "When I was given the news that there would be peace, it was nevertheless bitter for me, because my healing was attributed to the merit of others – 'So said HaShem the God of DAVID YOUR FATHER'" (Rashi on v 17). Rashi (ibid.) also offers a simpler explanation of Hezekiah's bitterness – for when he heard the news of Sennacherib's coming overthrow, he thought that he himself was going to die of his illness. This was what made his appreciation of God's mercy in saving him all the greater. He would turn his recovery into the occasion for songs in the Temple all the days of his life (v 20). "And Isaiah said, Let them take a cake of figs and spread it on the festering sores and he shall recover" (v 21). "This was a miracle within a miracle, because a fig cake can turn even healthy flesh putrid, but here the Holy One blessed be He put something that spoils into something that was spoiled – and it became healed!" (Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 39 King Hezekiah sang over his own delivery from the very threshold of death (chapter 38 vv 9-20), but he did not lead his nation in song over Jerusalem's miraculous delivery from the clutches of Sennacherib. Had Hezekiah followed the example of Moses and Israel, who sang to God after the overthrow of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, he might have instilled in his people such faith in the Almighty's absolute power over all things that the final redemption would have come and the knowledge of God would have spread to all the nations, and then Hezekiah would have been Melech HaMashiach. Our rabbis saw his failure to sing over Sennacherib's overthrow as a fatal flaw (Sanhedrin 94a; see KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on Isaiah 9:6) and our present chapter, Isaiah 39, traces the tragic sequel to the delivery of Jerusalem and Hezekiah's miraculous recovery from mortal illness, in which his subsequent lack of discretion sealed the fate of the First Temple and of Judah. For despite the present respite, in only a few generations the Temple would be destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, who would take the king and all the people into exile. The astounding, totally unexpected blow that the tottering Assyrian superpower suffered at the gates of Jerusalem surely caused great joy to the rulers of Babylon, which was then at the beginning of its own ascent to world supremacy. Their wonder at this freak occurrence was greatly enhanced by the fact that it was accompanied by the freak "expansion of time" when God lengthened the day by ten hours as a sign that Hezekiah would recover from his illness (see Isaiah 38:8). Rashi (on v 1 of our present chapter) explains that the reason why Bal'adan king of Babylon "heard that [Hezekiah] became sick and recovered" was because "he was accustomed to eating at the third hour [9:00 a.m.] every morning, after which he would then sleep until the ninth hour [3:00 p.m.]. On the day when the sun went backwards for Hezekiah's sake, Bal'adan awoke from his sleep at the ninth hour only to discover that it was morning. He wanted to kill all his servants, accusing them of leaving him to sleep for a whole day and night until the following morning.

They explained to him that it was the sun that had gone backwards, and when he asked who sent the sun backwards they said it was the God of Hezekiah" (see Tanchuma Ki Tissa & Shekalim 14). Perhaps we can detect in this Midrash a reference to the fact that the delivery of Jerusalem and Hezekiah's freak recovery from the doors of death turned time backwards in the sense that it gave a new lease of life to the kingship of the House of David and the First Temple. The striking impression that these events made upon the Babylonian court could have led to a tremendous sanctification of God's Name in the eyes of all the nations had Hezekiah impressed upon their emissaries that these miracles were conclusive proof of HaShem's supremacy over all creation. Had he taken full advantage of this moment of grace, he could have brought about the redemption. Instead Hezekiah made a great feast for his Babylonian visitors and took them on a grand tour of all his treasures, ignoring the caution of the rabbis that "blessing is found only in something that is hidden from the eye" (Taanis 8b). It is great folly to show all that is most precious to oneself quite indiscriminately to anybody and everybody, because one never knows how the public flaunting of one's own blessings might arouse the evil eye of others, who may have reason to be jealous and to stir up accusations. "There was not anything that Hezekiah did not show them" (v 2) – "even the Torah scroll" (Rashi ad loc.). In other words, Hezekiah gave away all his secrets in the naïve belief that his visitors from the fresh little star of Babylon were OK people. Hezekiah was also considered foolish in the way he answered Isaiah's question as to the identity of his visitors. He should have said, "You are the prophet and you are asking me???" Instead he pompously told Isaiah that "they came to me from a far-off land, from Babylon!" as if to say, They came from so far away just to see ME!!! Hezekiah's answer was considered in the same category as Cain's answer to God when He asked "Where is your brother?" (Genesis 4:9) and Bila'am's answer to God when He asked "Who are these men with you?" (Numbers 22:9; see Rashi on verse 3 of our present chapter). Because of his one indiscretion in showing the accuser all his secret treasures, Hezekiah lost out and the fate of the Temple and Judah was sealed, as Isaiah now told him (vv 6-7). With stoic resignation, Hezekiah accepted the divine decree, consoling himself with the thought that it was not to be carried out in his own generation and that "there will be peace and truth in my days" (v 8).

Chapter 40 "Isaiah now returns to his prophecies about the future. The rest of the book from this point on until the end consists of words of comfort. The preceding narrative section about the overthrow of Sennacherib and Hezekiah's recovery from his illness etc. (chs 36-39) was placed here to separate the earlier sections of the work dealing with retribution from the coming consolations" (Rashi on v 1). "Comfort, comfort My people…" (v 1). God is telling His prophets to give comfort to His people (Metzudas David). In the Hebrew text, the verb NACHAMU is repeated twice. In the words of the Midrash: "This is as if to say: Give her comfort, O you beings of the supernal worlds, and give her comfort, O you beings of the lower worlds. Let the living give her comfort and let the dead give her comfort! Give her comfort in this world, and give her comfort in the world to come! Comfort her over the Ten Tribes and comfort her over Judah and Benjamin! Jeremiah said, 'She shall surely cry', doubling the Hebrew verb 'cry' (BAKHO TIVKHEH, Lamentations 1:2),

signifying weeping over the First Temple and weeping over the Second Temple. Therefore the word 'comfort' is also repeated twice" (Yalkut Shimoni). " Israel said to Isaiah: Isaiah our master, could it be that you have only come to comfort the generation in whose days the Temple was destroyed. He replied: I have come to comfort ALL the generations. It does not say, 'Your God HAS said' but 'Your God WILL say' (v 1; Yalkut Shimoni). "…for her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received of HaShem's hand DOUBLE for all her sins" (v 2) – "This refers to the double exile of Israel – the exile to Babylon and the present exile. They also received 'double' because of their own sins and the sins of their fathers" (RaDaK ad loc.). "A voice cries, Prepare in the wilderness the way of HaShem…" (v 3). It is as if a voice is announcing the making of a road to Jerusalem along which the exiles will go in order to return (Rashi, Metzudas David, RaDaK ad loc.). "It is called the 'way of HaShem' because it is He who leads the people as they leave their exile" (RaDaK). "Every valley shall be exalted and every hill shall be made low" (v 4). On the simple level, the effect of this is to make the homeward road flat and effortless! On the level of allusion, the meek shall be raised up while the haughty shall be cast down. Vv 6-8: Man's kindness is evanescent and undependable, but God's word shall stand forever: nothing will prevent the redemption and the ingathering of the exiles. V 11: "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom" – "Just as a shepherd pastures his flock gently and gathers in the lambs with his arm and not with a rod, so God will lead them gently on their return from exile" (Metzudas David ad loc.). The sublime passage in vv 12-26 evokes the unfathomable majesty of God's omnipotent power and knowledge in contrast with the puniness of the nations and their lifeless idols. "Who has measured the WATERS in the hollow of his hand and meted out the HEAVEN (=FIRE) with the span, and comprehended the DUST OF THE EARTH in a measure… Who has directed the spirit (WIND, AIR) of HaShem?" (vv 12-13). These verses allude to the FOUR ELEMENTS of creation, Fire, Water, Air and Earth – all of which were created by God alone. The prophet mocks the nations, who are not merely a drop (MAR) in the bucket but worse still, the bitter (=MAR) scum that gathers at the very bottom (v 15, see Rashi ad loc.). Likewise Isaiah pours scorn upon the nations' carefully wrought idols (vv 19-20). "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning?" (v 21). "Do you not know?" – "From the careful application of reason you should be able to know who is the Master of the World"; "Have you not heard?" – "from a teacher or guide who investigated using his powers of reasoning"; "Has it not been told to you…" – through a chain of tradition reaching back to antiquity" (Metzudas David ad loc. cf. RaDaK). "Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?" (v 21) – "The prophet is saying that the earth does not have a foundation, because the heavens surround it all around, and on what does it stand if not through the decree of the Almighty?" (Metzudas David). In the same vein, RaDaK comments on v 28, "HaShem, the creator of the ends of the earth": "This comes to make it known that He created the earth as a round globe in the middle of the spheres that surround it all about, and

the earth is like the point at the center of a sphere. The Holy One blessed be He makes her stand in the middle without any support, through His power alone, as it says, 'He hangs the earth on nothingness' (Job 26:7). None of the 'ends of the earth' are more inclined to one or other of the six directions, because the earth is exactly in the middle on every side and from every direction". "Lift up your eyes on high and behold who (MEE) has created these (ELEH)…" The letters of the two Hebrew words MEE and ELEH make up the holy name of God, ELO-HEEM (which should be pronounced ELOKEEM except when used in prayer). "Why do you say… My way is hidden from HaShem…?" (v 27). "The prophet here addresses Israel in exile asking why they believe that because of the length of the exile their way must be hidden from God, as if He does not watch over them providentially" (RaDaK ad loc.). "Do you not know? Have you not heard… the everlasting God is never tired and never weary!!! He gives power to the faint and to the powerless He increases strength" (vv 28-9). "When God chooses, He will give strength and power to Israel even though they are exiled, tired and weary" (RaDaK on v 29). "But those who wait for HaShem will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint" (v 31). *** Verses 1-26 of this beautiful chapter make up the Haftarah of SHABBOS NACHAMU (so called after the opening word of the chapter) – the Sabbath of comfort following the fast of Tisha B'Av commemorating the destruction of the Temple . Verses 27-31 of the present chapter together with ch 41 vv 1-16 make up the Haftarah of Parshas LECH LECHA (Genesis 12:1-17:27).

Chapter 41 * * * The last five verses of the previous chapter (Is. 40:27-31) together with vv 116 of the present chapter are read as the Haftarah of LECH LECHA (Genesis 12:117:27 telling the story of Abraham's arousal to God and his war against the Four Kings). * * * "Keep silence before Me, O islands…" (v 1). The "islands" are the heathen nations (Rashi ad loc.). God challenges them to hear what He has to say and then put their case, as if before a judge, as to why they claim He does not have the power to deliver His people from their hands (see Metzudas David ad loc.). "Who aroused one from the east, whom righteousness met wherever he set his foot…?" (v 2). This alludes to Abraham, founding father of the people of Israel, whom God aroused in defiance of the prevailing idolatry of the time, and who spread righteousness wherever he went despite the most colossal opposition. With no more than a small band of followers, Abraham had the courage to go out to war against four major kings despite the fact that they had already overwhelmed five other kings – and won a spectacular victory that flew in the face of nature (Genesis 14:1-20). This could only be because it was brought about by HaShem, Who "calls the generations from the beginning" (v 4) – i.e. He chose Abraham in the knowledge that his offspring would be worthy to be the chosen people. And just as

He did wonders for Abraham at the outset, so He will be with his offspring in the latter generations (see Rashi and RaDaK ad loc.). The announcement of the coming redemption of Israel fills the nations with rage. Thus verses 5-7 depict the nations gathering together to make war against them, encouraging one another as if cooperatively making a great idol. In verse 8, God turns from the nations to address Israel, now explicitly calling them the "seed of Abraham My beloved". He encourages them by reminding them of their noble origins and emphasizing that since Israel is "My servant", He will not cast them away (v 9). The earth's "farthest corners" (ATZILE-HAH), from which God has called Israel , allude to the highest spiritual "world", ATZILUS. The essence of God's message to Israel is, "Do not fear, for I am with you" (v 10). It may be that the nations are furious with Israel (as we see today in practically every international forum), but God promises that in the end, "all those who were incensed with you shall be ashamed and confounded" (v 11). "Do not fear, you WORM Jacob…" (v 14) – "The family of Jacob is weak as a worm, which has no power except in its mouth" (Rashi ad loc.). God promises that He will turn this tiny nation, whose only power lies in the words of Torah and prayer which they "chew" day by day, into a new (i.e. not blunt) threshing instrument (v 15) that will be BAAL PIPHIYOTH – i.e. it will have an abundance of MOUTHS that will "grind up" the mighty, powerful nations of the earth (see Targum on v 15). ""The poor and needy seek water…" (v 17). Rashi explains: "Here the prophet prophesies about the end of days, when there will be 'not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water but to hear the word of HaShem… they will wander all over to seek out the word of HaShem but they will not find it' (Amos 8:11-12). But when His anger is assuaged, He will prepare them 'bread' and 'water' and cause His Shechinah and His holy spirit to dwell in the mouth of their prophets" (Rashi on v 17). "I will open rivers on high places…" (v 18). These "rivers" are the rivers of understanding of Torah and prophecy that will flow in men's hearts, while the "wilderness" that will turn into a pool of water refers to a place where hitherto no Torah wisdom existed (see Rashi ad loc.). "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar…" (v 19) – "There too I will put all kinds of wisdom, goodness and peace" (Rashi ad loc.). "In order that they [i.e. the nations] should see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of HaShem has done this…" (v 20). Just as in the generation of the founding father, Abraham, the nations were astounded at the miracles God wrought for him against overwhelming odds, so at the end of days the nations will see how God will redeem Israel. V 21: "Present your cause…" In this and the following verses, God again turns to address the nations, scornfully challenging their idolatrous prophets to try to explain "the former things, what they were" (v 22) – i.e. what took place before the creation of the world and for what purpose it was created (Rashi ad loc.) or to tell "their latter end… what is to come", i.e. what will be in the end of days. Isaiah is implying that his own prophecies foretell the future exactly as it will be, whereas all the idolatrous prophets (not to speak of today's political pundits, commentators, professors, world watch experts, think tank consultants, etc. etc.) are "nothing": Behold you are of nothing and your work is of naught" (v 24).

Vv 25ff: "I have raised up one from the north and he has come…" Affirming the emptiness of the predictions of the false prophets and pundits, Isaiah now foretells exactly what will happen in the future. The prophecy contained in these verses may be understood as foretelling how King Cyrus would come from Persia, which is to the north and east of Babylon, to strike down the kingdom that destroyed the Temple and exiled Israel . (This was to take place 162 years after the death of Hezekiah, in the latter part of whose reign these prophecies of consolation were delivered.) This prophecy may equally be interpreted as applying to the future redemption, when the Ten Tribes – who were originally exiled to lands to the north east of Israel – will return (see RaDaK on v 25). The inability of any of the heathen prophets to foresee these amazing wonders shows their total emptiness.

Chapter 42 "Behold, My servant, whom I uphold…" (v 1) – "This is Melech HaMashiach" (Metzudas David & RaDaK ad loc.). "…My elect, in whom My soul delights" (v 1) – " Israel are called My elect" (Rashi ad loc.) "He shall not cry nor lift up his voice…" (v 2) – "He will not need to rebuke and prophesy to the nations, because they will come to learn of their own accord" (Rashi ad loc.). "The islands shall wait for his Torah" (v 4) – all the nations will listen to the Torah of Mashiach! (see Rashi ad loc.). In the very beautiful passage in verses 5-9, God addresses the prophet Isaiah himself, messenger of the coming Mashiach: "I HaShem have called you…" (v 6) – "When I formed you, My thought was that you should bring My people back to the Covenant and shine to them" (Rashi ad loc.). The purpose of the prophet is "to open blind eyes" (v 7) – "because they do not see My might and set their hearts to return to Me" (Rashi ad loc.). "…To bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house" (v 7). The "prison" is exile, which may be physical, or worse still, mental and spiritual. "I am HASHEM, that is My name, and My glory will I not give to another…" (v 8). The name of ELOKIM (translated as "God") has been taken by idol-worshippers to speak of their gods, but the Name of HaShem, ("the Lord"), i.e. the "Tetragrammaton", YKVK, is unique to the One Creator and it is impossible for the idolaters to join their gods with Him under this name, for He is Master over all (see RaDaK ad loc.). RaDaK adds: "Moreover, 'I will not give My glory to another' as I have done until now because I have not yet executed judgment upon the wicked, and for that reason they have not recognized Me and have gone astray after idols. But after I bring Israel out of exile and perform the greatest wonders for them, executing judgment upon the wicked, all the nations will recognize Me and know that there is none besides Me" (RaDaK ad loc.). Verse 10, "Sing to HaShem a new song…" opens a new prophecy continuing on from the previous prophecy about how the nations will know HaShem in the future. Now Isaiah tells all the nations to sing an entirely new and original song in the future, when they will witness HaShem's might on behalf of Israel and recognize that He alone is God (Rashi on v 10). The song will be "new" because the level of Providence that will be revealed in the future will be different from anything ever known before. Even the habitations of Kedar – the children of Ishmael – will see that the God of Israel rules. "Let the inhabitants of Sela [the rock] sing" (v 11) – "These are the dead, who will come back to life" (Rashi ad loc.). V 14: "I have long time held my peace… now I will cry like a woman in travail…" For the entire period of the long exile God has, as it were, "held Himself in" without taking vengeance for the destruction of the Temple. But at the end of days He will

spring into action. "I shall destroy mountains and hills" (v 15) – "I shall kill kings and rulers" (Rashi ad loc.). "And I shall bring the blind by a way that they knew not…" (v 16) – "This refers to Israel, who were blind until now and did not look to Me and follow the path of good, which they did not know how to travel" (Rashi ad loc.). In vv 18-25 Isaiah addresses Israel, who are deaf to the word of God and blind to His commandments, calling on them from now on to listen and look (Metzudas David on v 18). "Who is blind but My servant or deaf like My messenger that I shall send? Who is blind as he that is perfect and blind as HaShem's servant?" (v 19). Our commentators offer a variety of interpretations of this verse. RaDaK (ad loc.) explains these as the words of the stubborn-hearted people, who are themselves spiritually blind and deaf, yet think it is the prophet that is blind and deaf [just like many of the non-observant regard the Torah-observant as cut off from the "real" world]. Rashi comments on the words, "Who is blind as he that is perfect" – "If someone among you was blind, he has already received his suffering and he is as one who has been paid all that was owing to him and he will go out clean" (Rashi ad loc.). "Seeing many things, but you do not observe; opening ears – but no one listens" (v 20). The prophet continues to rebuke the people for their stubborn refusal to understand and heed the messages contained in all that their eyes are seeing and ears are hearing so as to repent. In this verse and those that follow he is addressing the future generations until today, calling upon us to understand that if we are imprisoned in the prison-house of exile, it is HaShem Who has "given Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers" for one reason only: because "we have sinned against Him and they did not desire to follow His ways and they did not heed His Torah" (v 24). "Therefore He has poured upon him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle, and it has set him on fire round about. Yet he knew not, and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart" (v 25). For exactly the same reason, Israel continues to suffer until today from the burning fire of enemy hostilities. Let us ask ourselves if we have laid this to heart and if we are drawing the necessary conclusions. * * * Verses 5-25 of this chapter, together with the first ten verses of the next chapter (Isaiah 43:1-10) are read as the Haftarah of the first Parshah in the Torah: BEREISHIS (Gen. 1:1-6:8). * * *

Chapter 43 The end of the previous section (Is. 42:22-25) warned that because of the people's sins God would pour out His anger upon them, sending war. But the new section that opens with the first verse in our present chapter immediately promises that God will nevertheless redeem them. "When you pass through the WATERS, I am with you… when you walk through FIRE, you shall not be burned…" (v 2). The "waters" refer to the Red Sea (Targum, Rashi ad loc.). Just as God split the waters of the sea in order to save Israel from the Egyptians, so He will save them from the "fire" in time to come. "'For behold the day is coming, burning like an oven' (Malachi 3:19), and on that day I shall take the sun out of its sheath to burn up the wicked, but you will not be burned" (Rashi on v 2).

"Since you are precious in My eyes… I will give men for you and peoples for your life" (v 4). The Talmud relates: "Once when Rabbi Elazar went into the restroom, a heathen came in and pushed him aside. Rabbi Elazar stood up and left, after which a serpent entered and pulled out the heathen's entrails. Rabbi Elazar then applied to him the verse, 'I will give men (ADAM) for you…', saying, Read the word not as ADAM but EDOM !" (Berachos 62b). Vv 5-6: "From the east shall I bring your seed…" These verses mention all four points of the compass, indicating that this prophecy refers to the final redemption – because at the time of the first redemption only Judah returned from Babylon, but at the end of days the Ten Tribes will return from all parts of the world. Addressing the people of his time, Isaiah said, "I shall bring your SEED" – i.e. their descendants. "…and GATHER you from the west": the word "gather" alludes to the resurrection of the dead (see RaDaK on v 5). "…Everyone that is called by My Name, for I have created him for My glory; I have formed him, yea, I have made him" (v 7). According to the plain meaning of the text, the prophet is saying that at the time of the final redemption God will gather in ALL the Tzaddikim, for despite their troubles and exile, He will have prepared everything necessary for their redemption. On the level of SOD, the verse affirms that everything in creation exists for the glory of God (including even those things that appear to contradict His existence), and the verse alludes to the four Kabbalistic "worlds": ATZILUS ("My Name"), BERIYAH ("I have CREATED"), YETZIRAH ("I have FORMED") and ASIYAH ("I have MADE"). Vv 9-13: "Let all the nations gather together…" God challenges the nations to step forward and testify if their prophets have foretold the final redemption or any of the earlier events foretold by the prophets of Israel before they occurred. The nations are unable to testify – but Israel are God's witnesses, for God has revealed to them what is to come in order that they should know Him and have faith in Him. Vv 14-15: "Thus says HaShem your Redeemer… for your sake I have sent to Babylon and will bring down all of them…" Isaiah prophesies that God would bring the people into exile in Babylon but then redeem them, and this would be proof of His providence and assurance that He will also redeem them at the end of days. Vv 16-21: "Thus says HaShem, who makes a path in the sea…" (v 16). Again, this alludes to the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea. The "chariot and horse, the army and the power" mentioned in v 17 refer to the Egyptians, who were overthrown there. But if the redemption from Egypt is mentioned here, the point is that it will be completely overshadowed by the future redemption, for "Behold, I will do a NEW thing": the future redemption will be completely different in kind and scale. Vv 22-28: "But you have not called upon me, O Jacob…" (v 22). The prophet returns to his rebuke of the people for failing to call out to God even in their troubles. God would have preferred them to "weary" Him, as it were, with their cries, but despite the undemanding nature of the sacrifices He instituted (such as a measure of flour and incense spices that grew naturally in Israel) the people failed to bring their offerings (as in the days of King Ahaz in which Isaiah prophesied, when the Temple services were suspended) and instead they "wearied" God with their sins (see Rashi & RaDaK on v 23). Yet despite all this – "I, even I am He that blots out your transgressions for My own sake" (v 25). God has forgiven Israel their sins in the past, and will do so in the future in order to redeem them. This is not because of their own merit or that of their fathers but

only for God's own sake, so that His Name should not be desecrated in the eyes of the nations should He destroy Israel because of their sins (Metzudas David). "Your first father sinned…" (v 27). Some take this as referring to Adam, indicating that the urge to sin is part of man's intrinsic nature (RaDaK ad loc.), while others see a reference to Abraham, who questioned God's promise (Gen. 15:8, see Rashi on our present verse). The closing section of this prophecy affirms that God sends troubles to Israel because of their sins. * * * Isaiah 43:21-28 and 44:1-23 are read as the Haftarah of Parshas VAYIKRA (Leviticus 1:1-5:26) setting forth the Temple sacrifices, which are mentioned in Is. 43:23-24. * * *

Chapter 44 Following the warning that God punishes Israel because of their sins, He immediately promises them that He will eventually send them very great benefit. "And now hear Jacob My servant…" (v 1): God assures Israel that out of all the nations, they alone are His chosen servant. "When a servant is good, even though he may occasionally sin his master does not drive him out but instead he punishes him. And eventually, after the servant has been punished several times, when he repents and goes back to serving his master with all his heart, his master will do him very great good" (RaDaK on v 1). "One shall say, I belong to HaShem, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand to HaShem and surname himself by the name of Israel" (v 5). "Those who 'say they belong to HaShem' are the complete Tzaddikim; those who 'call themselves by the name of Jacob' are the small people, the children of the wicked; those who 'subscribe with their hand to HaShem' are the BAALEY TESHUVAH ("penitents"), while those who 'surname themselves by the name of Israel' are the converts" (Avoth d'Rabbi Nathan ch 36 citied in Rashi on verse 5 in our present chapter). In vv 6-17 God's greatness is again contrasted with the vanity and emptiness of man-made idols. The prophets of idolatry are unable to foretell what is to come: only HaShem informs His people what will happen in the future, and they are His witnesses (vv 7-8). Verses 9-20 scornfully depict the folly of the idolaters' faith in their man-made idols, ridiculing the way a man takes part of a log to warm himself and bake his bread while using the rest to make an idol which he then worships. It might be said that those who take even a true religion but exploit it for their own self-importance and self-enrichment are in a similar category. Vv 21-23: The idolaters do not understand that there is falsehood "in their right hand" (end of v 20) but the prophet calls on Jacob and Israel to remember that they are God's servants and not the slaves of idols. When Israel repent and are redeemed, the very heavens and the lowest depths of the earth will burst into song (v 23). Vv 24-28: God will frustrate all the omens of the imposters and false prophets who claim that Israel will never be redeemed. Well over a century and a half before the destruction of Babylon at the hands of King Cyrus of Persia, Isaiah already called him by name (v 28), foretelling that he would herald Judah's return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple. The fact that this prophesy of Isaiah was fulfilled

to the letter is our assurance that all his prophecies about the future redemption will also be fulfilled to the letter. * * * The passage in Isaiah 43:21-27 and 44:1-23 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Vayikra, Leviticus 1:1-5:26 * * *

Chapter 45 Having mentioned King Cyrus of Persia in the last verse of the previous chapter, Isaiah now begins to prophesy that he would conquer Babylon in order to allow the people of Judah to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. "So says HaShem to His anointed, to Cyrus…" (v 1). The plain meaning of the text is that God is addressing Cyrus, who as a king is called "anointed" (MASHIACH). However, on the level of DRASH, He is addressing His truly anointed Melech HaMashiach, complaining about Cyrus because God asked him to build the Temple and gather in the exiles, but instead of doing the job himself, he merely gave permission to the Jews to go up to Jerusalem and to build the Temple themselves (Ezra 1:3; Megillah 12a). According to this interpretation, verse 4 in our present chapter, "I have named you though you have not known Me", is a complaint that God named Cyrus long before his birth (i.e. in this prophecy) yet he did not "know" God in the sense that he did not do what God wanted, because he threw the whole burden of building the Temple off his own shoulders (see Rashi on verse 4). In calling on Cyrus, God reminds him that his mission is only "for the sake of My servant Jacob and Israel My chosen" (v 4), "in order that they shall know from the east to the west that there is nothing besides Me": the overthrow of Babylon will show that nothing can stand before God. "I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil…" (v 7). The words of this verse, which are familiar because they are recited daily (except for the omission of the phrase "create evil") in the YOTZER OHR blessing before the recital of the morning SHEMA, indicate that God performs opposites simultaneously. "I form the light…" – "for Israel " – "…and create darkness" – "for Babylon "; "I make peace…" – for Israel – "…and create evil" – "for Babylon , i.e. the opposite of peace" (Metzudas David & Rashi ad loc.). "Shower, O heavens, from above and let the skies pour down righteousness…" (v 8) – "This means that great kindness and salvation shall come to Israel, as if they will flow down from the heavens above" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "Woe to him that strives with his Maker…" (v 9). According to the context (Cyrus' conquest of Babylon) this verse refers to Belshazzar king of Babylon , who made a great feast using the Temple vessels (Daniel 5:1ff) and was killed the same night by the combined forces of Darius the Mede and his son-in-law Cyrus. On the level of DRASH, the verse is seen as an allusion to the prophet Habakkuk, who was to complain about the length of Babylon's supremacy (Habakkuk 1:2-14). God is saying, "Why does he come to quarrel with me, as if he thinks I am paying no attention to the salvation of My people" (Rashi on verse 9 in our present chapter). In vv 10-13 God challenges the nations to ask Him what is destined to happen to Israel in the future, for He is certainly able to tell them since He created the earth and man, the choicest of all His creatures, upon it. As if to demonstrate that God can foretell the future exactly, verse 13 rounds off the section of the prophecy about how Cyrus was to send the exiles of Judah home and enable them to rebuild Jerusalem, while verse 14 begins a new section about another event that was also

still in the future when Isaiah delivered this prophecy, although it occurred long before the Babylonian exile. "The labor of Egypt and the merchandise of Kush and of the Seva'im, men of stature, shall come over to you… in chains they shall come over…" (v 14). This was fulfilled when Sennacherib sought to advance on Jerusalem but was suddenly forced to take a detour and march south in order to confront the attacking armies of Kush and Egypt (Isaiah 37:9 etc.). After defeating them, Sennacherib plundered all their treasures and brought them together with the people of Kush and Egypt in chains to Jerusalem. There the angel wiped out the Assyrian army in one night, after which King Hezekiah released the captives from Kush and Egypt, who having witnessed God's spectacular salvation of His people became true believers, as alluded to in verse 14 of our present chapter. "Verily You are a God who hides Yourself…" (v 15). Rashi explains that the released captives would say to God: "Verily you have given us to understand that in order to collect the debts of Your people You hide yourself without showing Your power to conquer, as if You do not have the power, but then, when Your compassion is aroused, You show that You are indeed the all-powerful God of Israel and their savior" (Rashi on v 15). These words should be a comfort to us today as we watch Israel writhe and struggle in seemingly intractable difficulties, as if God is "hiding Himself". But as soon as the time is ripe He will be aroused in all His might to save them. Then all the idolaters will be ashamed while Israel's salvation will be eternal (vv 16-17). "For thus says HaShem Who created the heavens…" Again and again the prophet recalls that God is the Creator of all the hosts of the heavens and earth. The reason for this repeated emphasis is because many people in Isaiah's time, and likewise many today, cherish all kinds of false beliefs about the universe, some holding that a multiplicity of divine powers exist, while others believe that the universe had no Creator but somehow always just existed (see RaDaK on v 18 and on Isaiah 42:5). "I have not spoken in secret, in a place of a land of darkness; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Seek Me in an empty waste…" (v 19). Our commentators explain that when God gave the Torah to Israel, He did not speak in secrecy because this event was known to the entire world, and He did not ask Israel to keep the Torah for no reward, because He promised in advance that they would be "a treasure… a kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:5-6; see Rashi and Metzudas David on our present verse). In vv 20ff God once again challenges the nations of the world to advance their claims and arguments, scoffing at the idolaters and their inability to know the future. In verse 22 God invites all of the nations to cast away their idols and then they will be saved, while verse 23 (phrases from which are included in the ALENU prayer recited three times every day) promises that in the end all will come to acknowledge HaShem.

Chapter 46 "Bel bows down, Nevo stoops…" (v 1). Bel and Nevo are the names of the gods of Babylon, which would be powerless to save those who worshiped them when Babylon would fall. The idols would be carried off on animals' backs into exile. (Rashi's interpretation of verse 1 is far more derogatory.) In contrast, Israel have been borne, carried and supported by God since the very inception of the nation (v 3), and likewise He will bear and carry them "even to old age" (v 4): "Even when you are old and your strength is spent and you have no merit, I will be the same as I was and in My compassion and goodness I will save you and carry you " (Rashi ad loc.).

In verses 5-7 God again mocks the idolaters for trying to equate their lifeless idols with Him. In vv 8ff He calls on the sinners to remember that He alone has all the power, and having foretold what will happen in the future, nothing will stop Him from bringing it about. "Calling an eagle (AYIT) from the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country" (v 11). This alludes to Abraham, who came from the east swift as an eagle to carry out God's counsel (AYIT is the Aramaic for "counsel") and to whom He revealed the future exiles that would befall Israel, promising that they would be redeemed (see Rashi on verse 11). Nothing will prevent God from showing His righteousness and saving His people (vv 12-13).

Chapter 47 Having prophesied in the previous chapter about the collapse of the gods of Babylon and about the salvation HaShem was to send to Israel with the destruction of her empire, Isaiah now tells Babylon to prepare for her coming exile. He calls her "the virgin daughter of Babylon" (v 1), because until her capture by Darius the Mede and Cyrus king of Persia, she had never been subject to any other nation, like a virgin who has not yet come into any man's domain (Metzudas David ad loc.). Now Babylon was to sit in the dust "with no throne" (v 1) – because she would never again sit on the throne of kingship over others (Metzudas David ad loc.). It should be born in mind that Isaiah was prophesying the fall of Babylon well over a century and a half before it took place, which was in the year 3389 (-371 B.C.E. according to the dating system of SEDER OLAM), while the prophesies of consolation contained in Isaiah from chapter 40 to the end of the book were delivered either before or shortly after the overthrow of Sennacherib, which took place 176 years earlier in 3213 (-547 B.C.E.). With the fall of the Assyrian empire soon after this, Babylon was only beginning its ascent to world power at the time when Isaiah was prophesying, yet he had already foretold that she would destroy and plunder the Temple and take Judah into exile (Isaiah 39:5-7), and now he foretells that in vengeance for this she herself would be destroyed. The prophet emphasizes that Babylon would succeed in overcoming Judah only because God was angry with His people and therefore delivered them into her hand (v 6). Babylon was merely intended to be His instrument, but she went beyond her brief, causing Israel unwarranted suffering, and this was the reason why she was to be cast down. "You showed them no mercy; upon the aged you have heavily laid your yoke" (ibid.). Interestingly, the Midrash applies this verse to Edom as if "Babylon" is a term for Israel's persecutors in general. "In time to come the Holy One blessed be He will sit in judgment over the kingdom of Edom and ask them: Why did you subjugate my children? Edom will reply: 'Did You not deliver them into our hands? God will then say to Edom: Because I entrusted them to you, does that justify that 'you showed them no mercy' (Isaiah 47:6)? 'Upon the aged (ZAKEN=elder) you have heavily laid your yoke' (ibid.) – This refers to Rabbi Akiva, whom the Roman government persecuted without end" (Tanchuma). This Midrashic interpretation of the prophecy in our present chapter indicates that it applies not only to Babylon but to all of Israel's persecutors throughout history. The prophecy that the decree of "widowhood" and being "bereft of children" would strike in one day (verse 9) clearly applies specifically to Babylon, which became a "widow" (i.e. lost her king) and was "bereft of her children" (her population) on one and the same day – the day when Belshazzar was killed and the population of Babylon were taken into exile (Metzudas David on v 9). Yet other aspects of the prophecy can also be seen to apply to Israel's persecutors until today.

The witchcraft and divination for which the Chaldeans were notorious, and which the prophet derides in vv 9-15, must have been highly sophisticated since they had so much confidence in them. "You have trusted in your wickedness; you have said: No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge have perverted you, and you have said in your heart, I am and none else beside me" (v 10). While applying specifically to Babylon, these words could equally well be seen to apply to the present-day persecutors of Israel (such as Iran Hizbullah, Hamas, Al Qaeda etc.) who put their trust in the wizardry of their secret military technologies with which they plan to overcome their enemies and dominate the world. The prophet warns them that as a result, "Evil will come upon you and you shall not know how to charm it away… and ruin shall come upon you suddenly" (v 11). "Stand now with your enchantments and with the multitude of your sorceries wherein you have labored since your youth: perhaps you will be able to profit, perhaps you will gain strength" (v 12). Here and in the following verses the prophet mockingly challenges Israel's persecutors to see the self-destruction to which their ingenious wizardry will lead. The "astrologers", "stargazers" and "monthly prognosticators" mentioned in v 13 were the ancient equivalent of the contemporary pundits and think tank experts whose job is to assess what the future holds in store. The simple meaning of the last three Hebrew words of verse 13 indicates that these fortune-tellers may provide information about "SOME of what will come upon you". These words are the basis for an important teaching about the difference between the predictions of the astrologers etc. and the prophecies of the true prophets. "In the case of the astrologers and diviners etc. SOME of their predictions may come about but not all of them, as it says, '[they inform about] SOME of what will come upon you' (Is. 47:13) – i.e. SOME of what will happen in the future but not ALL of what will happen, and it might be that NONE of what they say will be fulfilled, whereas in the case of the true prophet, ALL of his words are fulfilled" (Rambam, Hilchos Yesodey HaTorah 10:3).

Chapter 48 Having foretold the destruction of Babylon in his prophecy in the previous chapter, Isaiah now castigates the people OF Judah and Benjamin who would thereby be redeemed from their exile, chiding them for being unworthy of redemption in their own merit – for God would redeem them for His own sake. The people are CALLED by the name of Israel (v 1) – outwardly they go by the name of God's chosen people – but when they swear in the name of HaShem, it is not in truth but for outward show. They CALL themselves the people of the Holy City (of Jerusalem) and claim to depend on HaShem, the God of Israel, but these are mere words on their lips but not what is truly in their hearts (RaDaK on v 2). Even so, God would save them in order not to profane His Name, as the nations would otherwise say that if this people are from His city and claim to put their trust in Him yet He still does not save them, it can only be because He lacks sufficient power (Metzudas David on v 2). "And I told you from the beginning; before it came to pass I let you hear it, lest you should say: My idol has done these things and my carved idol and molten image has commanded them" (v 5). The prophet implies that it was not because of the people's merit that he had to prophesy in advance what would happen to their enemies. On the contrary, his need to do so was because otherwise they would say that it was their own idols that overthrew them rather than acknowledging that it was the work of HaShem, who had already foretold it from the start.

The prophet emphasizes that the patience God shows to Israel despite their backslidings is only for the sake of His Name, and indeed He is to be praised for His forbearance. "For My name's sake I will defer my anger and for the sake of My praise I will show you patience" (v 9). Rabbi Nachman learns from this verse that "praise" (i.e. our prayers) requires patience. When we offer our prayers to God, we must have patience and WAIT for Him to answer instead of necessarily expecting an immediate response (Likutey Moharan I, 2). "Behold, I have refined you but not into silver, I have tried you in the furnace of AFFLICTION" (v 10) – "This teaches that God considered all the good attributes that He might bestow upon Israel and found nothing better for them than the affliction of poverty" (Chagigah 9b). There is a widespread perception that Jews are rich, but while some, particularly among the non-observant, may be extremely wealthy, the lot of many striving to keep the Torah both in the past and until today has been to have to struggle with the challenges of extremely limited resources. "When a person refines silver he removes all the dross, leaving only pure silver, but I have not done this, because if I did, very few would remain. Instead I afflict the wicked – who are the dross – with illnesses or captivity or through the loss of their children or the fruits of their cattle and their land etc. so as not to cut them off completely" (RaDaK on v 10). "If only you had hearkened to My commandments, your peace would have been as a river and your righteousness as the waves of the sea; your seed would be as the sand and the offspring of your belly like the fish of the sea…" (v 18). God will in any event redeem Israel, but we could enable it to come about with so much less pain if we will heed the voice of His Torah!

Chapter 49 Having uttered harsh prophesies about the future downfall of the nations (Assyria, Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Duma, Tyre and Sidon etc.), and having urged his own people to repent without effect, Isaiah now rises to defend himself, proclaiming that it is God who called him as His prophet, putting words sharp as weapons in his mouth (vv 1-2). "And He said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified" (v 3). God was telling Isaiah that because of his exemplary service, he is accounted as the equivalent of all the throngs of Israel, whose national mission is to give glory to God. "When a person regularly studies the Bible, reviews the laws of the Torah, serves Torah scholars and conducts his business affairs with others in an agreeable manner, what do people say? Happy is his father! See how beautiful are his ways and how well-ordered are his deeds! Of him the verse says, 'And He said to me, you are my servant, Israel , in whom I will be glorified '" (Yoma 86a). "Then I said, I have labored for emptiness, I have spent my strength for devastation and vanity" (v 4): In this verse, the prophet tells how he felt apprehensive that he may not have found favor with God because he has rebuked the people but they have not paid attention (Metzudas David). However in verse 5 God immediately reassures him that by seeking to bring Israel to repent he has gained great honor in His eyes. In reward for his efforts, not only will he be a prophet to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Moreover, he will also be "a light to the nations, so that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth" (v 6). "I shall add another great gift for you, because I shall make you the prophet and harbinger of the future redemption, which will be for a light to all the nations, because they will all go in the light of HaShem and believe in Me, so that then My salvation shall

reach from one end of the earth to the other, for everyone will be saved through God's salvation" (Metzudas David ad loc.). God's promise to Isaiah about his reward is followed immediately in verse 7 by a resounding prophesy that Israel's redemption will surely take place, despite the fact that the prospect seems so far-fetched because they are so despised and abhorred by the nations (as is the case today). Nevertheless, kings and princes will rise and prostrate when they see how God will fulfill his promise to His chosen people. Despite the seeming impossibility of the redemption, "Thus says HaShem: In a time of favor I shall answer you and on the day of salvation I shall help you…" (v 8). We ourselves can create this time of favor (RATZON) by carrying out God's will (RATZON) through keeping His Torah (see Metzudas David on v 8). Verses 9-13 depict the spiritual liberation that the redemption will bring to those now imprisoned in the darkness of exile, who will return from all corners of the earth. Yet Israel finds it hard to believe in the promise of the future redemption. "But Zion said, HaShem has forsaken me…" (v 14). God reassures them: "Can a woman forget her suckling child…?" (v 15). Targum on v 15 amplifies the allusions contained in the thrice-repeated concept of "forgetting" contained in this verse. "Can a woman forget her son and not show love to the child of her womb? The Assembly of Israel answers: If there is no forgetfulness before Him, perhaps He will not forget how I made the golden calf! The prophet answers her: Even these may be forgotten! Israel replies to the prophet: If there is forgetfulness before Him, perhaps He will forget how I said at Sinai, 'We shall do and we shall hear'? The prophet answers: God will surely not reject you!" God has engraved Israel on the very palms of His hands, as it were, and can never forget them. If the redemption is delayed, it is because "your destroyers and those that lay you waste come forth from you" (v 17) – it is not God but rather the wicked sinners of Israel who cause the destruction of Zion. [This is seen today in the tireless efforts by Israel's secular political leadership with the full backing of its judiciary, police, the media etc. to uproot Jews from their religious inheritance and their own ancestral land.] Yet God promises that at the time of the ingathering of the exiles, Zion will be astounded at the multitude of her children after having thought that she was completely bereft (vv 18-23). The hundreds of thousands of OLIM who have poured into Israel in the last sixty years and who continue to pour in until today are living testimony to the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of the ingathering of the exiles as contained in these verses. "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the captive of the victorious be delivered?" (v 24). According to the Targum on this verse, "the mighty" refers to Esau while "the victorious" refers to Ishmael, these being the joint oppressors of Israel in the final exile (see Daniel 2:40ff and commentators there). Zion , still faltering in her faith, asks if it is really possible that Israel will be delivered from such powerful forces, and the prophet answers with a resounding affirmation that God will indeed redeem us.

Chapter 50 "Thus says HaShem: Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement with which I have sent her away?" (v 1). God is challenging the doubters in Israel who fear that the length of the exile may be proof of the claim of the nations that He has "divorced" Israel from being His chosen people in favor of the adherents of some later religion. Those who find the yoke of the Torah burdensome often favor the idea that Israel has been "divorced" (as promoted by "replacement theology") since it appears to absolve them from any further obligations. However, the prophet

affirms that there has been no "bill of divorce" (=GETT), which means that the original "marriage contract" (=KESUBAH), i.e. the Torah, is still fully binding. Jeremiah was indeed to say of the exiled Ten Tribes, "And I gave her bill of divorcement to her" (Jer. 3:8) but even this did not mean that they would never return but only that they would not have their own king again, because in time to come they will be united with Judah under the Davidic king Mashiach (Ezekiel 37:19). However, in the case of the tribe of Judah, Isaiah here is saying that there never was any "bill of divorcement" whatever. If God has sent them into exile, it is not as a husband finally divorcing his wife but only as one who temporarily sends her from the house as an expression of anger over her behavior. "You have been sold because of your sins and your mother has been sent away because of your transgressions" (Isaiah 50:1; see RaDaK ad loc.). God's complaint is that He has called the people to repent and serve Him, but they have not responded. Otherwise He could have saved them from Exile just as he "dried up the sea" when He split the Red Sea to save them from the Egyptians and "made the rivers a wilderness" when He split the Jordan to bring them into the Land of Israel (v 2; see RaDaK ad loc.). Likewise God will "clothe the heavens in blackness and make sackcloth their covering" (v 4) when He casts down the guardian angels of the nations prior to the overthrow of their peoples at the time of the final redemption (Rashi). The mass of Israel may have failed to repent, but in the very beautiful passage in vv 4-9 Isaiah affirms his own unflinching steadfastness in the pursuit of his prophetic mission despite the hail of blows and abuse he received at the hands of the recalcitrant people. The prophet's words will surely resonate with anyone who has ever tried to promote belief in God and obedience to His Torah among the irreligious and irreverent. So certain was Isaiah of the truth of his prophecies that he saw them as if they would be fulfilled very soon, vindicating him completely: "He Who justifies me is NEAR" (V 8). In the closing verses of the chapter the prophet invites all the nations to put their trust in God and follow His ways (v 10, see Targum), but the nations refuse to listen, thereby condemning themselves to walk in the burning heat of the fires they themselves have kindled. In our days this would appear to apply to those stoking the fires of war and terror in the Middle East and throughout the world. * * * Isaiah 49:14-26, 50:1-11 & 51:1-3 are read as the Haftarah of Parshas EKEV (Deut. 7:12-11:25), this being the second of the seven Haftarahs of consolation read Sabbath by Sabbath after Tisha b'Av. * * *

Chapter 51 "Hear me, you that pursue righteousness…" (v 1). The prophet now comforts those who continue to seek HaShem and strive to follow the path of righteousness despite the lengthy exile: "Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug out. Look to Abraham… and Sarah…" (vv 1-2). Based on the use of the metaphors of an inanimate "rock" and a "pit" to describe Abraham and Sarah, the Talmud teaches that both were congenitally barren (Yevamos 64a) – yet in their old age, after they had long despaired of ever having a child, God miraculously sent them a son. Similarly, after having extended Israel 's exile to the point where they will despair of being redeemed, He will finally deliver them (RaDaK on v 2).

"For HaShem has comforted (NICHAM) Zion …" (v 3). Full consolation will come at the time of the future redemption, but grammatically, the Hebrew verb NICHAM is in the past tense, following the prophetic style in many other passages, for the matter was clear to the prophet as if it had already happened (Metzudas David on v 3). God promises that in time to come the waste places of Zion will be transformed into a garden of HaShem . This transformation will be accomplished through the revelation of a new level of Torah at the time of the redemption, the Torah of Mashiach: "For Torah shall go forth from Me…" (v 4). " Melech HaMashiach will teach the nations to follow the ways of HaShem, and the messianic Justice will enlighten the eyes of the nations in their various disputes, and I will thereby bring calm and tranquility to each and every nation, for they will no longer make war against each other" (Metzudas David on v 4). Despite the long exile, the prophet reassures us that God's righteousness is "near" (v 5) and that He will judge the nations. "For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the earth shall grow old like a garment…" (v 6). "The heavens" alludes to the guardian angels of the nations in heaven, who will be worn out and thrown into turmoil at the time of the redemption, while the "earth" refers to the governing powers of the earth. But God's salvation of His people will endure for ever (Rashi ad loc.). The opening verse of the present section addressed those who "PURSUE righteousness and SEEK OUT HaShem" (see v 1 above), but now the prophet addresses "those who KNOW righteousness, the people that have My Torah IN THEIR HEART" (v 7), urging them not be fear the degradation and insults to which they are subjected by the nations during the lengthy exile, because all the nations will be consumed like a moth-eaten garment (which is merely extraneous) while God's salvation will last forever (v 8). "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Hashem…" (v 9). The prophet now prays to God to arouse the power of His mighty "arm", just as in the days of old when He overthrew Rahav, the "crocodile", i.e. Egypt, causing the Red Sea to split to make a path for His redeemed children (v 10). The phrase "Awake, awake!" in verse 9 was woven into the LECHA DODI song with which it is customary to welcome the Sabbath "bride" every Friday evening. Likewise included in LECHA DODI are a number of other phrases of redemption from Isaiah's prophecy (e.g. Is. 51:17, 52:1 & 2 etc.). The beautiful prophecy of redemption in v 11 also appears word for word in Isaiah 35:10. "I, even I am He that comforts you…" (v 12). Israel have no need to fear their oppressors, who are mere mortals, whereas their Savior is the Living God, who assures them that their captive exiles will soon be released (v 14). "And I shall place My words in your mouth and I have covered you in the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth and say to Zion, You are My people" (v 16). "My words" refers to the Torah, and thus the Talmud learns from this verse that "everyone who engages in the Torah for its own sake is considered as if he builds the heavenly and earthly palace, and he protects the whole world and brings the redemption closer" (Sanhedrin 99b). "Awake! Awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem …" (v 17). The prophet urges the people to awaken from their spiritual slumber induced by the trials of the exile, for they have

already suffered double trouble – the desolation of famine and the destruction wreaked by the sword (v 19). God promises that the poisonous cup of suffering will be taken from the hand of Israel and given instead to be drunk by those who oppress and humiliate her (vv 22-3).

Chapter 52 While Israel 's oppressors were compared to a worn-out garment eaten by moths and worms (Is. 51:8), the prophet now calls on Zion and Jerusalem to don their garments of glory – the Torah and the commandments. "For henceforth the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no more come into you" (v 1). "The 'uncircumcised' refers to the kingdom of Edom, who are uncircumcised, while the 'unclean' refers to the kingdom of Ishmael , who make an outward show of purity through washing their bodies, but who are really unclean because of their evil deeds. And these two kingdoms have kept hold of Jerusalem from the day of the destruction of the Temple, and they have both been fighting over it for a long time now, each one conquering it from the other, but from the day of the redemption and thereafter they will never pass through it again, as it says in Joel 4:17" (RaDaK on v 1). "For so says HaShem: You were sold for nothing and you shall be redeemed without money" (v 3). "You were sold for nothing" – because of your sins – "and you shall be redeemed without money" – through repentance (RaDaK ad loc.). "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him that brings tidings of good, that announces peace…" (v 7). "Three days before Mashiach comes, Elijah will come and stand on the mountains of Israel and cry and mourn over them, saying, Mountains of the Land of Israel, until when will you stand in a desolate land? And his voice will be heard from one end of the world to the other. Afterwards he will say, Peace has come to the world! Peace has come to the world, as it is written, 'How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him… that announces PEACE'. When the wicked hear this they will all rejoice and say to one another, Peace has come to US! On the second day Elijah will come and stand on the mountains of Israel and say, Goodness has come to the world! Goodness has come to the world! As it says, '…that brings tidings of GOOD'. On the third day he will stand on the mountains of Israel and say, Salvation has come to the world! Salvation has come to the world! As it says, '…that announces SALVATION'. But when he sees what the wicked are saying, '…He will say to Zion, Your God rules' – to teach you that the salvation is for Zion and her children and not for the wicked" (Psikta Rabasi). "Depart! Depart! Go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Go out from the midst of her; be clean, you that bear the instruments of HaShem" (v 11). The prophet tells the exiles to depart their places of exile and separate themselves from the unclean nations around them. "…you that bear the instruments of HaShem" – "Your weapons of war will be the instruments of HaShem – His Torah and commandments, and not the sword or the spear" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "For you shall not go out with haste…" (v 12). Whereas at the time of the Exodus from Egypt the Children of Israel were commanded to eat the paschal lamb "with haste" (Exodus 12:11), in the future redemption they will leave their exile not "with haste" – i.e. not in a state of confusion, like people who are in fear – but with calm and confidence (Mechilta; see Metzudas David & RaDaK on our present verse). "Behold, My servant shall prosper: he shall be uplifted and raised up and be very high" (v 13). While Rashi, Metzudas David and RaDaK interpret the "servant" as referring to the Tzaddikim of Israel in general, the Midrash interprets this as a

reference to Melech HaMashiach. "He shall be exalted…" – "more than Abraham, who said, 'I have lifted up my hand'" (Gen. 17:22); "…and raised up…" – more than Moses, who said, '…raise him up in your embrace' (Numbers 11:12); "…and be very high…" – "higher than the ministering angels, of whom it is said 'they have height' (Ezekiel 1:18)" (Midrash Tanchuma). Just as the nations were appalled at the descent of Israel in the time of their exile, so they will be amazed at their ascent at the time of the redemption (vv 14-15). * * * Isaiah 51:12-23 and 52:1-12 are read as the fourth Haftara of consolation on Shabbos Parshas SHOFTIM (Deut.16:18-21:9). * * *

Chapter 53 THE SUFFERING SERVANT The present chapter is famous for its depiction of God's tormented servant, reviled and persecuted by those around him, for whose sins he atones through his illness and suffering. "Who would have believed our report…?" (v 1). All of our classical Bible commentators are agreed that these are the words with which the astonished nations of the world will express their amazement when they see the future greatness and glory of Israel as they will be revealed at the time of the redemption (see Rashi, Metzudas David and RaDaK on v 1). The prophecy in our present chapter thus flows naturally from the closing words of the previous chapter describing the wonderment of the nations in time to come when they will see Israel's ascent from such depths (Is. 52:14-15). The nations will be astonished because Israel's future greatness will be the complete negation of their perception of the "Golus Jew" – Israel in exile, "despised and rejected of men; a man of pains and acquainted with sickness, like one hiding his face from us; he was despised and we did not esteem him" (v 3). "But in truth he has born our sicknesses…" (v 4). In time to come the nations will arrive at the realization that Israel's very suffering throughout their exile came to atone for the sins of the nations, protecting them from the evils that should have come upon them. "But now we see that it was not because of their lowliness that evil befell Israel but rather, they were wracked with suffering so that all the nations would gain atonement through the suffering of Israel: the illness that was fit to come upon us was born by Israel …. We used to think that Israel was hated by God, but this was not the case: he was 'wounded because of our transgressions, bruised because of our iniquities. He suffered in order that we might have peace' (v 5)" (Rashi on vv 4-5). RaDaK on verse 4 comments that the concept that anyone could gain atonement through the suffering of another appears to contradict the principle that "a son shall not bear the sin of the father and a father shall not bear the sin of the son" (Ezekiel 18:20). If so, how can one person gain atonement through another or one nation through another? In the course of his lengthy discussion, RaDaK explains that when the nations come realize that they believed in falsehood all along while Israel alone adhered to the true faith, the nations themselves will reason that if Israel suffered during their exile, it must have been to protect and atone for the nations. The entire passage may also be read as an expression of wonderment and retroactive understanding by the Israelite BEINONIM (intermediate, ordinary people) and

RESHAIM (the wicked) when they see the future vindication of the Tzaddikim who remained loyal to God's Torah. The simple meaning of this passage proves that the concept that a righteous Tzaddik has the power to atone for others in his lifetime and through his death is soundly based in Torah prophecy. In the words of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal): "Suffering and pain may be imposed on a Tzaddik as an atonement for his entire generation… Such suffering also includes cases where a Tzaddik suffers because his entire generation deserves great punishments bordering on annihilation but is spared via the Tzaddik's suffering… In addition there is a special higher type of suffering that comes to a Tzaddik who is even greater and more highly perfected than the ones discussed above… to provide the help necessary to bring about the chain of events leading to the ultimate perfection of mankind as a whole" (Derech HaShem II:3). "He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of the people to whom the stroke was due" (v 8) – "He was cut off and exiled from the land of the living – this is the Land of Israel – for on account of the sin of My people (i.e. Israel) this plague came upon the Tzaddikim among them (Rashi)."He let his grave be among the wicked and gave himself over to death at the hands of the wealthy, and there was no deceit in his mouth" (v 9) – "Rather than deny the living God, he sacrificed his life whenever the wicked nations decreed death, causing [the Jews] to be buried like donkeys, i.e. eaten by the dogs, and was willing to face every kind of death at the hands of the wealthy rulers rather than undertake to perpetrate injustice like all the nations among whom he lived. He would not accept idolatry" (synopsis of Rashi ad loc.). "But it pleased HaShem to crush him by disease: if his soul shall consider it a recompense for guilt, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the purpose of HaShem shall prosper in his hand" (v 10). The Talmud comments: "Everyone whom HaShem favors, He crushes with suffering, as it says in this verse. Could this be so even if the person does not accept it with love? No, because it says 'if his soul shall consider it a recompense for guilt (ASHAM)': just as the ASHAM (guilt sacrifice) was only offered voluntarily out of the person's loving desire to repent, so one must accept suffering with love. And if he does, what is his reward? 'He will see his seed, he shall prolong his days…'. And moreover, his Torah study will endure in his hand, as it says, '…the purpose of HaShem shall prosper in his hand'" (Berachos 5a).

Chapter 54 "Sing O barren one, you who did not bear…" (v 1). Immediately following Isaiah's depiction of Israel as God's long-suffering servant comes this most beautiful prophecy of their future glory in our present chapter vv 1-17. "…For more numerous are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife" (v 1). The "desolate" refers to Jerusalem as she was before the redemption, while the "married wife" refers to the daughter of Edom (Rashi ad loc.) As in the case of some of Isaiah's previous prophecies about the redemption, the present prophecy of joy over the great expansion of the population of Israel at the time of the ingathering of the exiles (vv 3-4) – which has been and continues to be fulfilled in our days – has contributed phrases to the LECHA DODI song welcoming the Sabbath. In vv 5-10, God consoles Israel over the pains of their exile in the way that a husband conciliates the beloved wife of his youth following a brief display of anger,

reassuring them that nothing will ever cause God's faithful love to depart from them or His covenant of peace to be removed. "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted…" (v 11). Still suffering from the ravages of the exile, Israel is not consoled, yet God promises that a most glorious future awaits her. "And all your children shall be taught of HaShem and great shall be the peace of your children" (v 13). In verse 14 the prophet teaches the simple pathway to redemption: "Through righteousness (TZEDAKAH, charity) you shall be established: keep away from oppression, and then you shall not fear…" "Behold, they may well gather (GOR YA-GUR) together, but not by Me: whoever shall gather (GAR) together against you shall fall for your sake" (v 15). According to this simple rendering of the verse, God is promising that even if the nations gather to make war against Israel , they will fall. Targum refers this to the war of Gog and Magog at the end of days. However, the Talmud darshens the same Hebrew words of the verse differently, citing it as the scriptural basis for its teaching that "converts will not be accepted in the days of Mashiach, just as converts were not accepted in the days of David and Solomon" (Yevamos 24b). The reason for this is that Israel 's great status in those times would give the gentiles ulterior, impure motives for converting. The DRASH is based on the threefold appearance in the verse of the root GAR, which not only means "gather" but also has the connotation of "dwell", and a GER is a convert who comes to "dwell" with Israel. Rashi (on Yevamos loc. cit.) explains the Midrashic meaning of the verse as: "'One who comes to convert should dwell without Me' – i.e. during the time when I am not yet with you, i.e. during the exile. 'Only he who dwells with you…' – i.e. in your time of lowliness – '…shall rest (YIPOL, cf. Gen. 25:18) with you' i.e. in the world to come." "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper…" (v 17). None of the weapons that Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah or anyone else may dream up will ever succeed in dislodging Israel from their God-given land. * * * Isaiah 54:1-10 is read as the fifth Haftara of consolation on Shabbos Parshas TI SEITZEI (Deut.16:18-21:9) * * * * * * The passages in Isaiah 54:11-17 and 55:1-5 are read as the third Haftara of consolation on Shabbos Parshas Re'eh, Deut. 11:26-16:17 * * * * * * Isaiah 54:1-17 and 55:1-5 is read as the Haftara of Parshas NOAH (Gen. 6:911:32). * * *

Chapter 55 "Ho all who are thirsty, come to water…" (v 1). "After the war of Gog and Magog the nations will recognize that God rules over all and that there is none beside Him, and then they will come to Jerusalem to learn God's laws and teachings… Water is a metaphor for Torah and wisdom – for just as the world cannot survive without water, so the world cannot survive without wisdom, and just as a thirsty person craves for water, so the wise soul craves for Torah and wisdom… The Torah is also compared to wine and milk. Just as wine makes the heart rejoice, so do words of Torah. And just as milk keeps a baby alive and makes it grow, so words of Torah keep the soul alive and make it grow" (RaDaK ad loc.).

"Why do you spend money for that which is not bread?" (v 2) – "Why should you pay your enemies money without receiving bread?" (Rashi ad loc.) "Why do you pay a high price to study alien systems of wisdom and philosophy that have no benefit?" (Metzudas David ad loc.) "Hear and your soul shall live" (v 3) – "Listen to Me and you will merit to stand in the resurrection in the days of Mashiach" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure loving promises of David" (v 3) – "This is Mashiach, for he will be called by the name of David… He will be the teacher of the nations 'and he will judge between the nations and rebuke many peoples' (Is. 2:4)" (RaDaK ad loc.). "Seek HaShem while He may be found…" (v 6). Isaiah now addresses the people in exile, calling on them to repent. They should seek God "while He may be found" – i.e. "BEFORE the decree is finalized, while He is still telling you to seek Him out" (Rashi). "…while He is NEAR" – "seek Him in such a way that He will be near, i.e. when you seek Him WITH ALL YOUR HEART" (RaDaK). "Seek out the fear of HaShem while you are still alive" (Targum). "For My thoughts are not as Your thoughts…" (v 8) "My laws are not like the laws of flesh and blood. In your world, if a man admits to a crime he is judged guilty, but by My law, 'Whoever confesses and forsakes [his sins] shall be shown mercy' (Proverbs 28:13)" (Rashi on v 8). "If a man commits an offense against his fellow, he takes vengeance on him and will not forgive him, and even if he forgives him on the surface he nurses a grudge in his heart… But I am full of forgiveness. And when I forgive, I do so in truth, and no trace of the sin remains" (RaDaK on v 8). "For as the rain comes down… and does not return there but waters the earth…" (v 9) – "The rain and the snow do not return to the skies through evaporation without first watering the earth… Sometimes a person sends someone to do something but the agent comes back without accomplishing his mission. But 'My word… shall not return to Me empty'" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "For you shall go out with joy…" (v 12). The redemption will bring great joy. Moreover, joy – SIMCHAH – itself is the avenue that leads to redemption. "It is a great mitzvah to be joyful always" (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov). "Instead of the thorn, the cypress shall arise…" (v 13) – "In place of the wicked, the righteous will rise up" (Rashi ad loc.). The "thorn" and the "nettle" refer to Haman and Vashti, while the "cypress" and the "myrtle refer to Mordechai and Esther (Megillah 10b).

Chapter 56 "Guard justice and practice charity, for My salvation is near to come…" (v 1). "Great is charity for it brings the redemption closer" (Bava Kama 10a). "Great is Teshuvah for it brings the redemption closer. Great is charity for it brings salvation closer" (Yoma 87a). "Happy is the man that does this… that keeps the Sabbath…" (v 2). "The Sabbath is mentioned specifically at this juncture because the prophet is addressing the people in exile, urging them to improve their ways in order to leave their exile, and the best of all pathways is the observance of the Sabbath, while the exile from the land came about because of the transgression of the Sabbath" (RaDaK on v 2). "Whoever observes the Sabbath according to its laws, even if he worshiped idols as

in the days of Enosh, he will be forgiven… If Israel kept two Sabbaths according to the law, they would be redeemed immediately" (Shabbos 118b). "Let not the son of the stranger who has joined himself to HaShem say, HaShem will surely separate me from His people, nor let the eunuch say, Behold I am a dry tree" (v 3). The "son of the stranger" is a convert who does not have children after his conversion; he is similar to a "eunuch" who has no children… Such a convert may think that he will not be considered a member of HaShem's people either in this world or in the world to come, and likewise the childless may think that if he leaves no son after him it is as if he never came into the world and God takes no favor in him, since God created the world for the sake of procreation…" (RaDaK on v 3). But quite the contrary, God promises that those childless "that will observe My Sabbaths" (=the weekly Sabbaths and the Sabbatical years, RaDaK) will receive "in My House and within My walls (=the Temple in Jerusalem) a place and a name (YAD VASHEM) better than sons and daughters" (v 5). [The name YAD VASHEM has been given to Israel's Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem .] Likewise God promises the "children of the stranger" that "I shall bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My House of Prayer…" (v 7). "Just as a person brings a guest into his home and receives him gladly, so God says, I shall command the priests to accept them gladly when they come to convert, and they will rejoice when they see themselves in the Temple courtyard year by year with the people of Israel" (RaDaK). "For My house shall be called the House of Prayer for all the nations (v 7) – "Not only for Israel alone but also for those of the nations who convert" (see Rashi and Metzudas David ad loc.). "HaShem God who gathers the outcasts of Israel says, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those of him that are already gathered" (v 8): "I shall gather in more converts to be added to all the ingathered people of Israel " (Metzudas David). "All you beasts of the field: come into the forest to devour all the beasts thereof" (v 9). "The beasts of the field do not have as much strength as the beasts of the forest. The 'beasts of the field' refers to the gentiles who will not harden their hearts but will convert. They shall 'devour' (win over?) those who harden their hearts and continue their rebellion" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "His watchmen are all blind: they are ignorant…" (v 10). This verse begins a new section of five verses continuing until chapter 57 v 2 (notwithstanding the conventional chapter break in printed Bibles, which violates the continuity of the Hebrew text). "After completing the previous prophecy of consolation, the prophet returns to rebuking the wicked people of his generation" (RaDaK on v 10). "The prophet began by saying, 'Seek out HaShem' (Is. 55:6) but the people do not listen. He therefore now says: See how the prophets are crying to them to repent for their own wellbeing, but their leaders are all like blind men who do not see what is developing. They are like a watcher appointed to see if the sword is approaching in order to warn the people, but he is blind and fails to see the sword coming, dumb and unable to warn the people – like a dog appointed to guard the house but he is dumb and does not bark. Likewise the leaders of Israel fail to warn the people to repent… Just as dogs never know satisfaction, these 'shepherds' do not know or understand what will happen at the end of days… 'Every one is out for his own

gain': They rob the rest of the people over whom they are appointed" (Rashi on vv 10-11). Let us be the ones who hear the call of HaShem in order that our souls shall live! * * * Isaiah 55:6-13 & 56:1-8 are read as the Haftara after the afternoon Torah reading on public fast days. * * *

Chapter 57 "The Tzaddik has been lost, but no man lays it to heart…" (v 1). This verse follows on directly from the passage of rebuke of the people that began in the closing three verses of the previous chapter (Is. 56:10-12). The complaint here is that when someone truly righteous is taken from the world, the people do not stop to ask themselves why he should have died – what did he do to deserve it? (Metzudas David on v 1). The prophet explains why: "For because of the coming evil the Tzaddik is taken away" (v 1) – so that he should not have to suffer the pain of witnessing it, going instead to a place of true tranquility and peace in the world to come (v 2). Today these verses challenge us to consider seriously how, following the passing of such towering Tzaddikim as Baba Sali, the Lubavitcher Rebbe and certain others in recent times, the security of Israel and of Jews worldwide has manifestly deteriorated, which should prompt us to do everything we can to further our own TESHUVAH. "But as for you, draw near, O sons of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer and the harlot" (v 3). In the following passage (vv 3-14) the prophet castigates the people for their "witchcraft" and "harlotry". Their "harlotry" is their turning away from following the path of HaShem with all their hearts and instead putting their reliance on men of flesh and blood in order to gain security. In Isaiah's time, the wicked people in Jerusalem did not want to follow Hezekiah's pure Torah path, but schemed instead to stave off the military threat from Assyria through bribes and alliances with other powers etc. (v 9): these very schemes were part of the "witchcraft". The same scheming continues until today by the secularized Jewish and Israeli "leadership", who cannot bring themselves to return to the path of Torah but instead devote themselves to never-ending stratagems purportedly intended to increase Jewish and Israeli security, all of which have the opposite effect. Whereas the people of Isaiah's time practiced literal child-sacrifice (v 5), today people tend to sacrifice their children on the altar of television, popular culture, materialism etc. instead of training them in the ways of Torah. "You are wearied with the length of the way, yet you did not say, It is hopeless…" (v 10) – "You have been busy with your needs, fulfilling all your lusts and multiplying your wealth, but you did not say 'It is hopeless': you have not given up all of this and said, 'I will not concern myself with all this any more but instead I will put my heart into the Torah and mitzvos" (Rashi ad loc.). "I will declare your righteousness, but as for your works, they will not profit you" (v 12) – "I constantly tell you things which – if you were to do them – would vindicate you. But the works that you do contrary to My will shall not avail you in your time of trouble" (Rashi). All the schemes of the wicked will be blown away by a mere wind and a breath. But those who put their faith in HaShem and His Torah "will possess the land and inherit My holy mountain" (v 13). This literally refers to the land of Israel and Jerusalem. "And even though this passage specifically refers to King Hezekiah, who trusted in HaShem and did not move from his place, it also relates to every person. No matter how many people a person may gather to aid him in his time of trouble, they will not help him, because gathering people of flesh

and blood in this world is wind and vanity. For 'the fear of HaShem is his treasurehouse', and one who trusts in Him will possess the land and inherit the Holy Mountain in the World to Come, which is called the Land of the Living. The stumbling-block of this world is sin, and its removal is repentance" (RaDaK on v 13). Thus the passage continues: "And [the prophet, speaking in the name of HaShem, Rashi] says: Bank up, build up, prepare the way, TAKE UP THE STUMBLING BLOCK OUT OF THE WAY OF MY PEOPLE" (v 14). "For thus says the high and lofty One… I dwell on high and in a holy place, yet with him also that is of contrite and humble spirit" (v 15). This sublime depiction of God's absolute transcendence combined with His limitless compassion is cited by the rabbis as the proof from the Nevi'im or prophetic writings (besides other proofs from the Torah and the Kesuvim) that "in every place where you find the greatness of the Holy One blessed be He, there you find His humility" (Megillah 31a). "For I will not contend for ever, neither will I always be angry, when the spirit shall faint before Me, for I have made the souls " (v 16) – "If I bring suffering upon a person, My burning anger against him shall not be for length of days nor my rage forever, '…when the spirit shall faint before Me' – i.e. when man's spirit, which is put in him from Me, 'faints' and he admits his sin and is humbled" (Rashi). The word here rendered as "faints" also has the connotation of "swathing" and "clothing" (Metzudas Tzion). This verse is a key scriptural foundation for the kabbalistic teaching that the souls are garbs or garments through which Godliness is revealed in the world. "I create a new expression of the lips: Peace, peace, both for far and near, says HaShem, and I will heal him" (v 19) – "Whereas until now the person suffered troubles, leading everyone to raise doubts and questions about him, they will now call out to him, 'Peace, peace'. Those who are far and those who are near are both equal – the person who has habituated himself and grown old in My Torah and My service since his youth [FFB] and the person who has just now recently drawn close in order to repent from his evil way [BT]. 'I shall heal him' from his illness and his sins" (Rashi ad loc.). [For those unfamiliar with the slang, FFB="Froom From Birth", BT=Baal Teshuvah!]. "But the wicked are like the troubled sea which cannot be still…" (v 20) – "The waves of the sea proudly swell up above, seeking to pass over the boundary of sand that I have set as the boundary of the sea, yet when the wave reaches the shore it is broken against its will. Its fellow-wave coming after it sees this but does not retreat. Likewise the wicked man sees his companion suffering because of his wickedness, yet he still does not repent. Just as the all the foaming and raging of the sea is at its mouth, so the rebellion of the wicked is with their mouths" (Rashi ad loc.). We all want peace, but God says: "THERE IS NO PEACE FOR THE WICKED" (v 21). So much for "Peace Now"!

Chapter 58 God says to the prophet: "Lift up your voice like the shophar (KE-SHOPHAR) and tell My people their transgressions" (v 1). Rabbi Nachman teaches that in order not to degrade the people through his rebuke but rather to elevate and enhance them, the Tzaddik must draw his voice of rebuke from the melody emanating from the Garden of Eden. This melody is the "Simple, Double, Treble, Quadruple" Song of the World to Come, which is alluded to in the word Ke-SHoPhaR. These Hebrew letters are the initial letters of Pashut ("simple"), Kaphul ("double"), Shalush ("trebled"), Ravu'a ("quadrupled"; Likutey Moharan II, 8:1).

"…tell MY PEOPLE their transgressions…" – "these are the Torah scholars, all of whose unintentional sins are counted as willful transgressions" [because they should have known better]; "…and the HOUSE OF JACOB their sins" – "these are the 'people of the earth' (AM HA'ARETZ), the unlearned, in whose case even willful transgressions are counted as unintentional" (verse 1 as explained in Bava Metzia 33b). "And they seek Me daily and desire to know My ways, LIKE a nation that did righteousness…" (v 2). "The people seek to create an outward impression AS IF they are righteous, but even when they ask the sages what are God's righteous laws, it is not their intention to fulfill them" (Rashi on v 2). In vv 3-6 the prophet castigates the people for practicing the outer rituals of penitence – fasting, sackcloth and ashes, fervent swaying etc. – while failing to abandon their sinful ways, their infighting, exploitation of the poor and weak etc. This leads into the very beautiful passage in verses 7ff in which Isaiah depicts the pathway of kindness and compassion that God wants us to follow. V 7: "Is it not to share your bread with the hungry…" This verse speaks about providing for the PHYSICAL needs of the hungry, poor and naked. Verses 8-9 then enumerate SIX different blessings that will come to one who does so. Among them are that "your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of HaShem shall gather you in": this means that at the time of death, "the charity you did will go before you to conduct you to the Garden of Eden, and the Glory of HaShem will gather you in to the place where the souls of the Tzaddikim are hidden away" (Metzudas David). Verse 10 then speaks of a higher level of kindness: "If you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul…" This means that "you bring forth your good favor to the hungry person, SPEAKING WORDS OF CONSOLATION at the time when you give him food". The continuation in verses 10-11 then enumerates ELEVEN blessings that come to one who fulfills this higher level of kindness. Thus: "Rabbi Yitzhak said: Everyone who gives a coin to a poor person is blessed with SIX blessings, while one who uplifts him with kind words is blessed with ELEVEN blessings" (Bava Basra 9b). "And He will make your bones strong" (v 11) – " Rabbi Elazar said: This is the most excellent of blessings" (Yevamos 102b). "If you restrain your foot from violating the Shabbos…" (v 13). The prophet here concludes his depiction of the true pathway of repentance that God wants us to follow by returning to the cardinal Mitzvah of the Shabbos. While the prohibition of labor on Shabbos is contained in the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8), the observance of this holy day involves more than mere abstention from work. The present verse is the scriptural foundation of the Shabbos laws relating to celebrating the SPIRIT of the day – through abstaining from all business activities even though they may not technically be counted as labors, by marking out the day with a different, more relaxed way of walking than on weekdays, by not even TALKING about business and mundane affairs, by enjoying special delights (food, clothing, etc.) on Shabbos and so on. "Then you shall you delight yourself in HaShem… and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father" – "The verse mentions Jacob because the heritage is unique to his children as opposed to Ishmael son of Abraham and Esau son of Isaac" (RaDaK). "This will be a heritage without any bounds, as it is written of Jacob" 'And you shall break forth to the west and the east, the north and the south…'" (Gen. 28:14; Rashi on our verse).

* * * Isaiah 57 vv 14-21 & 58 vv 1-14 are read as the Haftarah after the morning Torah reading on the fast of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Haftara teaches the kind of fasting and repentance that God desires. * * *

Chapter 59 "Surely HaShem's hand is not shortened so that it cannot save…" (v 1) – "After finishing teaching them about the good deeds they should practice and how they should turn aside from evil, the prophet now gives them further reproof over their evil deeds. He says that their complaint against God in the previous chapter, 'Why have we fasted but You have not seen…?' (Is. 58:3), is unfounded, explaining that the reason why God has not seen your fasting or saved you from your enemies is not because His hand has become short and cannot save you and not because His ear does not hear… but because your sins have separated you from Him and this is why it seems as if He does not hear and does not have the strength to save you. Why? Because of your sins" (RaDaK on v 1). "For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness" (v 3). "'Your hands' refers to the judges; 'your fingers' are the judges' scribes; 'your lips have spoken lies' – these are the lawyers; 'your tongue mutters wickedness' – these are the parties to the law suit" (Shabbos 139a). The blight of litigation! "No one calls in uprightness…" (v 4) – "There is no-one who calls out to HaShem with uprightness and heartfelt intent" (Metzudas David). "They hatch viper's eggs and weave the spider's web…" (v 5): The evil schemes hatched by the wicked will lead only to the bite of the poisonous serpent, while all that they seek to construct will be as flimsy as a spider's web, which is easily swept away. Isaiah was directly addressing the wicked people of Judah in his time who sought to gain security through their various machinations. However, his prophecies are for all time and especially for us since we are now at the "end of days". His depiction of the people's wickedness seems to apply directly to those trying to build an Israel founded on military, technological and economic power divorced from the Torah. "The way of peace they know not…" All the peace plans and diplomatic gambits in the world will never bring Israel peace without the Torah, "for all of her ways are peace" (Proverbs 3:17). "Therefore justice is far from us…" (v 9). In the previous eight verses the prophet was addressing the complaints of the wicked and castigating them for their ways. But the wicked of Israel and the righteous are all members of a single organism and the flaws of one part cause the whole to suffer. Thus the prophet now embarks on a lament in the name of the people as a whole. "Therefore justice is far from us" – "We have been crying out over the outrageous injustice (HAMAS) of our enemies, but the Holy One blessed be He does not execute justice and take vengeance" (Rashi ad loc.). Thus Israel today is literally crying out about HAMAS, who perpetrate daily rocket attacks on the country, yet nobody intervenes to stop them! "…neither does righteousness overtake us" (v 9) – "The consolations of coming goodness that He has promised us do not come and reach us" (Rashi ad loc.). The prophet's lament becomes a confession that he puts into the mouths and onto the lips of each one of us: "For our transgressions are multiplied before you…" (v 11). Even those striving to observe the Torah may not put all the blame for the

nation's troubles upon those who are far from the Torah. For we must all take personal responsibility: "…and as for our iniquities, we know them" (ibid.). "And the judgment is turned away backwards, and justice stands far off, for truth is fallen in the street and upright dealing cannot enter" (v 14). The "judgment" that is turned away backwards is "our vengeance against our enemies, which depends on the Holy One, blessed be He. And 'His justice stands far off' – Why? Because 'truth is fallen in our streets', and since the truth has stumbled on earth, likewise justice and equity do not come from heaven" (Rashi ad loc.). Today it is the "street" – i.e. the mass media – that have set themselves up as the arbiters of truth. No wonder it has stumbled! "And truth is absent, and he that departs from evil makes himself ridiculous" (v 15). "In the generation in which the son of David will come, truth will be absent. What does it mean that 'truth is absent (NE'EDERES)'? This teaches that it will turn into flocks and flocks (ADARIM ADARIM; i.e. society is splintered into an ever-growing multitude of groups each claiming a monopoly on truth). What does it mean that 'he who departs from evil makes himself ridiculous'? It means that everyone will say he has gone mad" (Sanhedrin 97a). These are the symptoms of the threshold of Mashiach! There may thus be a grain of comfort in the fact that today many of the non-religious and probably all of the irreligious think that those who observe the Torah are mad! "And [HaShem] saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought him salvation and it was His righteousness that sustained him"(v 16) – "When He will see that there is no pure, worthy man among them in whose merit they can be redeemed, and when He will be astonished that there is no-one among them who intercedes and prays for the redemption, HaShem's right arm will save them, bringing the redemption without merit and without an intercessor" (Metzudas David ad loc.). The Talmud learns from verse 16 in our present chapter and verse 21 in the following chapter that Mashiach will come either in a generation that is entirely worthy or entirely guilty (Sanhedrin 98a). RaDaK (on verse 16) seeks to reconcile the different opinions in the Talmudic discussion on this question as follows: "The majority of Israel will repent after they see the signs of redemption, and this is why it says, 'And he saw that there was no man' – for they will not repent until they will see the beginning of the salvation. But there will still be sinners and rebels among them and they will leave the exile together with the majority of Israel, who will repent, but they will perish on the way and they will not come to the Land of Israel … Even the majority will not repent completely or pray to God wholeheartedly until they see the signs of redemption… It makes no sense to say that there will be no righteous, good people in Israel who will be fit for redemption – but they will not be sufficiently worthy for the entire people of Israel to be redeemed in their merit. And thus when the rabbis said that the redemption would come in a generation that is 'entirely guilty', this means the majority – for there was never a generation in Israel that was entirely guilty without having some righteous, good people. And even the guilty are not necessarily liable to be wiped out; rather, they will simply unworthy to be redeemed in their own merit." "And He will garb Himself in righteousness (TZEDAKAH) like a coat of armor…" (v 17) – "His weapons will be of two kinds: weapons of charity and salvation for Israel and weapons of vengeance against the nations" (RaDaK ad loc.). "Why does it say, 'He will garb Himself in TZEDAKAH (=charity) like a coat of armor'? Just as in a coat

of armor, each metal scale adds up to a great coat of armor, so in the case of charity, all the separate coins join up to make a great sum" (Bava Basra 9b). "They shall fear the Name of HaShem from the west… when affliction (TZAR) comes like a river, which the spirit of HaShem will drive forth" (v 19). The Talmud comments on this verse: "If you see a generation suffering from many troubles, wait for him (i.e. Mashiach)" (Sanhedrin 98a). RaDaK explains that the "affliction" that "comes like a river" refers to the armies of Gog and Magog, which the spirit of God will destroy from the earth. "For even though the people of Israel will have returned to Jerusalem before Gog and Magog come, when they do so Israel will say that no redeemer has come to them since the nations are coming to make war against them. When God then judges Gog and Magog with 'plague and blood and driving rain and great hailstones…' (Ezekiel 38:22), Israel will say 'And a redeemer has come to Zion …' (v 20 in our present chapter), for then all Israel will come back to God in complete repentance" (RaDaK on v 19). "And a redeemer shall come to Zion …" (v 20): This and the following verse of redemption are recited in the daily morning services and Shabbos and festival afternoon services etc. at the beginning of the prayer UVA-LEZION.

Chapter 60 The very harshness of much of the prophecy contained in the previous chapter was perhaps intended to soften and humble our hearts in preparation for the sublime prophecy of consolation contained in our present chapter. "Arise, shine, for your light has come…!" (verse 1, phrases from which are incorporated in the LECHA DODI song welcoming Shabbos). "For the darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples, but but upon you HaShem will shine and His glory shall be seen upon you" (v 2). As we contemplate the wanton violence, warfare, terror and crime in the world today together with the licentious godless cultures that breed them, we may well feel that this verse applies directly to our age. We may take comfort in the fact that we are free to turn off the media and immerse ourselves in the study of God's Torah (TaNaCh, Mishneh, Talmud, Halachah, Midrash, Kabbalah, Chassidut… endless treasures), and in this way His light shines to us even in the midst of the surrounding darkness that grips the world. "Lift up your eyes round about and see: all of them are gathered and have come to you…. Your sons shall come from afar…" (v 4). If we look back not only over the last sixty years since the establishment of the state of Israel with the great waves of Aliyah that followed, but also over the exponential growth of Aliyah in the five hundred years since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, we can see how this prophecy of the return of the exiles has been and continues to be fulfilled. Today over half of the world's Jews live in Israel. Despite all its many problems and even the serious poverty of part of its population, Israel is in purely material terms one of the wealthiest, technologically advanced and sophisticated countries in the world, and the wealth of many nations flows into Israel in the form of imports, investments, tourism etc. etc. as prophesied in vv 5ff. We eagerly await the day when all the flocks of Kedar (=Arabia) will be gathered to be offered as sacrifices on God's Altar in "the House of My glory" (v 7) – i.e. the coming Holy Temple! V 8: "Who are these that fly as a cloud and as doves to their windows?" Who does NOT come to Israel today by air, usually in planeloads of hundreds – just like flocks of doves? How was Isaiah able to see this 2500 years ago?

"And the sons of strangers shall build up your walls" (v 10). A very large part of the labor force in present-day Israel's construction industry is foreign. "And your gates shall be open always by day and by night" (v 11). Flights arrive day and night at Israel's "gates" – Tel Aviv day airport! "The sons also of those that persecuted you will come bending to you" (v 14) – "Those who were your persecutors during the exile will already be dead at the time of the salvation, and their children will come to you bowing and they will fall before you" (RaDaK ad loc.). It is a fact that descendants of some of Israel's worst persecutors have been notable converts, such as those of Sennacherib and Haman, and in our times a grandson of the Mufti of Jerusalem. "Violence (HAMAS) shall no longer be heard in your land" (v 18). It appears that present-day Hamas was brought into existence for the purpose of being wiped out very soon in fulfillment of this prophecy. "The sun shall no more be your light by day…. For HaShem shall be to you an everlasting light…" (v 19). "Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: Throughout the forty years when Israel were in the wilderness, not one of them ever needed the light of the sun by day or the light of the moon by night. If the encompassing clouds of glory radiated, they knew that the sun had gone down, while if they became white, they knew that the sun had risen. One could look at a barrel and know what was in it, at a pitcher and know what was in it [spiritual X-ray vision!!!] because of the cloud of the Divine Presence that was among them. So too in time to come, as it says, 'Rise, shine for your light has come…' (v 1) … 'The sun shall no more be your light by day…' (v 19; Midrash Mechilta). "And your people are all righteous forever…" (v 21) – This teaches that "All Israel have a share in the world to come" (Sanhedrin 90a). "I, HaShem, will hasten it in its time" (v 22) – "If they are worthy, 'I will hasten it'; if they are unworthy, 'in its time'" (Sanhedrin 90a). * * * Isaiah Chapter 60 vv 1-22 is the sixth Haftarah of Consolation, read on Shabbos Parshas KI SAVO (Deut.26:1-29:8). * * *

Chapter 61 "The spirit of HaShem, God is upon me, because HaShem has anointed me to announce good tidings to the meek…" (v 1). RaDaK explains: "These are the words of the prophet referring to himself. He means that the good tidings that he has given in previous prophecies and that he will continue to give later on come to him through the prophetic spirit of HaShem that rests upon him. God has sent him to announce these tidings to Israel because they are destined to be in exile for a long time, but they will find these consolations written and then they will not despair of the redemption. For the consolations he has been sent to utter and transcribe come from the mouth of HaShem, bringing good tidings to the exiles, who are meek and broken-hearted, enduring the exile for HaShem's sake, whereas if they had wanted to separate from His unity and from His Torah they would have become like one of the nations in whose domain they live" (RaDaK on v 1). The Talmud deduces from verse 1, "…to announce good tidings to the MEEK (ANAVIM)", that the quality of ANAVAH, "meekness" and "humility", is the greatest

of all the righteous attributes, being higher even than CHESSED, "kindness" or "going beyond the letter of the law" (Avodah Zarah 20b). Among the consolations, God promises that He will give to the mourners of Zion "a garland (PE'ER, "glory") in place of ashes (EPHER)" (v 3). After the destruction of the Temple, bridegrooms no longer went out with garlands on their heads but instead rubbed ashes in the place where the head Tefilin are worn (see Ta'anis 15b). But very soon now the garlands will be restored and the true radiance of the Tefilin will also shine forth. Verses 4-6 promise that after lying desolate and in ruins for many long generations, the Land of Israel and Jerusalem will be rebuilt (which has indeed happened and continues to happen in our days), and that gentiles will serve as "shepherds", "plowmen" and "vinedressers" etc. producing the nation's material requirements, leaving the righteous of Israel to serve as HaShem's priests, whose task will be to minister to the nations and teach them about the unity of God and His Torah. "For I, HaShem love justice and hate robbery with a burnt offering…" (v 8). The Talmud states: "A stolen LULAV (palm branch) is invalid for the performance of the mitzvah of taking the four species on Succoth, because this would be a mitzvah that came about through a sin, and it says He, 'hates robbery with a burnt offering'. The matter may be compared to a king who was passing through the Customs House and told his attendants to pay the customs dues to the customs officers. They said, 'But surely the entire Customs belongs to you!' The king replied, 'From me all travelers will learn not to evade the customs'. Likewise the Holy One blessed be He says, 'I hate robbery with a burnt offering' – from Me all My children will learn and keep themselves well away from robbery" (Succah 30a). "I will greatly rejoice in HaShem… for He has clothed me with the garment of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness (TZEDAKAH)…" (v 10). These are the words of Israel at the time of the final redemption, rejoicing over the revelation of God's saving power and righteousness that will then occur in the eyes of the entire world. Israel will then be the exemplar of righteousness and justice. "For as the earth brings forth her growth and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth…" (v 11). These are not only metaphors for the way in which God will cause His salvation to spring forth in the future redemption. The words of this verse are also the basis for an important halachic Midrash relating to the laws of KIL'AYIM (prohibiting sowing different kinds of seeds together, Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:9). From them we deduce how many different kinds of vegetables may be sown in close proximity in a small vegetable bed without infringing the prohibition of KIL'AYIM (see Shabbos 84b and Mishneh Kil'ayim ch 3).

Chapter 62 "For the sake of Zion I will not hold My peace…" (v 1) – "These are the words of HaShem while Israel are in exile" (RaDaK ad loc.). "I will not keep silent without exacting retribution from the nations on account of the degradation they have inflicted on Zion, which they destroyed down to the very foundation… I will not rest until the justice I will perform for Zion will shine like a brilliant radiation and the salvation I will send her will be seen by all like a blazing torch of fire" (Metzudas David ad loc.). God's favor for Israel at the time of the redemption is compared to a young man's rejoicing over his new bride (v 5).

"Over your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen throughout the day and throughout the night…" (v 6). The Talmud explains that these "watchmen" are angels who constantly remind HaShem about the destruction of Jerusalem, calling on Him to rebuild it (Menachos 87a). Targum Yonasan says that "your walls" are the founding fathers, who "shield us like a wall" (see Rashi on v 6). Rabbi Nachman of Breslov called upon all of us to take it upon ourselves to serve as these "watchmen", particularly through the recital of TIKKUN CHATZOS, the Midnight Lament over the destruction of the Temple, as well as our other prayers for redemption at every possible juncture day and night. "…Give Him no rest until He establishes and until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth" (v 7). "Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way of the people…" (v 10). Targum renders: "The prophet proclaims: Pass through and return through the gates and turn the heart of the people to the path of righteousness. Announce good news and consolations to the Tzaddikim who have removed from themselves the negative thoughts produced by the evil inclination, which is like a stone that causes people to stumble…". May we soon see the day when "…they shall call them the Holy People, Redeemed by HaShem, the city that is Sought Out and not forsaken" (v 12). Amen! * * * Isaiah chapters 61:1-11, 62:1-12 & 63:1-9 are read as the seventh Haftarah of Consolation on Shabbos Parshas NITZAVIM (Deut. 29:9-30:20). * * *

Chapter 63 "Who is this that comes from Edom, with crimsoned garments from Batzrah…?" (v 1). Verses 1-5 of this chapter are a prophecy about God's vengeance against Edom in time to come. Edom's guardian angel in heaven will be "killed" first. In destroying Edom , God is compared to a warrior taking vengeance on his enemies, his garments red from the blood of the killing. It is as if someone is asking in astonishment: Who this is? and God replies: "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save" – "I speak and promise to do justice for Israel , I have abundant power to save them, as I have promised" (see Metzudas David & RaDaK ad loc.). Based on this verse, the Talmudic sage Reish Lakish said: "The guardian angel of Rome is destined to make three mistakes. The first is that it is only the city of BETZER that provides refuge for killers (Deut. 4:43) whereas he will seek refuge in Batzrah. The second mistake is that the cities of refuge are only for unwitting killers whereas he killed intentionally. The third is that the cities of refuge are only for humans while he is an angel" (Maccos 12a). [Maharal explains that by cutting off a life every unwitting killer becomes attached to the overall power of evil, which is the guardian angel of Edom (SAMA-EL), and thus becomes cut off and uprooted from his place, except that he can be "absorbed" and find refuge under the protection of God, who encompasses all existence including even a sinner. When the great Day of Judgment comes, when God will remove the spirit of impurity from the world (Zechariah 13:2), the overall power of evil will likewise beg to be left in existence, seeing itself as the expression of God's attribute of Judgment. But the overall power of evil is not a man (whose acts without full understanding and responsibility) but rather an angel, which possesses complete knowledge and understanding. Therefore BATZRAH, which alludes to the root of his power, expressing a level of evil that goes beyond the proper limits of Judgment, will not provide him with refuge in the way that the city of BETZER provides refuge to human beings.]

The future destruction of the overall force of evil will be all God's work. "Of the peoples there was none with me" (v 3) – "None of the nations will be able to stand up against Me in war, for I shall have killed the heavenly angel" (Metzudas David). When will this be? "For the day of vengeance is in My heart" (v 4) – "If a person tells you when the final redemption will come, DO NOT BELIEVE HIM, as it says, 'For the day of vengeance is in My HEART'. If the heart has not even revealed it to the mouth, to whom could the mouth reveal it???" (Yalkut Shimoni). "Rabbi Yohanan said: To My heart I have revealed it but not to My limbs. Reish Lakish said: To My heart I have revealed it but I have not revealed it to the ministering angels" (Sanhedrin 99a). "And I looked and there was none to help… therefore My own arm has brought salvation to me…" (v 5) – "I looked to see if Israel had any merit that might help and aid the redemption, but I did not find any merit in them… I was astonished because there was no intercessor" (Metzudas David and Rashi ad loc.). This implies that the final redemption will come about not through Israel's merit but because of God's righteousness and compassion. "I will recall HaShem's kindnesses…" (v 7). This verse begins a new section that runs continuously without a break (in the Hebrew text) until the end of the following chapter (Isaiah 64:11). The previous prophesy of the coming destruction of Edom does not engender a mood of triumphant joy in Israel but rather one of deep introspection, leading the prophet to consider God's kindnesses to the House of Israel "which He has bestowed upon them according to His mercies" – i.e. not because of our own righteousness (Metzudas David). "In all their affliction, He was afflicted" (v 9). This rendering of the verse follows the KRI (the way the words are READ in accordance with the Massoretic tradition) but not the KSIV (the way the text is traditionally written in the parchment scroll). The KSIV does not attribute the human feeling of affliction to the Holy One blessed be He, Who transcends all such feelings, but rather it says, "In all their affliction, He did NOT (LO, Lamed Aleph) afflict them," i.e. not to the full extent, because the "angel of His countenance" (=Israel's guardian angel, Michael) protected them. The KRI is far bolder, telling us that for all His transcendence, God DOES FEEL our pain and torment ("the pain is LO, Lamed Vav, to Him" (see RaDaK on v 9). "But they rebelled…" (v 10). The prophet wants the people to understand that it is because of their own rebellion that God has sent their afflictions at the hands of the nations: they have not come by chance (see Metzudas David ad loc.). "Then he (= Israel) remembered the days of old, how Moses came to His people…" (v 10). In exile Israel will remember the days of old when God sent Moses to redeem them (see Rashi; Metzudas David ad loc). The prophet places a prayer on the lips of the people: "Where (AYEH) is He that brought them up out of the sea (i.e. the Red Sea) with the shepherd of His flock…" It is noteworthy that in asking the key question, AYEH??? WHERE??? (see Likutey Moharan II:12) the people will not only seek out HaShem but also Moses – the Tzaddik of the Generation – through whose agency God will redeem them. In verses 12-14 the prophet evokes the greatness of the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea, emphasizing the EASE with which the Children of Israel passed through – like a horse galloping free in the wilderness or like an animal GOING DOWN into a valley (as opposed to having to climb up with effort; see Rashi and RaDaK on vv 13). He thereby creates a wistful longing for the miracles of the past in preparation for the prayer for future redemption that he puts into the mouths of

Israel in verses 15ff. Verses 15-18 are included in the prayers of TIKKUN CHATZOS (the Midnight Lament over the destruction of the Temple). "For you are our father, though Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel (=Jacob) does not acknowledge us…" (v 16). Notably absent from this verse is the second founding father, Isaac. An aggadic Midrash in the Talmud tells that in time to come God will turn to both Abraham and Jacob telling them their children have sinned against Him, to see if they will intercede on their behalf, but both will reply that they should be wiped out to sanctify His name. However, when He says to Isaac, Your children have sinned, Isaac will reply, "MY children and not YOUR children??? Surely when they said, 'We shall do and we shall hear', You called them 'My firstborn son'! Furthermore, how many years does a man live? Seventy! Subtract the first 20 years, when a person is not liable to heavenly punishments. That leaves 50. Subtract 25 to take account of the nights. That leaves 25. Subtract twelve and a half years to take account of all of the time spent praying, eating, in the bathroom etc. That leaves twelve and a half years in which people may sin. If You can bear all of them, all the better! And if not, I will bear half and You bear the other half!!!" At that moment all Israel will say "For YOU (Isaac) are our father!!! (Shabbos 89b).

Chapter 64 In this chapter the prophet continues with the introspective prayer which began in the previous chapter (Is. 63:7). In the last verse of the previous chapter (63:19) he prayed that God should again rend the heavens and descend as He did when He came to save Israel from Egypt and to give them the Torah on Sinai, when the very mountains melted (Rashi & Metzudas David ad loc.). In the first verse of the present chapter (which is a direct continuation), He prays to God to show His power to His enemies the way that fire burns up brushwood and makes water bubble furiously. "As when You performed awesome wonders that we did not expect…" (v 2). The magnitude of the miracles of the Exodus and the Revelation at Sinai were on a scale that the people could never have dared to hope for – and the prophet artfully implies that miracles of the same order or greater are required for the final redemption. "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen that a god beside You should do such a thing for him that waits for him" (v 3). This rendering of the verse follows the plain meaning of the Hebrew text. However the latter part of the verse can equally be rendered: "No eye has seen, O God, besides You what He shall do to one who waits for Him". In the words of Rambam: "Man does not have the power to understand the goodness of the world to come clearly, and no-one knows of its greatness, beauty and power except the Holy One blessed be He alone. All the benefits that the prophets foretold for Israel relate only to the material benefits Israel will enjoy in the days of Mashiach when dominion will be restored to Israel, but nothing whatever can be compared to the goodness of the life of the world to come, and the prophets never compared it to anything in order not to detract from it through an inadequate comparison… For those who wait for Him, God will perform a goodness that no eye of any prophet has seen and that no-one besides God has seen " (Rambam, Laws of Teshuvah 8:7). In vv 4-6 the prophet puts more words of prayer and confession into the mouths of the people, mourning the loss of the truly righteous, which has left a people all of whom are like someone unclean and full of sins, causing God to hide His countenance from us.

"But now, HaShem, You are our father, we are the clay and You are the potter…" (v 7). Not only do we ask God to have compassion upon us like a father. We ask him to CHANGE us for the better, just as a potter can change the shape of the vessel he makes at will (RaDaK). As in the case of Is. 63:15-18, the prayer in the closing verses of our present chapter (Is. 64 vv 7-11) is incorporated in TIKKUN CHATZOS.

Chapter 65 The closing verses of the previous section expressed the cry of pain of Israel in exile over the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, asking how God can hold His peace and afflict us so greatly (Is. 64:8-11). But in the new section that opens in the first verse of our present chapter, "It is as if God replies to the exiles over their complaint, saying: How can I redeem you? Did I not make Myself available to be sought out in your time of trouble? But this was of no benefit, because the people did not ask and did not seek Me out" (Metzudas David on v 1). In vv 2-7 God gives further rebuke to the wicked of Israel , to whom He reached out but who rebelled and went off on their own evil path, following their own thoughts, for which they will be punished. The depiction of the people's idolatry and necromancy in vv 3-4 could well apply to the period at the end of Isaiah's life early in the reign of King Menasheh, who promoted idol-worship in Judah and ended the prophet's ministry by killing him (Yevamos 49b). These verses also apply to the sinners of Israel in later times, who by "eating the flesh of the swine" (v 4) "violate everything forbidden by the Torah" (RaDaK ad loc.). The "broth of abominable things… in their vessels" refers to every other kind of unclean food (ibid.). In earlier times just as today, the self-important sinners of Israel thought that their own "enlightened" pathway of assimilation with the nations set them apart from and made them holier than their "unenlightened" brothers who still clung faithfully to HaShem's Torah (v 5). But God promises that it is precisely for the sake of His faithful servants the Tzaddikim that He will redeem Israel. "Thus says HaShem: As the wine is found in the grape-cluster and one says, Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it, so will I do for the sake of My servants and I will not destroy them all" (v 8). "He addresses the exiles, telling them not to despair of the redemption… for even though I will pay you back for the sins of your fathers by extending your exile on account of their sins and yours, I will not abandon you. In any event I will take you out of the exile and bring you back to your land after you have received your full punishment (RaDaK on v 8). "And I will bring forth a seed out of JACOB" (v 9) – "Included in 'Jacob' are the Ten Tribes" (RaDaK ad loc.). God promises that His chosen servants will eventually inherit the Land of Israel and Jerusalem (vv 9-10). However he warns that the rebels who have turned to idolatry will be marked out for the sword (vv 11-12). The idolaters "set out a table for Gad and fill the cup of liquor for Meni…" (v 11). Our commentators explain that Gad (="Fortune") was the name of an idol representing a constellation (Rashi ad loc.) while Meni represented a different constellation, or possibly Jupiter, or all of the seven main planets collectively (see RaDaK ad loc.). However, if we open our eyes to the letters on the page of our Bible before us, we can also see that this verse explicitly refers to the most prevalent idolatry of all times until today, whose devotees may say "In God we trust" (in the U.S.A. where this motto is printed on the dollar bill, they pronounce it as "GAD") while in fact they offer their full libation-measure of worship to the god called MONEY (which is as valid a transliteration of our Hebrew text as "Meni").

In verses 13-14 God contrasts the reward of the righteous in the world to come with the shame of the wicked. "The matter can be compared to a king who invited his servants to a feast without setting a time. The intelligent ones dressed up and adorned themselves and sat at the entrance to the king's palace… but the fools continued with their usual activities… Suddenly the king called his servants. The intelligent ones entered beautifully adorned while the fools came in filthy. The king was delighted with the intelligent ones and angry with the fools…" (Shabbos 153a). God will then "call His servants by another name, so that he who blesses himself on the earth shall bless himself by the God of truth (ELOKEY AMEN)…" (v 16). "For the fear of God will be upon everyone and the earth will be filled with understanding, and whoever on earth rejoices and takes pride will bless himself by the name of the God of truth, i.e. he will rejoice that he is the servant of the God of truth and faithfulness, who showed Himself reliable in keeping this promise, namely that 'the former troubles will be forgotten' [for peace will reign]" (Rashi on v 16). Some Breslover Chassidim may also be inclined to read a contemporary allusion into the letters of AMEN, which are the same as those of the city of UMAN where Rabbi Nachman lies buried! "For behold I will create new heavens and a new earth…" (v 17). Rashi explains that there will be a change among the guardian angels of the nations in heaven and that the angels of Israel will then be supreme, and this will be paralleled on earth. However Rashi also gives weight to the opinion of those who say that there will be new heavens quite literally (MAMASH). Until this happens it would be foolish to pretend to know exactly what these "new heavens" will be like. In the new future order, "There shall no more be an infant who lives a few days nor an old man that has not filled his days…" (v 20). RaDaK states that "at that time they will not say of an old man that he has lived a full span until he is from three to five hundred years old or more as in the first generations after the creation of the world" (RaDaK ad loc.). In verse 23 we learn that in time to come people will be blessed with exactly what we pray for every day, "that we should not labor in vain or bring forth for confusion" (from the words of the prayer UVA LE-TZION adapted from this verse). People will live harmoniously with their children and children's children, and even before they call, God will answer them (v 24, quoted in the fast-day ANENU prayer). "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like an ox…" The Midrash explains that we find that Esau will fall at the hands of the children of Joseph, as it says, "The house of Esau will be for STRAW and the house of Joseph a FLAME" (Obadiah 1:18). However, we find no reference there to his falling at the hands of the other tribes, who are compared to wild beasts. Therefore it says that 'the lion shall eat STRAW like the ox', teaching that those tribes that are compared to a lion, i.e. Judah and Dan, will be just like Joseph, who is compared to an ox, and together they will consume the one who is compared to straw (Rashi on v 25).

Chapter 66 "So says HaShem: The heavens are My throne and the earth is My footstool: where is the house that you would build for Me and where is the place of My rest?" (v 1). "Now he goes back to rebuking the wicked people of his generation, castigating them over the sacrifices they bring at the same time as acting wickedly, just as he chastised them at the beginning of the book (Is. 1:11): 'Why do I need the abundance of your sacrifices?'" (RaDaK on verse 1 of our present chapter.). "The heavens are My throne" – "I do not need your Temple" (Rashi). RaDaK explains

that the only purpose of the Temple was to provide a special place for the people to come in order to pray and offer sacrifices – i.e. to rouse their hearts to God and burn up all their evil thoughts like an object burned on the altar. If the people bring their sacrifices while continuing to act wickedly, this thwarts the entire purpose of the Temple (RaDaK ibid.). Thus He castigates those who bring a fat ox after having beaten its owner and stealing it, or any similar-kinds of ill-gotten "sacrifices", which are despicable in God's eyes (v 3). He warns the hypocrites who make an outer show of piety while following their own abominations that He will bring against them the thing they most fear (v 3). On the other hand, Isaiah's final message of comfort in the concluding, prophecy here at the climax of his book is addressed to "those who tremble (HA-HAREDIM) at His words" (v 5). These are the HAREDIM until today – not those for whom religion is an outward show, but those who truly fear HaShem in their very hearts and take the responsibility of keeping His Torah with the utmost seriousness, SHOMRIM KALAH KE-CHAMURAH, observing the lightest commandment with the same care as the most stringent. Rashi's rendering of verse 5 is: "Hear the word of HaShem, those who tremble at His words: your brothers, who have hated you and driven you out, have said, It is through OUR greatness that God takes glory, for we are closer to Him than you. However, the prophet replies that it is not as they say, but rather, we shall see YOUR joy (i.e. that of the HAREDIM) while THEY (i.e. the sinners and enemies of the HAREDIM) will be ashamed" (see Rashi on v 5). This will come about at the time of the war of Gog and Magog and the final redemption at the end of days. The war of Gog and Magog, which is the central theme of the remainder of this closing chapter of Isaiah, is alluded to in verse 6: "A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the Temple , the voice of Hashem rendering recompense to His enemies". Our commentators explain that this refers to the time of Mashiach: the "enemies" are the armies of Gog and Magog, of whom it is said that "HaShem will go out and fight the nations" (Zechariah 14:3; see Metzudas and RaDaK on verse 6 of our present chapter). Verses 7f compare the redemption of Zion (the Shechinah) to her "giving birth" to a ZACHAR, a male: this refers to the future revelation of ZEIR ANPIN – the absolute unity of God who has complete power over all creation. Thus verse 8 asks "Who (MI) has heard such as this, who (MI) has seen such things?" alluding to the crown of BINAH upon the head of ZEIR ANPIN. "Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth?" (v 9) – "Do I bring a woman to the birth-stool and not open her womb to bring out her baby? Could it be that I would begin something and not be able to complete it?" (Rashi ad loc.). "Surely I am the One who has put strength into the hands of all the nations – how could it be that I will not put the power into YOUR hands?" (Metzudas David ad loc.). Rejoice with Jerusalem… exult for joy with her, all you that did mourn for her" (v 10) – "From here we learn that all who mourn over the destruction of Jerusalem will merit to see her in her time of joy, while whoever does not mourn over Jerusalem will not see her joy" (Taanis 30b). "For thus says HaShem: Behold I will extend peace to her like a river…" (v 12) – "Peace from the nations, who will come from every corner to enquire after their

wellbeing, bringing them offerings… Just like a flowing river runs fast, so their glory and wealth will come running to them" (RaDaK ad loc.). "For behold HaShem will come with fire and His chariots like a storm…" (v 15) – "He will come with the fury of fire against the wicked… for with the fire of hell He will judge His enemies" (Rashi on vv 15-16). "The prophet is saying that He will judge Gog and Magog with fire, as it says in the prophecy of Ezekiel (38:22), and what it says there about how each man's sword will be against his brother is the same as the sword of HaShem in our verse. This sword will be 'against ALL flesh', as it says in the prophecy of Zechariah (14:2), 'I shall gather ALL the nations to Jerusalem for war" (RaDaK on v 16). Verse 17 tells us who will be the main components of the forces of Gog and Magog. "Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens" are people who present themselves as being pure and holy while in fact they are impure. RaDaK (ad loc.) states that "these are the Ishmaelites, who purify their bodies and perform frequent ablutions yet are impure because of their evil, filthy deeds. They make a pretense of being pure but they are not". RaDaK states that "those who eat the flesh of the swine" are "the NOTZRIM, because the Ishmaelites do not eat the flesh of the swine. However those who eat 'the detestable thing and the mouse' are the Ishmaelites since they do indeed eat them" (RaDaK on v 17. The verse says that "together they shall perish" (v 17). RaDaK ad loc. comments: "'Together', i.e. the Notzrim and the Ishmaelites, will perish in the war of Gog and Magog, because these two empires hold sway in this world, and this is the fourth empire in the visions of Daniel. They are both considered as one empire since neither one has sole power in the world… I shall bring it about that all the nations will come with Gog and Magog, in order that they shall see how My glory will be magnified… God will bring it about and put it into their hearts to come, cf. Ezekiel 38:4 and Zechariah 14:12" (RaDaK on vv 17-18). "And I will set a sign among them…" (v 19): "Fugitives will be saved from the war, and I will leave them alive so that they may go to spread tidings in the remote islands about My glory which they witnessed in the war, and even upon those fugitives I shall put one of the signs [of the plague etc.] with which their companions were judged so as to show far-off people, 'This is the plague with which those who attacked Jerusalem were smitten'" (Rashi ad loc.). On hearing this news, the inhabitants of these far-off places will themselves bring the Israelites who still remain in their regions to the Land of Israel (v 20; see RaDaK ad loc.). "And I will also take from them for Cohanim (priests) and Levites" (v 21) – "That is to say, even from among those who were sunk among the gentiles in far-off islands [the British Isles, the Americas, Australia, Japan etc. etc.…???] and who did not go up from the exile together with their brothers the House of Israel and who may possibly have changed the religion somewhat, I will nevertheless take Cohanim and Levites from them – i.e. those who were originally from priestly and Levitical families: I will take them to be priests to minister before Me and Levites to sing and play harps and lyres" (RaDaK on v 21). "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I shall make are standing before Me…" (v 22) – "It does not say here 'new heavens and a new earth' but rather 'THE new heavens and THE new earth'. Even the heavens and earth that are destined to be created in the future were already created in the Six Days of Creation, as it says in Genesis 1:1: 'In the beginning God created ES Hashamayim ve-ES Ha-aretz', i.e.

the heavens that arose in thought and the earth that arose in thought" (Bereishis Rabbah 1). "…so shall your seed and your name stand" (v 22). "You in whose days the redemption will take place should not worry lest your seed after you will go into exile from their land and their name become lost because of exile. THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN, because your seed after you will remain in the same state of goodness and wellbeing that you will enjoy after the redemption UNTIL ETERNITY, like the days of the heaven upon the earth. For the name of Israel will never be lost, and they will never again be exiled from their land as the nations who come with Gog and Magog against Jerusalem will think. They will intend to exile Israel and destroy their name, and this is why it says that it will not be as they think, FOR YOUR SEED WILL ENDURE LIKE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH (RaDaK on v 22). May HaShem make us worthy to see the day when "every new moon and every Sabbath, all flesh shall come to bow down to the ground before Me says HaShem" (v 23). * * * Isaiah chapter 66 is read as the Haftarah when Rosh Chodesh (the New Moon) falls on Shabbos. * * *

Book of Jeremiah Chapter 1 JEREMIAH SON OF HILKIYAH Verse 1: Jeremiah was born in the town of Anathot in the territory of Benjamin north of Jerusalem to a family of priests whose line went back to Eviathar and Ahimelech who were banished to Anathot by King Solomon (Kings I, 2:27). Although from a family of priests, it appears that Jeremiah may not have served in the Temple sacrificial rituals, although Targum Yonathan (Jer. 1:1) describes him as being "from the heads of the guard of the priests from among the AMARKALAYA that were in Jerusalem". In the Temple, the AMARKALIM were officers no less than seven in number who held the keys to the Temple Courtyard (AZARA; Rambam, Laws of the Temple Vessels 4:17). RaDaK on Jer. 1:1 states that Jeremiah's father Hilkiyah is the same as Hilkiyah the son of Shafan who found the Sefer Torah in the Temple in the time of King Josiah (II Kings 22:8). Vv 2-3: Jeremiah received Torah from the prophet Tzepahniah (Rambam, Intro. to Mishneh Torah), and his outstanding student was Baruch ben Neriyah, who was the teacher of Ezra. Jeremiah prophesied during the stormy final years of the First Temple, from the thirteenth year of the reign of the great revivalist King Josiah in the year 3298 = 462 B.C.E., through the eleven years of Jehoyakim and the eleven years of Tzedekiah, the last king of Judah, who was exiled with the destruction of the Holy Temple in 3338 = 422 B.C.E. Thus Jeremiah prophesied for 40 years. He wrote the work called by his name and also the Book of Kings and Eichah (Lamentations). It is said that the wise Ben Sira ("Ecclesiasticus") was Jeremiah's son (SIRA has the same gematria as YIRMIYAHU). THE RELUCTANT PROPHET V 5: "Before I formed you in the belly…" – God showed Adam each of the generations that were to come and their prophets" (Rashi). The soul of Jeremiah was fore-destined for the awesome and terrible task of rebuking a people that would not listen and who were heading for destruction. "…a prophet to the NATIONS" – "to Israel, who are conducting themselves like the nations" (Rashi). God told Moses He would establish a prophet like him over Israel: this was Jeremiah, who like Moses rebuked Israel and likewise prophesied for forty years (Rashi). While Jeremiah traced his lineage to Aaron the Priest, he was also descended from Rahab the Convert. V 6: "And I said, AHAH, O Lord God" – "this is an expression of YELALAH" (Rashi), howling and mourning. "…behold I do not know to speak, for I am a lad" – "I am not fit to rebuke them. When Moses rebuked them, it was near to his death and he was already noteworthy in their eyes because of the many miracles he had wrought for them…. But I am at the beginning of my mission – must I come to rebuke them?" (Rashi).

Vv 7-8: God fortifies Jeremiah, telling him not to fear the people. God puts forth His "hand" and puts prophesy into the mouth of Jeremiah. It is said that Jeremiah was born on 9 Av, the date of the destruction of the Temple. The name YIRMI-YAHU means "God elevates". In Jeremiah's time, God raised up the Attribute of Din, Judgment, and an enemy arose who raised his hand against Jerusalem (Psikta Rabah). Jeremiah began his prophecy in the town of Anathot, rebuking the people over their bad behavior and idolatry. However they mocked and abused him and his detractors included members of his own family. Vv 11-12: The almond rod. Almond in Hebrew is SHAKED, which means to be quick, because the almond tree takes only 21 days to bring its fruits from their initial formation to ripeness (Rashi) – symbolizing the speed with which the judgment was to come. Vv 14-16: The boiling pot heading from the north was a symbol of the coming invasion by the Babylonians, who would bring all the families and kingdoms of the north to sit at the gates of Jerusalem and carry out God's judgment. V 18: Jeremiah's mission was to rebuke the entire people, "the kings of Judah , its officers, its priests and the people of the land". He spared no one. He reproved them over the idolatry that was rampant side by side with the outward observance of the Temple rituals and feasts, over the robbery and oppression practiced by the mighty and powerful, over the corruption of the priests and those who spoke in the name of the Torah, and over the false prophets who were soothing the people into complacency with rosy promises of peace and glory. We may ask how the targets of Jeremiah's rebuke relate to ourselves and the world around us. The idolatry that he castigated was far more sophisticated than being merely a matter of bowing to wood and stone images. People worshiped the work of their own hands, putting their entire trust and effort into intermediaries. Our technological, money-based, pleasure loving, corruption-ridden world has become little different: it is just that the idolatry is so hard to isolate and define, not least because it surrounds us on all sides. Just as in Jeremiah's time, Israel and Jerusalem are today faced with existential threats that are also a threat to the future of Jews throughout the Diaspora. The lesson of Jeremiah is that if we will repent and return to the true Torah of Moses, God will remove these threats and bring about our redemption. The generation of Jeremiah closed their ears to his rebuke and continued on their path to destruction. The question is whether we will do differently and listen to the message of Jeremiah and have the courage to come back to God in complete TESHUVAH. • •

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According to the custom of the Sefardim, Jeremiah 1:1-19 and 2:1-3 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Shemos, Exodus 1:1-6:1. Jeremiah 1:1-19 and 2:1-3 is the Haftara of Shabbos MATTOS, first Shabbos of the "Three Weeks" annual summertime period of mourning leading up to the fast of TISHA B'AV (9 th Av) commemorating the destruction of the Temple. On the following Shabbos (MAS'AY), second Shabbos of the Three Weeks, the Haftara is Jeremiah Chapters 2 vv 4-28 (our next chapter) and 3 v 4 (Sephardim add Jer. 4:1-4).

Chapter 2 Vv 1-3: After the harsh rebukes of the previous chapter, the prophet's beautiful call for reconciliation in these verses, recalling Israel's going after God into the wilderness, makes a fitting climax of consolation to the Haftara of the first Shabbos of the Three Weeks. Vv 4ff: The rebuke intensifies in the following passage, Haftara of the second Shabbos of the Three Weeks. What did Israel find wrong with God after all His goodness and miracles since the Exodus from Egypt? V 8: Jeremiah spares no one. The highly respectable priests were not asking where is HaShem. The very experts and teachers of the Torah did not know God. The popular prophet-pundits speak in the name of idols and go after vanity. Vv 10ff: The KITHEE'IM are the peoples in the lands of the west, specifically the Romans (Metzudas David). KEDAR refers to the Arabs (Targum Yonasan). With these identifications in mind today we might ask why it is that while the Christians and the Muslims have in most cases not exchanged their faiths for Torah, why is it that so many Jews today take little or no pride in their own ancestral heritage, which is the source of all truth and wisdom. V 13: The evil is twofold: (1) Abandoning God, the source of living waters; (2) Hewing out broken pits – idols – that cannot contain water. The people of Jeremiah's time had elaborate astrology-based religions, worshiping the stars and planets. But these merely transfer the SHEFA ("influence") sent into the world by God. Why worship the conduit instead of going to the source? (cf. Metzudas David). V 18: The people of Jeremiah's time calculated that they could protect themselves against the Babylonians by allying with Egypt and Assyria. Likewise the "leaders" of contemporary Israel continue to play out the diplomatic game on the international chessboard, searching for "peace" as if this is possible without repentance and return to the Torah. Vv 20-21: The prophet contrasts God's beneficence to Israel with their infidelity. "And I have planted you as a noble vine (SOREK), wholly a seed of truth (EMES)". The Hebrew word SOREK has the numerical value of 606. Together with the 7 Commandments of the Children of Noah, the total is 613, alluding to the 613 Commandments of the Torah (Rashi). V 22: An interesting feature of contemporary civilization is its obsession with bodily cleanliness combined with a widespread disregard for spiritual and moral cleanliness. V 24: Israel has the stubbornness of a wild ass. But those that seek her will find her "in her month" – an allusion to the period of mourning of the Three Weeks culminating in the first nine days of the month of Av, time of the Destruction of the Temple (Rashi). V 25: The people could save themselves the travails of exile through repentance, but they feel they cannot repent because they are too far gone on their path of idolatry and temporal alliances. V 31: "O generation, SEE the word of HaShem…" It is said that Jeremiah took the flask of Manna out from the Temple Holy of Holies and displayed it to the people to

show them that the Word of God could change everything and even provide physical sustenance (Rashi). V 32: Even in his rebuke, Jeremiah uses terms of endearment, seeking to remind Israel of her true role as God's pure virgin bride in order to encourage and revive her. * * * The passage in Jeremiah 2:4-28 with 3:4 and, according to the Sefardic custom, 4:1-2, is read as the Haftara of reproof on the second Shabbos of the Three Weeks * * *

Chapter 3 Jeremiah chapter 3 verses1-5 are a direct continuation of the section that began in chapter 2 v 29. The conventional chapter break after ch 2 v 37 violates the continuity of this section. In the closing verses of chapter 2 the prophet rebuked the people as a wife who abandoned her first husband to run after lovers (cf. 2:32 and 2:26). Now in ch 3 v 1 the prophet says that normally if a man divorces his wife and she marries another man, she cannot return to her first husband. Yet, as this verse concludes, despite Israel's having been disloyal, God still says, "Return to Me". Vv 4-5: God says, "If only you would from now on call me 'my Father…'" (v 4) but (v 5) "…behold you (= Israel ) have spoken" – i.e. Israel has said, "We shall not come back to You any more" (Rashi). V 6: "And God said to me in the days of Josiah the king…" At that time – approximately three quarters of a century after the exile of the Ten Tribes, God instructed Jeremiah to try to bring them back (see v 11). The "backsliding Israel" mentioned in the present verse alludes to the Ten Tribes, and the verse then speaks of their sins prior to their exile (Rashi). Vv 7-10: God had sent prophets (Amos, Hosea etc.) to the Ten Tribes asking them to repent but they failed to do so and as a result were exiled. Now the prophet castigates their "treacherous sister," namely Judah, who after having witnessed the fate that befell the Ten Tribes, failed to draw the proper conclusion and to repent. The prophet refers to the Ten Tribes as the "backsliding Israel" but uses a far stronger term – "treacherous" – for Judah. This is because when the Ten Tribes rebelled, they were the first and had not seen a previous example of rebels who were punished. Judah, however, had seen what happened to the Ten Tribes yet still did not take heed. V 11: Israel (the Ten Tribes) is "more righteous" than Judah because they had no previous example to learn from. In V 12 God instructs Jeremiah to go to the "north" – the regions to which the Assyrians exiled the Ten Tribes – in order to bring them back. Some members of the Ten Tribes did indeed return to Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of King Josiah (Rashi on v 12). Vv 13ff: God promises to restore Israel if they will only be aware of their sins and repent. V 16: "And it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says HaShem, they shall say no more: The Ark of the Covenant of HaShem…" – "What this means is that they will no longer say to one another, Let us go before the Ark to pray there, because there will be so many people that the

place will not be able to hold them all and they will not all be able to go there." (Metzudas David). At that time, "wherever they gather, holiness will dwell, and I will dwell in their assembly as if it is the Ark" (Rashi). We may already be seeing the fulfillment of this prophecy if we consider how, with the rapidly increasing numbers of "returnees" in our times, assemblies at the Kotel (Western Wall of the Temple), Rabbi Nachman's gravesite in Uman, that of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in New York etc. are so thronged that many people wonder how they will be able to get near. According to Rashi's comment, God's presence dwells with the people wherever they are assembled for a holy purpose. V 18: "In those days the House of Judah will go with the House of Israel …" "They will join with them and be added to them to be one kingdom" (Rashi). Vv 19-25: God does not want to put Israel together with the other "sons" – the heathen nations, and for this reason gave them a beautiful land of their own. God calls on Israel to return and sends the prophet words of confession and repentance to put in their mouths (vv 22ff).

Chapter 4 Again and again the prophet repeats his calls to the people to repent. V 3: The prophet tells the people to learn from farmers who plow their fields in the summer in order to kill the roots of the weeds so that they will not grow and choke the newly planted seeds in the winter. Likewise, the people should improve their behavior before the evil comes upon them. It is no good to sow seeds among weeds – i.e. to cry to God and expect an answer before cleansing oneself of one's own evil. Vv 4ff: The prophet begins to warn of the evil that will come if the people do not repent. V 7: "A lion has come up from his thicket" – this refers to Nebuchadnezzar (Megillah 11a). V 10: "And I said, AHAH O Lord God, You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying 'You will have peace'…" It was the false prophets who deceived the people, lulling them into complacency with their promises of peace, with the result that the people did not repent, laying themselves open to disastrous consequences. V 15: "For a voice declares from Dan and announces calamity from Mt Ephraim" – This is the prophetic voice warning Judah that they will go into exile on account of their continuing attachment to the idolatries that were practiced under the Ten Tribes in Dan and on Mt Ephraim (cf. Rashi). Vv 23-26: "I have seen the land, and behold it was waste and desolate…" The words "I have seen" recur four times in these verses. The prophet foretells the coming disaster as if he has already actually seen it. V 27: "For thus says God: The whole land will be desolate, yet I shall not make a full end" – Despite the grim message of coming calamity, God's compassion is unending and He promises that the calamity will not be total because some of the inhabitants of the land will survive and even though they will go into exile, they will still be able to return and be restored in the future.

Chapter 5 Vv 1-9 analyze the moral decay of the people that is bringing upon them the coming calamity. It is impossible to find a single trustworthy person in Jerusalem. People invoke the name of HaShem, but they do so to swear falsely. V 3: Even though God has struck and chastised the people, they are not affected: they refuse to see the hand of God behind the blows they have received. V 5: It is not only the common people that have descended so low, but even the great people, who should have known better. V 6: The "lion" alludes to the coming exile to Babylon; the "wolf" to Medea, and the "leopard" to Greece, while those who survive servitude to these nations will be "torn to pieces", i.e. by Edom (Rashi). Vv 7-9: How can God not punish the people for their corruption and immorality? V 10: The prophet calls upon the enemies to attack Jerusalem, yet even so, he tells them not to make a full end to the people. Even in anger, God will show compassion. V 12: "They have denied HaShem…" The people deny that God watches over and controls everything and they refuse to believe that God will requite their sins. They are encouraged in this by their false-prophet soothsayers. V 14: Jeremiah prophesies that precisely because of the people's denial of providence, they will suffer the onslaught of the Babylonians. In v 15 Babylon is called an "ancient nation" because the Babylonians were the first to rebel against God with the building of the Tower of Babylon (Rashi). V 18: Despite his grim prophecies, Jeremiah again and again promises that the destruction will not be total, because of God's endless compassion. Vv 22ff: God has set limits to the creation. Despite the great power of the sea, it is unable to cross its boundaries and sweep over the sand to go inland. But Israel – who were created with free will and commanded to observe boundaries in their conduct – have crossed all the boundaries with their rebellion. Vv 26-28: More than anything, the prophet castigates the people for their greed and rapacity and the social injustices they perpetrate. V 31: The moral degradation is the result of the false prophets prophesying that all will be well. This has encouraged the priests (who should have taught the people Torah) to rule with force, and the people have come to love the corrupt state of affairs.

Chapter 6 Vv 1ff: Again the prophet visualizes the coming onslaught of the enemies, forcing the people to take refuge in their fortified cities, and he depicts the herds of foreign armies invading the country.

It must be understood that Jeremiah was prophesying at a time when the First Temple was still standing and fully functioning. The corrupt establishment of the priests and their false prophets clearly believed that they were immune from harm because of their outward practice of the Temple rituals. Jeremiah's prophecies of coming calamity flew in the face of the "political correctness" of the time, leading him to suffer enormous opposition, abuse and even imprisonment, as we find in the later portions of the book. We might better understand the intensity of the rage and anger he aroused if we imagine how the established leaders of major present-day powers would react to a "credible" prophet who stood up and started painting pictures of their imminent destruction, striking terror into the hearts of the populace. This is why Jeremiah says: Vv 10f: "To whom shall I speak and testify that they may hear: behold, their ear is stopped up and they are not able to hear; behold the world of HaShem has become a matter of reproach for them in which they take no delight. Therefore I am full of the fury of HaShem, I am weary with holding it in…" V 14: Jeremiah is forced to tell people the truth, because the false prophets have "healed" the wounds of the people by lulling them into complacency, promising them "Peace! Peace! – but there is no peace!" This phrase rings as true as ever today, as the secular leaders and pundits of Israel repeatedly promise peace but Israel knows only hostility and war! V 16: God appeals to the people to come to their senses and ask what would be the good way to go, but the people refuse. V 20: The people continue offering the Temple incense and other sacrifices, but God takes no pleasure in the outer forms of service without the inner devotion of the heart and soul.

Chapter 7 Vv 1ff: God instructs Jeremiah to enter the Temple itself and preach to the worshippers there, telling them not to trust that the holy Sanctuary will provide them with immunity from the coming onslaught. In verse 4, the phrase "the Sanctuary of HaShem" is repeated three times, alluding to the three annual pilgrim festivals (Rashi). Despite the fact that the people continued to observe the outer forms of divine service as laid down in the Torah, nothing would save them from calamity except a return to the Torah code of justice (vv 5ff). The people cannot steal, murder, fornicate, swear falsely and worship idols and then enter the Temple and call on God's name and expect to be saved. Vv 12-14: Jeremiah asks the people to reflect that in the time of Eli the High Priest, the presence of the Sanctuary and the Ark of the Covenant did not save Israel from disaster at the hands of the Philistines owing to the corruption of Eli's sons (I Samuel ch 4). Just as the Sanctuary in Shilo was destroyed, so even the Temple in Jerusalem would not be spared unless the people repented. V 16: God tells Jeremiah not even to pray on behalf of the people, because He will not listen. V 17-18: This is because the entire nation, men, women and children are swept up in a frenzy of idolatry, making "cakes" (or windows? – Midrash) for the "queen of heaven (MELECHETH HASHOMAYIM)". The identity of this idolatrous cult is the subject of various opinions. Rashi holds that a particular planet was considered to

be the ruler of the heavens; Metzudas David holds that this was the sun. However, RaDaK states that MELECHETH is not from the root of rulership but rather from MELACHAH, the "WORK of heaven", i.e. ALL the stars and planets. Later religions developed their own versions of thE cult of the "queen of heaven". V 21: Having descended to such a level of degradation, the people would be better off ceasing the Temple animal sacrifices and eating the meat themselves instead. V 29: The people should be tearing out their hair in agony and consternation over the evils perpetrated instead of continuing with the idolatrous cults they were following. V 31 refers to the practice of Molech-worship, in which fathers handed over their children to the priests to be passed through the fire. This is one of the most serious prohibitions of the Torah (Leviticus 20:2ff). It is said that King Ahaz had offered his son Hezekiah to Molech, and the cult was evidently thriving several generations later in the time of Jeremiah.

Chapter 8 V 1: "At that time, says God, they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah …" The rabbis commented that it is a good sign for a person when punishment is exacted from him after his death, such as if he is left unlamented and unburied, or if his body is eaten by a wild animal or gets soaked with rain during his funeral etc. as this atones for his sins (Sifri). V 3: "And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that will remain of this evil family…" Even though the survivors will see how the dead are demeaned, the pain of staying alive will be even greater and they would prefer to be dead (Rashi). V 6: Metzudas David renders this verse: "Could it be that they will fall through their sins and be unable to arise (as if to say, does repentance not help a person to rise from his decline?) If they return and repent, will not God also return from His burning anger?" V 8ff: The prophet castigates the people for believing themselves to be so wise and so devoted to the Torah that this would protect them from calamity. Those very "sages" will be put to shame and be broken and captured. Vv 10-11 are almost an exact repeat of ch 6 vv 13-14. The prophet's way is to go around and around, driving his points home. • •

The section in Jeremiah 7:21-34, 8:1-3 and 9:22-23 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Tzav, Leviticus 6:1-8:36 The section from Chapter 8 v 13 until Chapter 9 v 23 depicting the coming horrors of the invasion of the Babylonians is read as the Haftara on the Fast of Tisha B'Av (9 th of Av) commemorating the destruction of the Temple.

Chapter 9 At the end of the previous chapter, having despaired of finding "medicine" to heal his people, the distraught yet unfailingly eloquent Jeremiah poured out his tears and grief over the casualties of the coming calamity.

Now, in Ch 9 v 1, he wishes he could go far away from his people into the wilderness, because they are all adulterers – an assembly of traitors. This introduces his analysis of the evils of the people. Because of their lies and lack of awareness and knowledge of God, the social fabric has deteriorated to the point where nobody can trust his own brother. V 3: "For every brother ACTS SUBTLEY… (Heb. = AKOV YA'AKOV)". The intended wisdom of Jacob and his descendants has turned into craftiness and treachery. Vv 6-8: There is no way except for God to requite their sins. Vv 9ff: Jeremiah is already weeping in advance over the devastation that he can foresee coming to Judea and Jerusalem. Vv 11-13: What is the essential flaw that has brought about such deterioration to the point that the land will be destroyed? The answer is given in Verse 12: "And HaShem said, Because they have abandoned My Torah that I put before them…" Earlier in this chapter, God said, "…and Me they have not known" (v 2), yet this was not what caused the destruction. Nor was it the people's idolatry, bloodshed and adultery. It was their abandonment of the Torah, ceasing to study constantly. "Would that they would have abandoned Me but continued to observe My Torah, for if they had been occupied in the Torah it would certainly have brought them back to Me" (Midrash). Vv 16ff: A terrible new element would now enter the national life of Israel and leave its stamp on the people and their religious culture until today: dirges and mourning. These were not a constant part of the spiritual life of Israel in the times when they still were faithful to God, but from the time of the destruction of the Temple and the exile until today, KINOS ("lamentations", "dirges") have become part of the regular prayer rituals because of the many disasters the people have suffered and the continuing threats we face. Vv 22-23: There is a natural tendency for people to be particularly proud of three main endowments that God gives: (1) wisdom and intelligence; (2) strength and power; (3) wealth. Yet for those who possess them, there is truly is nothing to be proud about since they are all gifts of God, and in any case, they are all worthless in the end without the pursuit of the knowledge of God and the concomitant practice of kindness, justice and charity that this entails. Verse 23 concludes the Tisha B'Av Haftara, which began in Ch 8 v 13. Vv 24-25: The coming punishments will strike "all who are circumcised yet with the foreskin". If a person is technically circumcised yet he "pulls the foreskin back on" because his HEART is uncircumcised and he acts accordingly, his physical circumcision will not help. All the uncircumcised nations will also suffer. The nations listed in V 25 were all "neighbors of the Land of Israel and suffered in its wake soon afterwards, as written in Ezekiel ch 29 and as detailed in Seder Olam" (Rashi on v 25).

Chapter 10 Vv 1-10: The prophet calls on Israel to cease their imitation of the nations and their practice of divination through astrology – which makes it seem as if everything is determined by the stars and that there is therefore no place for man to repent and take his destiny in his own hands of his own free will. Jeremiah mocks the idols of

gold and silver which the people make, that have no power to either help them or harm them. None is remotely comparable to HaShem, who rules over all the nations. Verses 6-7 are recited in the Synagogue as part of the introduction to SELICHOS (the supplicatory prayers recited during the period of repentance from the beginning of Elul until Yom Kippur and at other junctures). V 11 in the original, the text here breaks into the Aramaic language. Rashi (ad loc.) explains that this verse is a message that Jeremiah sent to Yechoniah king of Judah and the other exiles from Jerusalem who had already been taken to Babylon 18 years before the destruction of the Temple (cf. Esther 2:6), explaining to them how to reply to the KASDIM (Chaldeans) in their own language when they would tell them to worship idols. Vv 12-16: Compared to the supreme power of God, the idols of the nations are mere vanity, and they are not part of the portion of Israel , who are God's inherited tribe. V 17: It is because of God's very greatness that the people's sins are such a grave affront, and thus the prophet advises them to gather in their wares from outside the city and prepare for the inevitable siege. V 18ff: God is going to sling the people out of their land. The prophet cannot stand the prospect of the coming calamity, but he knows it is inevitable since the people and their leaders stubbornly refuse to repent and seek out God. Vv 23ff: The prophet knows that whatever is to happen is in the hands of God, and he knows that punishment is inevitable. He prays that it should be measured with restraint and not carried out in anger so as not to "diminish" and destroy the entire people. Instead, Jeremiah prays to God to pour out his wrath on the heathen nations, who have never wanted to know Him or call upon His name, and who have repeatedly persecuted the descendants of Jacob (see Metzudas David on v 25). On the Pesach Seder Night following the recital of the main part of the Haggadah and the festive meal, it is customary in every home to open the front door and solemnly recite verse 25.

Chapter 11 Vv 1-8: God wanted to renew His Covenant with Israel. The "Covenant" refers to the conditions of the Covenant as written in the Torah in Deut. Ch 28, see v 69 there, specifying the blessings for obeying the Torah and the curses for disobeying. These were the detailed conditions of the Covenant that Moses had struck between God and Israel at Horeb (Sinai), as recounted in Exodus 24:7 (see RaDaK on Jer. 11:1-2). V 5: Israel 's ability to live in the "land flowing with milk and honey" that God has given them is conditional on their observance of this Covenant. Vv 9-10: However, Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem are in a conspiracy to repeat the sins of the first fathers and not to listen to the Torah: they have breached the Covenant.

V 11ff: Under the conditions of the Covenant itself, they must therefore be punished with the curses it entails for disobedience, for instead of unifying God's name they have followed a multitude of idols. V 14: Once again, God tells Jeremiah not to pray on behalf of the people. V 15: "What has My beloved to do in My house…? Israel is God's treasured nation, but now that they have violated the Covenant, what business do they have to enter His Temple? "They have caused the hallowed flesh to pass from upon you" – "they have even ceased to practice circumcision (the sign of the Covenant) on their flesh, whereby they were sanctified to Me" (Rashi). V 16: Israel is compared to a beautiful olive tree because the leaves of the olive tree are moist throughout the year (RaDaK). Having compared Israel to the olive tree, the continuation of the verse uses corresponding images of the coming destruction. V 18 opens a new section (PARSHAH PETHUHAH): The prophet says that God has informed him of the coming evil, and this is why he knows about it, and that He then informed him of their evil deeds which were the cause of this decree. As we see from the continuation, these were specifically the evil deeds of the people of Anathoth, who were conspiring against Jeremiah. V 19: "But I am like a docile lamb that is led to the slaughter." As God's prophet Jeremiah had no choice but to warn the people of the coming calamity. Since they did not want to hear, they wanted to kill him like a lamb being led to the slaughter. "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit (BE-LACHMO)" Targum and Rashi state that they wanted to put poison in his food – BE-LACHMO, "in his bread". V 21: From this verse and also from and indications in the next chapter (v 5 as explained by the commentators), it appears that at this point it was primarily the men of Jeremiah's own town of Anathoth who were conspiring against him, indicating that he was mainly centered there in this part of his career, (although in ch 7 v 2 we did find that God told him to stand in the gates of the Temple in Jerusalem and prophesy). RaDaK asks why in verse 18 Jeremiah said "God informed me" (of the evil of the men of Anathoth) while from v 21 it appears that the men of Anathoth openly told Jeremiah they would kill him if he did not stop prophesying. RaDaK suggests that Jeremiah heard their threats yet did not believe they would actually carry them out, but God knew that they were quite serious. Vv 22f: As a result of their evil, the people of Anathoth were destined not to go into exile but to be put to the sword.

Chapter 12 V 1: Now the raises a question about how God runs the world. "Why does the way of the wicked prosper?" This can be understood as referring specifically to the great success of Nebuchadnezzar, whom God would enable to destroy His Temple, or alternatively to the apparent great success of the men of Anathoth (Rashi). V 2: "You are near in their mouth but far from their kidneys!" We should all take this verse to heart. We pray and offer lip-service to God regularly, but do we know and feel Him inside us as we sift and sort out which way we will go at each moment every day just as the kidneys constantly filter impurities from the blood?

V 3: The prophet asks God to help him against his enemies in Anathoth. V 4: God's reply to Jeremiah: The afflictions that the land will suffer are on account of the evil of its inhabitants, who say "He does not see our end" – i.e. "it is not revealed to Him how we will end up" (Rashi). The people denied prophecy and denied God's providence over creation. V 5: "If you have run with footmen and they have wearied you, how can you contend with horses…?" The "footmen" are Jeremiah's relatives, priests like himself, and the men of his own city, who are coming to kill him (v 6). The "horses" are the mighty leaders of Judah in Jerusalem. The "land of peace" is Anathoth while the "thickets of the Jordan" are the high places near the river, the haunt of lions – the leaders of Judah in Jerusalem . God is asking Jeremiah, "If your own relatives the priests are coming to kill you, all the more will the leaders of Judah rise to kill you" (Rashi). Metzudas David explains that Jeremiah did not yet know in practice the full extent of the evil of the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and therefore God explained it to him through the metaphor of the footmen and the horses, thereby indicating just how great was their evil. This could only be requited by bringing Nebuchadnezzar against them. V 7: It is because of the people's evil that God has given "the dearly beloved of My soul" – Israel – into the hands of her enemies. V 9: "Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey?" – "Are they like a bird of prey that is filthy with blood, around which the other birds gather? Another explanation: There is a certain bird that is colored, and all the other birds gather against it to eat it because they hate it" (Rashi). Vv 10-12 continue God's lament over the coming calamity that will afflict His beloved people. It is noteworthy how expressions of love and affection for Israel are mingled with the prophecies of the coming calamities. God chastises out of love. Vv 14-17: Having prophesied about the calamity that would befall Jerusalem, Jeremiah now prophesies against Israel's neighbors – these are Egypt, Ammon, Moab, Edom, Tyre and Sidon: all of them were smitten around the time of the destruction of the Temple, and all were later restored (Rashi on vv 14-15). V 16: If members of these nations would convert, they would be built up together with Israel (Rashi).

Chapter 13 ALLEGORY OF THE BELT vv 1-11: "V 1: "Go and buy for yourself a linen belt…" – "The reason why Jeremiah was instructed to put the belt on his loins was so that it would become full of sweat and decay quickly" (Metzudas David). V 4: "…and rise and go to the Euphrates…" – "The River Euphrates was the boundary of the Land of Israel. This was an indication that when the people would go out of the Land of Israel to Babylon, their pride would be broken" (RaDaK). V 11: "For just as the belt is fastened to the loins of a man, so I fastened to Myself the entire House of Israel and the entire House of Judah." The Midrash says: "Woe to the wicked and those attached to them! Happy are the Tzaddikim and those

attached to them. In the generation of the flood, '…and He blotted out all existence from man to animals…' If the men sinned, why did the animals and birds have to suffer? Woe to the wicked and those attached to them, because the wicked bring down punishment on themselves and all connected to them [including even the animals and birds]… But see what is written of Hananniyah, Misha-el and Azariah when they came out of Nebuchadnezzar's furnace: '…their cloaks were UNCHANGED'! If the clothes that were attached to the Tzaddikim went into the fire but were not harmed, how much more so will Israel be saved from the judgment of hell, since they are attached to God, the 'Tzaddik of the Universe', Who is alive and enduring, as it is written, '…as the belt is fastened to the loins of a man etc.'" (Tanchuma). ALLEGORY OF THE FLASK vv 12-14: "The flask was to serve as an allegory for two things: (1) Just as "every flask is filled with wine", i.e. the flask itself is filled, and the wine is even absorbed into its earthenware walls, so the people would be filled with drunkenness on every side. Drunkenness is a metaphor for a multitude of troubles, because just as a drunkard is unconscious of what he does, so one afflicted by a succession of troubles is filled with consternation and does not know what he is doing. (2) When a person strikes one earthenware flask with another, the shards are scattered. Similarly, so there would be conflict among the people because of their many troubles to the point that even fathers and sons would be in conflict with each other, and they would be destroyed not only by their enemies but by their own selves" (RaDaK on v 12). Vv 15-17 call the people to repent while there is still time. V 17: "And if you do not heed this, My soul will cry in its hidden chambers…" – "God has a certain place where He weeps, and it is called 'the hidden chambers'. But how can it be that God 'weeps' when Rav Papo said that sadness cannot be attributed to God since it says, 'Spendor and glory are before Him, strength and JOY in His place' (I Chron. 16:27)? There is no contradiction, because the tears are in the 'inner chambers' while the joy is in the 'outer chambers'… (Talmud Hagigah 5b). Without entering into the complex philosophical questions relating to whether and in what sense tears and joy can be attributed to God, our verse and the Talmudic comment in Hagigah do indicate that God somehow "grieves" over (and cares about) the suffering men bring upon themselves. And in order that earth should reflect heaven, up until recent times the inner circle of Tzaddikim of the "Heavenly Jerusalem" (Yerushalayim shel Ma'alah) had a secret chamber hewn into the rocks near the spring of Shiloah ("Silwan") with a door that could be locked, and they would go there individually at appointed times in order to weep "in the hidden chambers" over the exile of Israel. On a positive note, the Midrash notes that verse 17 says that "the FLOCK of HaShem will be captured" using the singular. Prior to the exile, the priests, the Levites and the Israelites were separate castes or "flocks" but when they went into exile they became ONE flock – their suffering brought them to unity (Yalkut Shimoni). Vv 18-21: Depiction of Judea suffering the throes of destruction: V 18: "Say to the king and the queen mother, 'Humble yourselves, sit, for your dominions have collapsed…'" The king in this prophecy refers to King Jehoiachin, whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled to Babylon eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple.

V 21: "…you yourself have trained them as rulers over you" – "You sent envoys to the Chaldeans to bring back their idols from there in order to serve them, see Ezekiel 23:16" (Rashi). Vv 22-27 explain the reason for the punishment and destruction awaiting Jerusalem.

Chapter 14 Vv 1-6: Description of the coming drought and the cry of Jerusalem. The depiction of the plight of the hinds and the wild donkeys adds even greater pathos. Vv 7-9: The prophet prays and begs for mercy on the people. "If our sins have testified against us…" (v 7): This verse is incorporated into the additional supplicatory prayers (Tachanun) recited on Mondays and Thursdays. V 8: God is called the "Hope (MIKVEH) of Israel ". "Rabbi Akiva said, Happy are you, O Israel: before Whom do you purify yourselves, and Who purifies you? Your father in Heaven, as it says, 'I shall sprinkle upon you pure waters and you will be purified' (Ezekiel 36:25), and it says 'God is the hope (MIKVEH) of Israel': just as the Mikveh pool purifies the impure, so the Holy One blessed be He purifies Israel" (Yoma 85b). Vv 10-12: God tells the prophet not to pray for the people, and that he will not accept their fasting and offerings and other outer signs of repentance. Vv 13-16: Jeremiah argues that the people are not to blame because they have been led astray by the deceptions of the false prophets. God affirms the falsehood of their soothing prophecies of peace and plenty and that they will suffer for their deceptions, but this will not save the people from their fate. Vv 19-22: Jeremiah prays to God not to abandon Israel. Vv 19-21 are recited as part of the Midnight Lament over the destruction of the Temple (Tikkun Chatzos). V 22: "Are there rainmakers among the follies of the nations (=the idols that the worship)?" Despite having been told not to pray for the people, Jeremiah argues that since none of the idols of the nations has any power to reverse the coming terrible drought, Israel has no other recourse except to hope in God for salvation.

Chapter 15 V 1: "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, I would have no desire for this people." Rashi explains that Moses and Samuel both had to pray for mercy for Israel, but were not able to do so before first bringing the people to repent. Thus before Moses interceded for the people after the sin of the golden calf, he first ground it down and had the worshippers killed (Ex. 32). Likewise, before Samuel prayed for the people at Mitzpeh he first had them remove the idols from their midst (I Samuel 7:4-5). Here God was saying to Jeremiah that since he did not have the power to bring the people to repent, he should not try to pray for them. V 2: Four punishments are mentioned in this verse: natural death, slaughter by the sword, death from starvation and captivity. Each is more severe than the one before it. From here the Talmud learns that there is no greater mitzvah than redeeming captives (Bava Basra 8b).

V 4: These relentless punishments are "because of Menasheh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem ". After the great religious revival accomplished by his father Hezekiah, Menasheh filled Jerusalem with idols, even bringing a graven image into the Temple, and he also shed innocent blood (Isaiah the prophet). Targum Yonasan on our verse says the people were likened to Menasheh because they refused to repent. V 9: "She who gave birth to seven children is distressed…" This refers to the Ten Tribes, who had already gone into exile on account of seven dynasties of wicked kings: Jeraboam, Ba'asha, Omri, Jehu, Menachem, Pekach and Hosea ben Elah (Rashi, Metzudas David). "…now I shall deliver their remnant to the sword…" The remnant is Judah, whose exile came after that of the Ten Tribes. V 10: "Woe to me, O my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of strife…" Jeremiah complains over his fate, because the people hated him for his reproofs. Despite his never having acted wrongly, whether as a creditor pressing hard for repayment or a debtor defaulting, he had to endure hostility from all directions. V 11: God reassures Jeremiah that the destruction will not be total and that he himself will survive and that even his enemies would ask him to pray for them (cf. Jeremiah 21:2). V 12: Despite this reassurance, the decree was irrevocable: "Can ordinary iron smash northern iron alloyed with copper?" Even the strength of Jerusalem would be no match for that of the Babylonians, who came from the north. Vv 15-18: Jeremiah pleads with God to save him from his persecutors because of his unflinching loyalty. "As soon as your words come to me, I devour them…" (v 16). Despite the grimness and unpopularity of his prophecies, Jeremiah was always ready and willing to receive them. He did not sit in the company of revelers (v 17) – his only joy was in the word of God. He was isolated and "sat alone" (v 17) and his pain was "everlasting" (v 18) because he saw no end to the relentless opposition he faced, despite God's promises of protection. Vv 19-21: God reassures Jeremiah and promises him greatness "if you bring forth an honorable person (YAKAR) from a glutton" (v 20). The "glutton" is the evil inclination, which seeks to devour everything good. YAKAR is the glorious soul, which is held captive by the evil inclination. On the basis of this verse, the rabbis taught: "Everyone who teaches Torah to the son of an ignoramus merits that even if God makes a decree, He nullifies it on his account, as it says, 'And if you bring forth an honorable person from a glutton, you shall be like My mouth'" (Bava Metzia 85a).

Chapter 16 Vv 1-4: Jeremiah prophesies that in the coming disaster the little children will perish together with their parents. Vv 5-8: God instructed Jeremiah not to go to comfort mourners as a sign that death would be so commonplace that the few survivors would be unable to follow conventional mourning practices for all the victims. Vv 14-15: The grim prophecy of impending exile in v 13 is immediately followed with a prophecy of comfort foretelling that in the end the exiles will return. The rabbis relate this prophecy to the future redemption of Israel. Verse 14 appears to

imply that in time to come the Exodus from Egypt will no longer be mentioned because even that great miracle will have been superseded by the miracle of the future redemption. However the rabbis taught: "It is not that the Exodus from Egypt will be uprooted from its place. Rather, the redemption from the later oppressors will be the main thing, and the Exodus from Egypt will be secondary to it" (Berachos 12b). V 16: "Behold I shall send many fishermen… and afterwards I shall send many trappers…" – "Just as the fisherman pulls up the fish from the place where it grows, so these enemies will capture them in the city. And just as a fish taken out of the water dies immediately, so I shall bring killers against them. And afterwards I will send trappers against those who survive and against those who seek to flee from the sword: they will capture them and send them into exile and captivity" (Rashi). V 19 prophesies that at the end of days the nations of the world will return to God and serve Him with one accord (Rashi, RaDaK).

Chapter 17 The first part of Jeremiah Chapter 17 (until v 14) is read in the synagogue in the Haftara of Parshas BEHUKOSAI – a fitting match to the parshah that contains the blessings and curses at the end of Leviticus. This Haftara actually begins with the closing verses of Jer. Chapter 16 vv 19-20, which foretell how the nations will come from the ends of the earth and reject the idols they have inherited from their fathers. The opening verse of ch 17, "The sin of Judah is inscribed with an iron pen…" is a continuation of the preceding verses, as if to say that since even the heathens will eventually abandon their idols, the sin of Judah in going after idols, as described in the ensuing verses, is even more serious (Metzudas David). V 5: "Accursed is the man that puts his trust in man…" Following on from the previous verses condoning the people's idolatry, this curse of those who put their trust in man can be construed as a curse against those who put all their trust in their own human efforts (turning human power into their idol) instead of trusting in God and following His law. Thus Rashi gives as an example of putting one's trust in man the farmer who says he will sow during the Sabbatical year in order to eat – not trusting that God has the power to send livelihood even to those who leave the land to lie fallow. The curse and blessing here in Jeremiah (vv 5-8) relate thematically to those in Leviticus, which are built upon a structure of sevens of which the Sabbatical year is an integral part. Later in this chapter, the section in vv 21-27 also centers on the concept of the Sabbath. Vv 9-10: The heart is most deceitful, yet God knows the heart and gives each person according to his ways. V 11: Rooted in the people's idolatry of wealth and human power was their exploitation and injustice – but according to the rule of "measure for measure", they would lose all their unjust gain, just like the cuckoo bird tries to draw other birds' chicks after her but cannot succeed for long. V 12: RaDaK in the name of R. Saadiah Gaon interprets v 12 as the continuation from the end of v 11, which tells how the unjust will fall. What they will fall from is what is described in v 12 – God's Throne of Glory, from which the souls of Israel are "hewn". From this verse the rabbis learned that the earthly Temple is directly aligned to the Throne of Glory. Even in the midst of his reproofs and prophecies of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah evokes its supreme sanctity.

V 14: "Heal me, HaShem, and I will be healed…" The Men of the Great Assembly introduced this verse (changed into the plural, "heal US…") into the blessing for healing in the Shmonah-Esray prayer repeated thrice-daily every weekday. As we see from the ensuing verses, here in Jeremiah this prayer is a personal prayer for himself as he struggles in the face of the recalcitrant people and in particular against his detractors and opponents. Vv 19ff: "Go stand in the gate…" Against the backdrop of growing conspiratorial opposition to Jeremiah's prophecies, God instructs the prophet to make a very high profile appearance at the main public gate of the city – where his words will reach the ear of the "kings of Judah" (i.e. the king and his sons/heirs, RaDaK) as well as the mass of the people. He was then to go to all the other gates of the city to make sure the message would reach everyone. As a walled city whose gates were locked at night, Jerusalem was halachically RESHUS HA-YACHID, a "private domain" (Eiruvin 6b) with respect to the Sabbath law prohibiting carrying of objects from RESHUS HA-YACHID to RESHUS HA-RABIM, a "public domain" (such as a highway or unwalled public area). The purpose of Jeremiah's standing at the gates of the city to deliver his rebuke about the people's violation of the Shabbos laws was to emphasize that their principle offense was their blatant violation of the prohibition of carrying from domain to domain on Shabbos. The carrying of even a mere pin from inside the gate to outside or vice versa might not appear to be an act of labor of any importance such as to make it worthy of being forbidden on Shabbos. Yet the entire Oral Law relating to Shabbos begins with this prohibition (Talmud Shabbos 2a), which is learned from the written text in Exodus 36:6. There, "bringing" materials for the building of the Sanctuary is mentioned in the context of the labors involved in its construction, all of which are forbidden on Shabbos. Jeremiah's rebuke about the violation of Shabbos in Jerusalem, which is echoed in Nehemiah 13:15, is of supreme relevance today. The rabbis teach that "all who keep the Shabbos according to its laws will be forgiven, even if they worshiped idols as in the generation of Enosh" (Shabbos 118b). Jeremiah 17:24-26 provide Biblical support for the rabbinic teaching that if Israel were to keep two Shabboses according to the halachah, they would immediately be redeemed.

Chapter 18 Vv 1-12: Allegory of the Potter and its interpretation: V 6: "Behold as clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hand, O House of Israel". This verse, which is woven into the fabric of the PIYUTIM (liturgical poems) of the Yom Kippur Kol Nidrey service, raises profound questions since it suggests that man's evil inclination is in God's hands such that man may not always have the power to control himself. If so, he could easily turn this into an excuse for his own failures, giving an opening to the wicked to justify themselves (cf. Berachos 32a). On the other hand, if the evil inclination is ultimately in God's hands, it does mean that we have the ability to gain mastery over it if we constantly ask and entreat God to give this to us. Since God is the "potter" = YOTZER = "Creator", He has the power to make and/or break everything. The entrenched establishment of the priests and the powerful leaders of Judea wanted to believe that the holy city of Jerusalem was solid and could not be destroyed. But Jeremiah's message was that the "pot" was all too fragile, for (v 11) "thus says HaShem, behold I am fashioning (YOTZER) evil against you…" because of the people's infidelity to the Source of living waters.

V 18: "They say, come let us devise plans against Jeremiah…" The more assertively Jeremiah took his message of rebuke out to the people in the gates and public places of the city, the more his enemies began to plot against him. Jeremiah knew that they literally wanted to murder him (v 23) and prayed to God to punish them, because he had only sought their good while they had dug a pit for him (v 20).

Chapter 19 Vv 1-15: Allegory of the Flask and its meaning: Further to the allegory of the potter in Ch 18 vv 1ff, Jeremiah is now instructed to carry out another highly public demonstration through the purchase of an earthenware flask or bottle that he was later to smash, symbolizing how God would break the people of Jerusalem because of their rebellion. This demonstration was to be held in the presence of the elders of the people and the elders of the priests. These surely included the outwardly pious bulwarks of the establishment who were the most entrenched in their bad habits and the most resistant to Jeremiah's rebukes and who were sure to find his present demonstration most provocative. The demonstration was to be carried out at one of the greatest abominations in Jerusalem, the "Valley of the son of Hinnom", which has given its name to the Torah concept of "hell", and which in late First Temple times was the center of the Molech cult involving child sacrifice, as indicated in v 5 of our present text. This valley was immediately outside the "Dung Gate" of Jerusalem (Rashi), where the inhabitants of the city would throw their broken pottery shards (for earthenware pots, which are easily broken, were the "disposable crockery" of those times). It was the Molech abomination that would be requited with the coming calamity, which would bring a famine so severe that parents would eat the flesh of their own children (v 9). Jeremiah was to ceremonially smash the flask that he had purchased in order to symbolize how God would smash the city and its inhabitants because of their idolatry. Vv 14-15: Having carried out his demonstration, Jeremiah returned to the city and entered the Temple, where he publicly spelled out the message of doom.

Chapter 20 V 1: "And Pashhur son of Immer the Cohen heard…" This Pashhur is called by Targum SAGAN, indicating that he was the deputy High Priest. He was clearly one of the main pillars of the recalcitrant establishment and considered himself a prophet, while perceiving Jeremiah as a fifth columnist whose prophesies of doom were sure to discourage the common people from resisting the Babylonians. The establishment priests and leaders were convinced that they could succeed in their resistance as long as the public did not become demoralized. It would not have been difficult to portray Jeremiah as a traitor since when Sennacherib laid siege to Jerusalem in the generation of King Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah had told the king not to surrender despite Ravshakeh's attempts to demoralize the people (II Kings 19:6). V 2: After beating Jeremiah, Pashhur had him put in "prison" (AL HA-MAHPECHES). RaDaK explains that this was a kind of stocks or pillory in which the necks of the

prisoners were locked between timber beams. This was a gross assault on the person of God's prophet. V 3: On his release on the following day, Jeremiah fearlessly rebukes PASHHUR, making a play on his name. Its positive connotations are PASH (Aramaic=great) and HUR, "free" (as in BEN HORIN), but Jeremiah "changes the connotations around" (cf. MAHPECHES, "turn around"), for the root PASHAH means "split asunder", while SHAHOR means dark. SAHOR in Aramaic means "round about": thus a multitude (PASH) of gathered (MAGOR) troops will surround Jerusalem round about (MI-SAVIV) (Rashi, Metzudas David). Jeremiah prophesies that Pashhur and all his household and friends will die in exile in Babylon. Vv 7ff: "You persuaded me, HaShem, and I was persuaded…" Jeremiah's prophecies were laden with rebuke and doom. He surely did not want to be the bearer of such evil tidings, yet God "persuaded him" to prophecy, and the prophet was "persuaded". He was unable to hold back the fire that burned within him – he simply could not contain it. He had to speak, even though his one-time "friends" were now against him, waiting to pounce… V 12: Jeremiah takes strength in the fact that God knows the truth and will vindicate him and take vengeance on his enemies. V 14: Even so, Jeremiah laments the day on which he was conceived. In doing so, he was like Job, who also wished he had never been born (Job 3:3). "Said Jeremiah: I am like a priest to whose lot it has fallen to administer the bitter waters to a certain woman suspected of infidelity (SOTAH). When they bring the woman to him and remove her veil, he takes the cup and lifts it to her and looks in her face and realizes it is his own mother! He starts screaming, 'Woe is me! This is my mother, that I always tried to honor and now I am disgracing her.' So too I face my mother, Zion, about whom I hoped I could prophesy goodness and comfort, but now I have to prophesy punishments" (Midrash). The verse specifies that Jeremiah was conceived BY DAY, which is unusual since in normal circumstances a Talmid Chacham is forbidden to have relations with his wife by day. The rabbis taught that Jeremiah's father, Hilkiah, was forced to flee from King Menasheh, who sought to kill all the prophets. Just before leaving, he went into his wife, despite the fact that it was day, because in these extenuating circumstances this was the only way to ensure that he would have progeny (Rashi on v 14).

Chapter 21 Vv 1-2: Tzedekiah sends envoys to Jeremiah asking him to pray for salvation from Nebuchadnezzar. (The first envoy – Pashhur son of Malkiyah – is NOT the same as Passhur son of Imeir priest, who imprisoned Jeremiah as recounted in the previous chapter, Jer. 20:1.). Our text gives no indication of the date when Tzedekiah – who was the last king of Judah – sent requesting Jeremiah to pray, but this was evidently AFTER the prophecies recorded in the next chapter (Jer. ch 22), since the latter relate to the previous two kings of Judah as well as to Tzedekiah. Thus the prophecies contained in these chapters are not necessarily in chronological order. Vv 3ff: Jeremiah's answer to the king's envoys was the very opposite of what Tzedekiah was hoping to hear. God would "turn around" the weapons in the hands

of Judah (v 4): their war efforts would "boomerang" against them, and God Himself would fight against them (v 5-6) and the king, his servants and any survivors among the people would fall into the hands of the Babylonians. Vv 8ff: Jeremiah offered the people a choice – to resist the Babylonians and die, or to capitulate, submit to the decree of exile and live. It was precisely this line that made Jeremiah seem like a traitor in the eyes of the establishment of priests and leaders of Judah who thought their resistance against the Babylonians could succeed. Vv 11-14: Despite his grim warnings, Jeremiah continues to hold out the prospect that the king could still save Jerusalem if only he would bring his kingdom back to the Davidic pathway of justice and mercy for the poor and oppressed (v 12). If not, the entire city would go up in flames.

Chapter 22 V 1: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah …" Verses 1-5 are a direct continuation of the section that began in the previous chapter v 11 calling on the king to return to the pathway of justice and mercy. The prophet promises that if he would do so, the dynasty of King David would be securely established in Jerusalem (v 4). This promise is parallel to that in ch 17 v 24ff promising the establishment of the Davidic dynasty if the Sabbath would be properly observed in Jerusalem. V 6: "Even if you are like Gilead to me or like the summit of Lebanon, I would transform you into a desert…" Gilead is the name of the entire region northeast of the River Jordan encompassing the kingdoms of Sichon king of the Emorites and Og king of Bashan (=Golan Heights and surrounding areas). "Lebanon" is an expression for the whole Land of Israel (Metzudas David). Regardless of the importance of Jerusalem as the capital of the Holy Land, it would not escape God's punishment. V 10: "Do not weep for the dead… weep rather for the one who went away." Rashi (ad loc.) explains that "the dead" refers to Yeho-yakim king of Judah, who died outside the gates of Jerusalem as he was being dragged off into exile, while "the one who went away" refers to Yeho-yachin, who was exiled to Babylon. For fuller understanding of this prophecy, it will be helpful to review briefly the sequence of the last kings of Judah (see II Kings ch 24). After the saintly King Josiah died in battle at Meggido at the hands of Pharaoh Necho, the throne was occupied successively by two of his sons, then by his grandson, and then by another of his sons. (1) On Josiah's death, his son YEHO-AHAZ was crowned by the people in Jerusalem and ruled there for 3 months until he was deposed and deported by Pharaoh Necho, who replaced him with (2) Josiah's son EL-YAKIM, whom Pharaoh renamed YEHO-YAKIM. Yeho-yakim ruled for eleven years and initially submitted to Nebuchadnezzar but then rebelled, after which he was exiled from Jerusalem and died. Yeho-yakim was succeeded by (3) his son YEHO-YACHIN (=YECHONIAH), who ruled for three months before being exiled by Nebuchadnezzar together with leading members of the people to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar then appointed (4) Yeho-yachin's "uncle" MATAN-YAH, son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar renamed TZEDEKIAH, and who ruled for eleven years until the destruction of the Temple.] V 11: "Shaloom son of Josiah" is Tzedekiah (cf. I Chronicles 3:15, where Shaloom is called FOURTH on the throne out of the sons of Josiah (see Rashi on Jer. 22:11).

Vv 13ff: "Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness…" Rashi says that this refers to Yeho-yakim (cf. v 18), who was wicked. Yeho-yakim is compared unfavorably with his "father". This is Josiah (Rashi, Metzudas David), who "ate and drank" – i.e. he lived in a royal manner – yet was humble and practiced justice. Metzudas David suggests that Yeho-yakim practiced fasting and asceticism as if they could atone for his wickedness. Targum Yonasan on this verse indicates that Yeho-yakim is being unfavorably compared with his righteous forebear King David. V 19: "…with the burial of a donkey will he be buried" – Yeho-yakim died outside the gates of Jerusalem as he was being dragged off into exile for the second time, and the Babylonians would not permit him to be buried. V 20: "Cry out from all sides, because all your paramours have been crushed" – Judah had looked to Egypt and Assyria to save them from the Babylonians, but the latter defeated both of them. Vv 24-30: King Yeho-yachin, who was taken into exile and imprisoned in solitary confinement in Babylon, is singled out for a particularly harsh prophecy of retribution. Since King Yeho-yakim left no heirs and King Tzedekiah's sons were slaughtered in front of his eyes, the decree that Yeho-yachin would be childless (v 30) would have meant the end of the Davidic line. However, as discussed in the commentary on Ezra ch 2, the decree was mitigated through a miracle in which the exiled Sanhedrin in Babylon prevailed on Nebuchadnezzar's wife to persuade her husband to allow Yeho-yachin – who repented in prison – to be with his wife, and she gave birth to She'alti-el, the father of Zerubavel, who led the returnees to Jerusalem and built the Second Temple. Thus verse 30 states that Yeho-yachin is "a man that will not succeed IN HIS DAYS": in his own lifetime he did not succeed, but he did so after his death as the decree was mitigated and his descendents were the leaders of Judah.

Chapter 23 Vv 1-2: The "shepherds" are the last kings and leaders of Judah, whose failures brought exile and dispersal upon the people. V 3: God himself will eventually gather in the exiled "flock" at the end of days and establish leaders who will bring about their restoration. V 5 refers to King Mashiach: "and a king will RULE…" – unlike the kings in Jeremiah's time, whose sovereignty was limited, King Mashiach will truly RULE (RaDaK). V 6: "In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely…" This verse prophesies that the Ten Tribes will be restored in the time of Mashiach, unlike in the time of the Second Temple, when they did not return (Metzudas David). "This is the name people will call him: HaShem is our righteousness." The commentators are at pains to emphasize that Mashiach will not be called by the Name of HaShem, but that he will be described as the one in whose days HaShem will cause us to become righteous (Rashi, Metzudas). Vv 7-8: The future redemption and ingathering of the exiles will be so striking that it will outweigh even the redemption from Egypt. Vv 9-15: The glorious future that awaits Israel at the end of days can only come about after the cleansing of the people through the tribulations of exile. But the

false prophets of Jeremiah's time were telling the people that the evil foretold by the true prophets would not materialize and that they would not suffer, thus encouraging them not to repent (see v 17). Vv 10-11: If the land was full of adulterers, it was because of the influence of the false prophets and the priests, who were "flatterers," telling people what they wanted to hear rather than what they needed to hear. Vv 13-14: "I saw fraudulence in the prophets of Shomron…" The false prophets of the regime of the Ten Tribes had set a precedent that was later followed by the false prophets of Jerusalem. Vv 21-22: "I did not send the prophets, but they ran, I did not speak to them but they prophesied." The false prophets were not sent by God: they were selfappointed and pushed themselves forward with pure CHUTZPAH ("impudence"). If they were true prophets, they would address the people with the unpopular message that they had to repent. V 23: "Am I a God only from nearby – says HaShem – and not a God from afar?" – "Do I only see what is near to Me? Do I not have the power to judge the lower realms that are far from Me? Do I not know their deeds?" (Rashi). V 24: "Can a man hide in concealments…?" – "This can be compared to an architect who built an entire city complete with all kinds of underground passageways, caves and cellars. Afterwards the tax collectors went around the city. The people started hiding their silver and gold in the underground cellars. But the architect said to them, I built the city and I made the cellars – you want to hide from me???" (Tanchuma). V 25: "I have had a dream! I have had a dream!" The false prophets considered their dreams, which were the products of their own imaginations, to have the status of prophetic visions. Vv 28-9: There is no comparison between the fantasies of the false prophets and the Word of God, which is like fire, and like a hammer that smashes a rock, causing sparks to fly in all directions. Rashi explains that true prophecy is compared to fire because it comes through the attribute of GEVURAH (=might). "It was in my heart like a raging fire" (Jeremiah 20:9). True prophecy is like a hammer that causes sparks to fly in all directions, because every word and letter of true prophecy contain infinite aspects of meaning and allusion, on all the levels of PARDES -PSHAT (the "simple" meaning), REMEZ ("allusion"), DRUSH ("allegorical significance") and SOD ("mystical, esoteric meaning). Vv 33ff: "If this people, or a prophet or a priest, should ask you, What is the BURDEN (MASA) of HaShem…" In numerous passages, prophecy is called a BURDEN (cf. Zechariah 9:1; 12:1 Malachi 1:1 etc. etc.). The people made a mockery of this, taunting Jeremiah by asking him what new burden of prophecy he had received. God's answer is that the people themselves have become a "burden" that He will cast off.

Chapter 24 THE TWO BASKETS OF FIGS V 1: Yechoniah (=King Yeho-achin) was taken into exile in Babylon eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple. Thus the Temple was still standing when God showed Jeremiah the vision of the two baskets of figs positioned ready to eat in front of the Sanctuary. Yechoniah had gone into exile together with "the officers of Judah and the ARTISANS (CHARASH) and GATEKEEPERS (MASGEIR)". The rabbis explained that the ARTISANS and GATEKEEPERS were the outstanding Torah sages. When one would begin to speak, this would cause all the others to become silent (CHARASH), and if one closed and sealed matters (MASGEIR), nobody could open up again (Gittin 88a; Sanhedrin 38a). Vv 4-10: Interpretation of the vision. The "good figs" were the righteous sages who submitted to the decree of exile and went peaceably to Babylon. God "put His eye upon them for good" (v 6) and would eventually restore them to their land, as happened in the time of Zerubavel and Ezra. The "bad figs" were Tzedekiah and his officers and the remainder of the people who stayed in Jerusalem or fled to Egypt. They believed that they had the power to flout God's decree and resist the Babylonians, and they were harshly requited for their rebellion.

Chapter 25 V 1: "The word that came to Jeremiah… in the fourth year of Yeho-yakim… that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar…" Rashi writes that this was the year in which the decree was sealed that Judah would go into exile and that they would drink the cup of anger. Prior to the sealing of the decree He told the prophet to rebuke the people in order to give them the opportunity to repent in order to avoid the sealing of the decree. The saintly King Josiah had endeavored to promote collective repentance and revival in order to avoid the coming calamity, but after his death at Meggido, Yehoahaz, his son, who was the people's choice as his successor, was rapidly deposed by Pharaoh Necho and replaced with Yeho-yakim, who appears to have been outwardly ascetic and pious but was in fact wicked. It was in Yeho-yakim's fourth year that Nebuchadnezzar rose to power. The latter is called God's "servant" (v 9) in the sense that he was His chosen instrument to execute the judgment on Judah. This was to affect all of the surrounding nations as well, since Nebuchadnezzar was victorious over the two existing "superpowers" of the time, Egypt and Assyria, and his forces swept over all the other peoples in the region as well, incorporating them into his world empire. Vv 3ff: "From the thirteenth year of Josiah… until today": Jeremiah recounts his long prophetic ministry of 19 years in the reign of King Josiah and 4 under Yehoyakim, repeatedly calling on the people to repent. Vv 8ff: It is because the people would not listen that the decree would be sealed with the appointment of Nebuchadnezzar to mobilize "all the families of the north" against Jerusalem. V 10: "I shall eliminate from them…the sound of the mill and the light of the lamp". The "mill" and the "light of the lamp" allude to the celebration of a circumcision of a

newborn baby boy, the hoped for result of the joy of bride and groom mentioned earlier in the same verse. The mill would be used to grind the herbs for the necessary medications, while the lamp would be kindled at the celebratory feast (Rashi). V 12: At the very beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's ascent to power, Jeremiah is already prophesying that the dominion of Babylon would last only seventy years, after which the land of the Chaldeans would become "eternal devastation". [Present-day Iraq seems still to be in the grips of this prophesied "eternal devastation".] When Belshazzar fell seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar's ascent, many of the sages misunderstood Jeremiah's prophecy, thinking that with the fall of Babylon the Temple would immediately be rebuilt. They were bitterly disappointed when it was not, causing many to fall into despair. They did not realize that the First Temple had not been destroyed until eighteen years after Nebuchadnezzar came to power, and that it could not be rebuilt until after the elapse of seventy years after its destruction. The rebuilding thus took place eighteen years after the fall of Babylon with the ascent of Darius to the throne of Persia. "TAKE THE CUP OF THE WINE OF ANGER…" V 15: The "cup of the wine of anger" that the prophet was to take was the actual prophecy he was now given about the coming "world war" that would bring not only Jerusalem but all of the other surrounding nations into servitude to Nebuchadnezzar. The prophet would "make the nations drink" from the cup by delivering his prophecy to them, thereby sealing the decree. The divine blueprint contained within the words of the prophecy would then begin to unfold through the expansionist war that Nebuchadnezzar would unleash. Vv 18ff: Nebuchadnezzar's whirlwind would not only destroy Jerusalem but would throw the entire world of the "Middle East " and beyond into turmoil. The countries and peoples mentioned in these verses include Egypt, the entire Arab peninsula, the whole of the Promised Land "from river to river", the nations to its east ( Edom , Moab and Ammon) and north ( Tyre , Sidon , Cyprus ) as well as the Greek Islands and present-day Turkey , Iraq and Iran . V 26: "…and the king of Sheshach will drink after them" – Sheshach is Babylon . In the AT-BASH cipher (where the letter ALEPH is replaced by TAV, BEIT by SHIN, etc.) SHESHACH = BABEL (Rashi). Vv 28ff: The surrounding nations may be unwilling to drink from the cup of anger and get sucked into God's dealings with Judah and Jerusalem, but they will have no option, for they too are not clean of evil. V 30: "HaShem roars from on high…" – "The night-time consists of three watches, and over each watch the Holy One blessed be He sits and roars like a lion, as it says [in our verse] 'HaShem roars from on high…' [the word 'roars' appears 3 times in the verse], saying, 'Woe to the children because of whose sins I have destroyed My House and burned My Sanctuary and exiled them among the nations of the world'" (Berachos 3a). Vv 32-8: The prophet depicts the coming cataclysm that will fill the entire region with the corpses of the slain. The shepherds – the leaders – will be horrified when they find themselves engulfed in disaster with nowhere to flee, and the beautiful places that once enjoyed peace will be devastated because of God's anger.

Chapter 26 V 1: "In the BEGINNING of the reign of Yeho-yakim…" Rashi (ad loc.) notes that the prophecy in the present chapter predates by four years the prophecy of the cup of anger recorded in the previous chapter (Jer. 25:1-38), which came to Jeremiah in Yeho-yakim's FOURTH YEAR. At the beginning of Yeho-yakim's reign, the new postJosiah regime was perhaps not yet bent on its path and there was still hope that the people might repent. V 2: "Stand in the courtyard of the House of HaShem…" Jeremiah was now to confront the people in the most conspicuous of all places. He was to stand in the middle of the nation's most holy site and state clearly that if they would not repent, it would be destroyed just as the Sanctuary in Shilo had been destroyed by the Philistines. Vv 8ff: "The priests and the prophets and all the people seized him". It is evident from this passage that there were different factions in Jerusalem. The priests were clearly the most offended by the prophecy of the coming destruction of the Temple, since their role in life was to serve as its functionaries. The establishment priests had the backing of the false prophets, who were flattering the people with soothing prophecies that all would be well. Jeremiah's prophecies to the contrary were deemed traitorous and this is why the priests and false prophets wanted to have him killed in order to eliminate his threat to their authority. They themselves, however, were unable to execute him since they were subject to the king and his ministers. V 16: "The ministers and all the people then said…" The ministers and the people were not convinced by the arguments of the priests and the prophets. By this time Jeremiah had been a respected prophet for fifteen years and could not be discounted so easily. V 17: "Then some of the elders of the land arose…" This minority faction among the elders still had the courage to express their dissent from the prevailing "politically correct" opinions of the corrupt priests and false prophets, citing the prophecy of Micah the Morashtite (identical with Micah of the 12 "Minor" Prophets) that Zion would be "plowed like a field" (Micah 3:12). They pointed out that the appropriate reaction to prophecies like that of Jeremiah was not to seek to kill the prophet but to entreat God and repent as Hezekiah had done in response to Micah's words. Vv 20-23: The fate of the true prophet Uriah at the hands of Yeho-yakim and his henchman shows just how dangerous was Jeremiah's position in Jerusalem as he took a position directly contrary to that of the king and the entrenched establishment. V 24: The name of Ahikam son of Shafan, who appears here as having saved Jeremiah from the hands of the people, is also found in II Kings 22:12. There Ahikam son of Shafan is mentioned as one of the contingent sent by King Josiah to entreat God through the prophetess Huldah after the discovery of the Torah scroll in the Temple. Having heard Huldah's prophecy of the calamity that would befall Jerusalem surely strengthened Ahikam in the belief that Jeremiah's prophecies, which foretold the same, were not untrue.

Chapter 27 THE YOKE OF SUBJUGATION V 1: "In the beginning of the reign of Yeho-yakim…" – "Three years before Nebuchadnezzar ruled Jeremiah already prophesied that he would become king" (Rashi). RaDaK states that in this prophecy God informed Jeremiah that Tzedekiah would rule after Yeho-yakim and Yeho-yachin, and He instructed him that when this would come about, Jeremiah was to send his "straps and bars" (symbols of the yoke of exile) to the kings enumerated in verse 3 and to tell them the contents of this prophecy. It appears that after Tzedekiah became king, these kings send him messengers to persuade him to join them in a collective rebellion against Babylon. This was why Jeremiah was instructed to tell Tzedekiah and these other kings that they must submit to Nebuchadnezzar if they wanted to survive. The rabbis stated that when Nebuchadnezzar appointed Tzedekiah as king (after the exile and death of Yeho-yakim), he gave him power over the other kings in the region. The purpose of sending this prophecy to Jeremiah at the beginning of the reign of Yeho-yakim, fifteen years before it would be actualized in the reign of Tzedekiah, was so that Yeho-yakim would know that Nebuchadnezzar was destined to rule in order that he himself should not put his trust in the king of Egypt, who had appointed him as king of Judah (see RaDaK on Jer. 27:1). V 2: "Make for yourself straps and bars and put them on your neck." Rashi states that Jeremiah had these straps and bars on his neck for FIFTEEN YEARS from the first year of the reign of Yeho-yakim until the fourth year of Tzedekiah, until Hananiyah ben Azoor broke them (as related in the next chapter, Jer. 28:10). V 7: All the nations would be forced to serve Nebuchadnezzar and his offspring for the full duration of God's decree. Nebuchadnezzar's son was Eveel Merodach and his grandson was Belshazzar. V 9: "Do not listen to your prophets and your magicians and your dreamers and your wizards and sorcerers…" Evidently it was only the priests and false prophets of Judah who were in denial: the entire establishment of gurus and diviners in all the surrounding nations could not accept that the whole face of the world as they had known it until that time was destined to change decisively as a result of the onslaught of the Babylonians. V 11: Only the peoples that were willing to submit to Babylon would remain in their own lands. All the others would be deported. Vv 18ff: The false prophets of Judah were soothing the people by prophesying that Babylon's ascent was only temporary and that the Judean exiles and Temple vessels that had been taken there when Nebuchadnezzar exiled King Yeho-yachin would soon be returned (see ch 28 vv 3-4). Jeremiah challenges the false prophets to entreat God to avert the even greater disaster that he foresaw, in which all the Temple treasures that still remained in Jerusalem would also be seized and taken to Babylon.

Chapter 28 "And it was in that year, at the BEGINNING of the reign of Tzedekiah…" Rashi states that this was in fact in the FOURTH year of Tzedekiah. This was the

"beginning" of his reign in the sense that in that year Tzedekiah visited Babylon to appear before Nebuchadnezzar, who then appointed him over the other kingdoms enumerated in the previous chapter (Jer. 27:3: Edom, Moab, Amon, Tyre and Sidon). It was after this that the rulers of these kingdoms sent to Tzedekiah trying to persuade him to join them in rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. In the prophecy in the previous chapter (Jer. 27:2ff) Jeremiah had been instructed that when this juncture would arrive fifteen years after that prophecy was delivered, he was to send his "straps and bars" to these kings as a warning not to rebel (see Rashi on v 1). It was then that the false prophet Hananiyah ben Azur directly challenged Jeremiah in the Temple in front of the priests and all the people. V 2: "Thus says HaShem of Hosts…" The false prophet uses exactly the same phraseology that we find in the true prophets. V 9: "When a prophet speaks of peace, it is only when the word of that prophet comes about that it is known that that prophet was indeed sent by HaShem." Jeremiah here states the basic rule as to how to determine if a prophet is true or false (see Rambam, Hilchos Yesodey HaTorah 10:4). If a prophet prophesies a disaster and the disaster does not come about, this in itself does not make him a false prophet – because God could make a decree against a people and send the prophet to warn them, but if the people repent, He might revoke that very decree because His compassion has no limits. This happened in the case of Jonah's prophecy that Nineveh would be overturned. The fact that it was not overturned – because the people repented – did not turn Jonah into a false prophet. But if a prophet says that something GOOD will happen and it does not, this proves that he is a false prophet, because in His compassion God would never revoke a good decree! Only when the prophet announces good tidings and they are actually fulfilled does this show that he is a true prophet. [By this criterion all those Israeli leaders and pundits who prophesied that peace would reign in the Middle East after the Oslo agreement have been exposed as false, yet many of them still occupy leading positions in the country.] V 10: "And Hananiyah the prophet took the yoke from upon the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it." In imitation of the true prophets, the false prophet likes to indulge in dramatic theatricals in order to emphasize his points. V 14: "…And I have also given him the wild beasts of the field…" The rabbis tell that Nebuchadnezzar rode on a lion and tied a crocodile around his head (Shabbos 150a). V 17: "And Hananiyah the prophet died IN THAT YEAR in the seventh month." Rashi points out that the "seventh month" (Tishri) is already part of the New Year, making the verse seemingly contradict itself. Rashi tells us that in fact Hananiyah died on the very eve of Rosh HaShanah, the New Year, but he instructed his sons to bury him only after Rosh HaShanah and not before. This was in order to conceal the fact of his death until after the New Year had begun so as to make it appear that Jeremiah had prophesied falsely when he said that he would die in THAT YEAR, i.e. the year of his prophecy.

Chapter 29 JEREMIAH'S LETTER TO THE EXILES IN BABYLON In the previous chapter (Jer. 28) we saw how the false prophet Hananyah ben Azoor was prophesying that the large contingent of exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar

had deported to Babylon with King Yeho-yachin would speedily be restored to Jerusalem WITHIN TWO YEARS. Their deportation had surely been a nasty shock, but with Babylon still at the beginning of its ascendancy – they were deported in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, eighteen years prior to the destruction of the Temple – the recalcitrant establishment priests and false prophets in Jerusalem were able to persuade themselves that the rise of the new superpower would be very short-lived. Hananyah was by no means the only one broadcasting this message and encouraging Judah to resist the Babylonians. The present chapter (v 8) indicates that numerous sorcerers and diviners among the exiles in Babylon itself were saying the same thing, and three false prophets there are cited by name (vv 21ff and v 24). Jeremiah's message to the exiles was the direct opposite. V 5: "Build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruits…" Jeremiah advised the exiles to come to terms with the fact that the exile in Babylon would last no less than SEVENTY YEARS, as he prophesied in ch 25 vv 11-12 and repeats in the present chapter v 10. [Many living today in the comfortable pastures of the Diaspora act as if Jeremiah's instruction to dig in for a long exile still applies in our times. However, the fact is that outstanding leaders of modern times, such as the Baal Shem Tov and the Gaon of Vilna, urged their followers to go to live in the Holy Land .] V 7: "Pray for the peace of the city to which I have exiled you and pray on its behalf". Jeremiah here lays down one of the fundamental principles of Jewish life an exile, that although living in a country that is not their own, they should still pray for its welfare. This is reflected in the practice of reciting a special prayer during the Sabbath morning service in Diaspora synagogues for the welfare of the host country. Vv 11: "For I know the thoughts I am thinking about you, says HaShem, thoughts of PEACE…" Jeremiah wants the exiles to understand why they must submit with resignation to their exile. This is because its purpose is to atone for their sins and prepare them for the good end that God has in mind for them. They can only be restored after they have been chastened by exile and have learned to repent and search out God with all their hearts. Vv 16ff: "For thus says HaShem to the king who sits on the throne of David and to all the people that dwell in this city [Jerusalem]… I shall make them like detestable figs…" In Jeremiah's vision of the Two Baskets of Figs (chapter 24), he had contrasted the "good figs" – those members of Judah who submitted to the decree of exile and went with Yeho-yachin to Babylon – with the "bad figs", the recalcitrant rebels who defiantly remained in Jerusalem. Our present chapter supplements that vision, explaining its implications in greater detail. V 21: The rabbis tell that the false prophets Ahab son of Kolayah and Tzedekikah son of Ma'aseyah each privately approached Nebuchadnezzar's daughter informing her that he had received divine prophecy instructing her to submit to the advances of his colleague. When she went and told this to her father, he exclaimed, "But their God hates immorality!" He had her send them to him and told them that he had asked Daniel's companions, Hananyah, Mishael and Azariah, who told him that such an suggestion was forbidden. They said that they had received prophecy while those three had not. Nebuchadnezzar replied that if so, Ahab and Tzedekiah should be tested as those three had been by being thrown into the furnace, but they retorted that Daniel's companions were three in number while they were only two, which might be insufficient for a miracle. The king asked them to choose someone

else to be thrown in with them, and they chose Yehoshua the High Priest (see Zechariah 3:2) hoping they would be saved through his merits. But while Yehoshua was saved from the fire, they were burned to death! (Sanhedrin 93a). Vv 24ff: The denunciation of Jeremiah by Shemaya the Nehelamite. It is clear from this passage that members of the community of exiles in Babylon were busy trying to influence the factions in Jerusalem and were in correspondence with them. It is also apparent that the episode in which Pashhur the priest had Jeremiah confined to prison and literally put in the pillory for his views (chapter 20) was not isolated but part of a sustained campaign against him.

Chapter 30 V 2: "Write all the things I have spoken to you in a book." God's instruction to Jeremiah to commit his prophecies to writing was in order that future generations would be able to gain instruction from the events of the past as interpreted by the prophet in order to apply the lessons to themselves. It states explicitly in the present chapter that "in the end of days you will contemplate/understand it" (v 24). Lest we become disheartened by Jeremiah's repeated prophecies of dire calamity and protracted exile, the present chapter is a prophecy of comfort promising that in the end God will return the captivity of His people and restore them to the Land promised to their fathers (v 3). This prophecy is explicitly directed equally towards Israel (=the Ten Tribes) and Judah (vv 3 & 4). The rabbinic commentators are in agreement that it refers to the War of Gog and Magog and the future redemption (Rashi and Metzudas David on v 3; RaDaK on v 7). The ructions of this war will be so frightening that even the men will have their hands on their loins like a woman wracked by the pain of childbirth (v 6). V 7: "Woe! For great is that day with none to compare with it, and it will be a time of trouble for Jacob!" Likewise Daniel (12:1) said, "It will be a time of trouble such as has never been since the time they became a nation". But "HE WILL BE SAVED FROM IT!!!" (Jeremiah 30:7). V 10: "And you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob!" In the words of Rabbi Nachman, "The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the main thing is NOT TO BE AFRAID!!!" Vv 12ff evoke the dire situation of Israel at the end champion to stand up for them and heal their wounds (v they trusted to help them (v 14). The main lesson that their suffering is not arbitrary but has been sent by God 15) and that He alone can save them.

of days, without a true 13), abandoned by those Israel must learn is that to atone for their sins (v

Chapter 31 Verses 1-19 of this beautiful chapter of comfort, repentance and reconciliation are read in the synagogue as the Haftara on the second day of Rosh HaShanah (the New Year). V 1: "The people that survived the sword found favor in the wilderness, as I led Israel to its place of tranquility." This verse alludes to the Exodus and entry to the Land: Israel survived the sword of the Egyptians, who conspired to kill their male children, and that of the Amalekites and Canaanites, and were led to the Promised

Land. In the same way as Israel found favor in the past and God showed them His eternal love with the redemption from Egypt, so too will He show them this love at the time of the future redemption. V 5: "For there will come a day when the watchers will call out on Mount Ephraim, 'Arise and let us go up to Zion …'" Whereas in the time of Jeraboam ben Nevat the Ten Tribes did not go up to the Temple in Jerusalem, the time will come when Ephraim will be restored to their territory and make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The "watchers" (NOTZRIM) are those who guarded the Torah (Rashi, Targum Yonasan). They will be the first to call to their brothers and sisters to repent. Vv 7-8: In the future redemption God will gather in the exiles from the very ends of the earth. "With weeping they will come…" (v 8) – this will be because of their prayers and repentance (Rashi ad loc.). "For I will be a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn": the Ten Tribes submitted themselves to the leadership of Ephraim, who was the son of Joseph – firstborn to Rachel. This verse indicates that the Ten Tribes will return and be restored to their original glory. V 9: "Hear the word of HaShem, O nations…" The entire world will recognize that the restoration of Israel is the work of God alone. V 10 is recited daily at the climax of the Blessing of Redemption (GEULAH) in the evening service after KRI'AS SHEMA. V 14: "Thus says HaShem, a voice is heard on high…" The future redemption will come about in the merit of the indomitable spirit of Rachel, mother (or rather grandmother) of Ephraim and guardian of all the Twelve Tribes. She can never forget or abandon her exiled children. "Why is Rachel's voice heard above all others? Because the patriarchs and matriarchs went before the Holy One blessed be He to try to conciliate Him after Menasheh set up a graven image in the Sanctuary. But He was not placated until Rachel entered and said before Him: Master of the World – Whose mercy is greater, Yours or that of flesh and blood? Surely Yours is greater. But did I not bring my own rival into my house? For Jacob worked only for me, yet when it came to my wedding, they brought my sister under the canopy and not only did I keep silent, I even revealed to her my secret signs to Jacob. So too, if Your children have brought Your rival into Your house, You should keep silent!!! He said to her: Your defense of them is well spoken, 'There is a reward for your accomplishment'" (v 15; see Rashi & RaDaK on v 14). Vv 17-19: The beautiful and moving depiction of Ephraim's repentance and contrition in vv 17-18 is followed by God's promise in v 19 that He can never forget His beloved child and will always love him. V 20: "Make road markers for yourself…" Just as Judah was about to go into exile with the destruction of the First Temple, the prophet instructs them to make "road markers" so that they will be able to retrace their steps back to Jerusalem when the time for restoration arrives. The "road markers" are the mitzvoth which the Jews took with them into exile and continue to observe as a sign that one day they will be restored. V 26: "Behold, days are coming… when I shall sow the House of Israel and the House of Judah – the seed of man and the seed of animal." Rashi explains that both the good and the foolish among them will all be sown as God's seed. Targum renders: "I shall establish them as the sons of man and give them success just like an animal, which is not requited for its sins."

V 30: "I will strike with the House of Israel and the House of Judah a NEW COVENANT." It is highly ironic that this verse, which plainly states that God will renew His Covenant with the same House of Israel and of Judah with whom He originally made it, was distorted by the exponents of "replacement theology" to provide justification for their notion that the original Israel were displaced forever and that the original Covenant was somehow replaced with a "New Covenant" or "New Testament". However, it is perfectly clear from verse 32 that God's "New Covenant" with Israel is none other than the Torah that He gave to Moses. What is "new" about the Covenant is that whereas Israel "forgot" the Torah as a result of the sin of the golden calf, in the future it will be written on their very hearts and, as it states in v 33, everyone from the smallest to the greatest will know God without having to be taught by others. Vv 34-5: Just as the laws of nature are fixed and unchangeable, so it is impossible that Israel could ever cease to be God's nation. This of course makes a complete mockery of "replacement theology". Vv 37ff: This passage describing the future expansion of Jerusalem necessarily refers to the Final Redemption, because it was not fulfilled in the time of the Second Temple (Rashi on v 39).

Chapter 32 Verses 6-27 of this chapter, which center on the theme of land purchase in Israel, are read as the Haftara of Parshas BEHAR (Numbers 25:1-26:2), which gives the laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years and the laws of the sale and redemption of land that are bound up with them. V 1: Following the prophecies of the future redemption in chapters 30 and 31, which came to sweeten the bitter lesson of the prophesies of coming doom and calamity addressed by Jeremiah early in the reigns of Yeho-yakim and Tzedekiah, we now "fast forward" to the tenth year of Tzedekiah, just two years before the destruction of the Temple. The Babylonians are laying siege to Jerusalem, and Jeremiah is being held captive in the royal prison for prophesying that the city will fall and that the king will be taken to Babylon. With the noose steadily tightening and the day of doom and exile moving inexorably closer, Jeremiah suddenly receives prophecy that his uncle Hanamel ben Shaloom from his home town of Anathoth is about to visit him in prison in order to ask him to redeem his field. This was in accordance with the Torah law: "If your brother goes down low and sells from his inheritance, his redeemer – his closest relative – shall come and redeem his brother's sale" (Leviticus 25:25). Sure enough, Hanamel soon arrived, and Jeremiah paid out good money to redeem the field, notwithstanding his own prophecies that all the people were soon to go into exile, making matters of land ownership in the homeland seemingly completely irrelevant. Vv 9-14: Jeremiah carries out a halachically perfect purchase of the field (with valid witnesses, payment in silver, and a written, signed and sealed document of sale specifying all the conditions of the transaction) and then instructs his own foremost disciple, Baruch ben Neriyah (who taught Ezra) to place it in an earthenware document case "so that they will endure for MANY YEARS" (v 14). The lesson Jeremiah was teaching was that even though the situation in Jerusalem and Judea was dire, with their captors encamped all around in siege, it was still fixed and certain that in the end Judah would return and take possession of the land again.

Vv 16-25: Jeremiah's prayer is a beautiful and eloquent expression of the justice of God's ways, giving each one according to his ways and according to the fruits of his actions (v 19). He brought His people to their land, but they failed to heed His voice and follow His Torah – and now the enemy is building ramps around the city walls preparing to capture Jerusalem. And at this moment He instructs the prophet to go and purchase a field??? Vv 28ff: God answers: "Is anything too marvelous for Me?" Rashi renders: "Is the future hidden from Me?" Yes, the city is to be delivered to the Chaldeans: they are here ready to execute the inevitable punishment to requite the people for their sins. For they have indeed turned their backs on Him with their idolatry. Yet inexorable as the decree of captivity and exile is, so is His promise to gather in their exiles and restore them completely unchangeable. V 39: "And I will give them ONE HEART and ONE WAY to fear Me, for their own good and that of their children after them." We daily wait and hope for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Vv 42ff: The very evil that befell Israel with the destruction of the Temple and the Exile is itself the guarantee that all the promised good will also come to them in the end. Fields and properties will again be sold and purchased in accordance with the law of the Torah in Benjamin and Judah and in all the other regions of the Holy Land. Amen.

Chapter 33 A second prophecy now comes to Jeremiah while still imprisoned in the king's prison, as in the previous chapter. This was in Tzedekiah's tenth year, one year prior to the destruction of the Temple, with Jerusalem under siege and the Babylonians encamped all around. V 2: "So says HaShem its Maker, HaShem Who fashions it to establish it…" God's goal is only to build and establish Jerusalem. Vv 4ff: Just as in the earlier years of his ministry, when peace still reigned, Jeremiah prophesied the opposite of peace – the coming of the sword and imminent exile, so now, with the siege-ramps all around the city and the enemy preparing for the slaughter of its inhabitants, Jeremiah prophesies the opposite of war: Vv 6ff: "Behold, I am bringing it a remedy and a cure, and I shall heal them and I shall reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth." With the calamity just about to strike, Jeremiah sees way beyond it to the final redemption and the restoration. Judah and the Ten Tribes will return (v 7) and they will be truly cleansed of their sins and forgiven (v 8). Vv 10-11: "There will again be heard… in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem … the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride." These words are included in the last of the Seven Blessings (SHEVA BRACHOS) recited before the groom and bride under the wedding canopy (CHUPAH), and until today they are customarily sung joyously at the conclusion of the marriage ceremony. Vv 12f: "There will be yet again in this place which is now desolate… a cote for shepherds who rest their flocks." Despite the surrounding devastation, Jeremiah

already sees the Israel of the future with their leaders pasturing the flocks of people in all parts of the Holy Land. V 15: "In those days and at that time I shall cause a sprout of righteousness to sprout forth for David" – "This is King Mashiach, who will practice justice and charity" (Metzudas David). Vv 17-18: From these verses until the end of the chapter, the prophet eloquently prophesies that the kingship of the House of David and the service of the Cohanimpriests and Levites will never cease. We learn from verse 24 that there were those among the people who saw how calamity was overhanging the kings of Judah and the Temple priests and Levites, and inferred that God had rejected them and was bringing the kingship and the priesthood to an end, since the majority had already gone into exile and those remaining were subject to other nations. This was causing demoralization among the people to the point that some were ready to abandon the Torah and its commandments (see RaDaK on v 24). The beautiful prophecies that God's Covenant with the House of David and the Priests and Levites can no more be nullified than the laws of heaven and earth are thus an answer to such ideas, promising that in the end God will turn around the captivity and show mercy.

Chapter 34 The little that we know about what was actually going on in Jerusalem in face of the Babylonian siege and at the time of the destruction of the Temple mainly derives from the laconic accounts given in the closing chapters of II Kings and II Chronicles and from whatever we can glean from Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Our present chapter provides a revealing insight into the psychology of the people in Jerusalem at the height of the siege. Jeremiah is sent to King Tzedekiah to prophesy that the city would fall to the Babylonians and that he himself would be captured. Tzedekiah – to whose lot it fell to be the last king of Judah and to witness the destruction of the Temple and exile of the people in his time – is an elusive and intriguing figure. It is written that Tzedekiah "did evil in the eyes of HaShem his God" (II Chron. 36:12) yet the rabbis of the Talmud viewed him more favorably than his older brother and predecessor, King Yeho-yakim, of whom we will get a close-up view in Chapter 36 (these chapters are not in chronological order). The rabbis said: "The Holy One blessed be He wanted to bring the entire world back to desolation and devastation on account of Yeho-yakim, but He looked at the members of his generation and His anger cooled. The Holy One blessed be He wanted to bring the entire world back to desolation and devastation on account of the generation of Tzedekiah, but He looked at Tzedekiah himself and His anger cooled down. Then what does it mean that Tzedekiah 'did evil in the eyes of HaShem'? It means that he had the power to protest [against what the people were doing] but he did not protest" (Sanhedrin 103a). This implies that while Yeho-yakim was wicked, Tzedekiah himself was a Tzaddik. Thus we see in the present prophecy in vv 2-5 that Tzedekiah would be punished by watching his city destroyed and by being taken into exile, yet he would not be put to the sword but would die in dignity on his bed and would be mourned with

honor, unlike Yeho-yakim, who died outside the gates of Jerusalem while being cruelly dragged along the ground into exile, and who was "buried with the burial of a donkey" (Jeremiah 22:19). Furthermore, although Tzedekiah's eyes were gouged out, he was left alive and outlived his captor Nebuchadnezzar (Moed Katan 28b). Vv 8ff: The little that is known about the episode recounted here, in which prior to the capture of Jerusalem the people freed their Hebrew slaves but then took them back, is all contained in our present text, and we have no other recourse than to make whatever inferences we can from the few hints it contains. The sources for the Torah law of the Hebrew slave to which our present text refers are contained in Exodus 21:2-6 and Deuteronomy 15:12-18. The Hebrew (as opposed to "Canaanite") slave is an Israelite who has either stolen and cannot repay and is therefore sold into slavery, or who has fallen to such poverty that he sells himself. Under Torah law the Hebrew slave does not serve forever but goes free after six years and given generous gifts on his release. It would appear that the Hebrew slaves whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem ceremonially freed were people who had become impoverished because of that same economic exploitation practiced by the wealthy and powerful that was so castigated by Jeremiah and the other prophets. These poor people had fallen deep into debt, and when they had absolutely nothing left to give their creditors, the latter would apparently simply enslave them. From verse 8 we learn that it was King Tzedekiah who struck a covenant with the people to release these slaves. It seems likely that the king understood that a major act of collective repentance was required in order to stave off the Babylonians. Whether it was his own initiative or was carried out on the advice of the priests or prophets is unknown. Our text simply states that after having released their slaves, the people soon relented (like the Egyptians) and quickly took them back. Our text makes no mention of any protest over this by Tzedekiah, which may be why the rabbis criticized him for not speaking out against his generation's behavior. Vv 18-20 speak of how God will requite the men that "have transgressed My Covenant, who did not keep the words of the Covenant that they sealed before Me through the calf that they cut into two and passed between its parts…" There are two factors here. The Covenant which the people transgressed was the Torah, whose laws of slavery they flouted. This Covenant between God and Israel was indeed originally sealed with the offering of animal sacrifices (Exodus 24:5) and at the original "Covenant between the Parts" between God and Abraham, the precursor of the Sinaitic Covenant, the parties "passed between" the parts of sacrificed animals (Genesis 15:10). However, the cut-up calf mentioned in our present text, Jeremiah 34:18, was not sacrificed in honor of the Torah Covenant. According to Rashi (ad loc.) after the people reverted and took back their slaves, they all made a covenant to rebel against God and they cut the cow into two and passed between its parts in order to signify their rebellion, as if to say that anyone who violates this covenant would be cut apart like this cow. * * * Jeremiah 34:8-22 followed by Jer. 33:25-26 are read as the Haftara of Parshas Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18) * * *

Chapter 35 V 1: "The word that came to Jeremiah… in the days of Yeho-yakim…" While the prophecies in the previous chapters dated from the final years of King Tzedekiah shortly before the destruction of the Temple, the episodes recounted in Chapters 35

and 36 date from some ten to fifteen years earlier during the reign of Tzedekiah's older brother and predecessor, King Yeho-yakim. V 2: "Go to the house of the Rechavites…" The Rechavites were descendants of Yeho-nadav (see II Kings 10:15), and were Kenites (see I Chronicles 2:55). These were a tribe descended from Jethro. As converts, they did not have their own tribal share in the Land of Israel but were originally given the right to occupy the territories around Jericho temporarily prior to their passing to the tribe of Benjamin after they lost part of their own territory with the designation of Jerusalem as the national capital. According to tradition, the Rechavites left the Jericho area of their own accord and went out into the wilderness of Judah (Arad) in order to study Torah with Othniel ben Kenaz (see RaDaK on Judges 1:16). As we learn from our present chapter vv 6ff, the Rechavites had an ancestral tradition that they were not only to abstain from drinking wine but were also forbidden to settle and cultivate the land. Rather, they were to live a nomadic existence seeking only the life of the spirit (Torah). With the Babylonians and Arameans now deployed throughout Judea, the Rechavites had come to take refuge in Jerusalem. Jeremiah was instructed to try to persuade the Rechavites to drink wine precisely in order to show their tenacity in clinging to their ancestral traditions. This put the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in a very poor light because they themselves had abandoned their ancestral tradition – the Torah – and refused to heed the warnings of the prophets to repent. As a result the people of Judah and Jerusalem would be punished for their sins while the House of the Rechavites would never be cut off. Not being cut off means that their descendants would always be numbered among the members of the Sanhedrin and the teachers of the Torah (Sifri Beha'aloscha).

Chapter 36 The fourth year of the reign of Yeho-yakim was some eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple. It was then that Jeremiah was instructed to write down his prophecies. According to the plain meaning of Jeremiah 36:2, he now wrote down or arranged all his prophecies to date in a scroll. However the rabbis stated that what he wrote down now was specifically the book of Lamentations, in which he depicted in detail the terrible suffering that the people would endure with the destruction of the Temple (Mo'ed Katan 26a; see Metzudas David and RaDaK on Jer. 36:2). According to the rabbinic view, it was Lamentations that Jeremiah was to have read to the people in the hope that they would take the rebuke to heart and repent. Vv 4ff: Jeremiah read out his prophecies while his leading disciple, Baruch ben Neriyah, transcribed them. Jeremiah was unable to go in person to the Temple, since he was in prison. Instead he sent Baruch there to read the scroll to the people. He did so on a public fast-day in the ninth month – Kislev – in the middle of Israel's cold, blowy rainy season. In seeking to reach the hearts of the people directly in the Temple, it appears that Jeremiah may have been hoping to stimulate a popular movement of repentance that would force the king and the leaders of Judah to soften, because it is clear from the ensuing narrative that the main source of resistance lay in the royal court and particularly in the person of the king himself.

Jeremiah's prophecies of disaster were sure to put fear into the hearts of the people, and as such they were nothing less than seditious in the eyes of those in the court who favored resistance against the Babylonians. On hearing what Baruch had to say in the Temple, Michayahu son of G'maryahu promptly made a report to the king's ministers of state (vv 11-13). It is noteworthy that almost all of the names of these ministers (v 12) are classic Biblical names formed out of divine names and epithets. The Judean establishment appeared highly pious from the outside: the rot and spiritual corruption were on the inside. Baruch was called before the ministers and read Jeremiah's scroll (v 15), striking fear in the hearts of those who heard it. They questioned whether they should even dare reveal its explosive contents to the king (v 16) and they advised Baruch and Jeremiah to make themselves scarce (v 19). [It is not clear how Jeremiah was supposed to hide himself since he was in prison; cf. v 26: "HaShem concealed them".] On hearing of the scroll, the king sent for it, and it was brought to him as he sat by a log-fire to keep warm during the rainy season (v 22, see Rashi). According to verse 23, it was only after hearing three or four verses that the king became offended. According to the rabbis (Mo'ed Katan 26a), he was unmoved by the opening prophecies of Lamentations concerning the weeping of Jerusalem, the exile of Judah, and the mourning of Zion (Lamentations 1:2-4). It was only when he heard that "her adversaries have become the head" (Lamentations 1:5), implying that he would no longer be king, that he became enraged. Without compunction he took a scribe's razor-blade and cut up the scroll, throwing it piece by piece into the fire. In doing so the king blatantly flouted the strict prohibition against burning or destroying holy writings (Rambam, Hilchos Yesodey HaTorah 6:8). The king and his inner circle were unafraid, although some of his ministers tried unsuccessfully to protest. Yeho-yakim could burn the scroll but he could not prevent the looming disaster that was to strike Jerusalem, and he himself was condemned to an ignominious death (v 30).

Chapter 37 V 1: "And King Tzedekiah son of Josiah ruled…" Episodes and prophecies of Jeremiah from the latter years of the reign of King Tzedekiah have already appeared in earlier chapters (chs 28, 32-34). However, the last two chapters (35 & 36) are not in chronological sequence since they go back in time to the reign of Tzedekiah's older brother, Yeho-yakim. The latter reigned for eleven years, after which he was succeeded by his son Yeho-yachin, who ruled for only 3 months before being exiled to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, who then appointed his uncle, Tzedekiah, as king of Judah in his place. The last chapter (36) showed the depths to which the royal house of Judah had sunk in depicting Yeho-yakim tearing the true prophet's scroll of rebuke to shreds and casting them into the fire. He was literally burning the Torah! After this depiction of depravity, Rashi comments on our present verse (37:1): "Now the prophet comes to relate how the punishments he had been prophesying until now were actually fulfilled. With the arrival of the appointed time for his words to be fulfilled, he tells how a new king ruled over Judah in place of Yeho-yachin son of Yeho-yakim".

Vv 2-3: Tzedekiah's equivocal nature is brought out in these verses, which tell us that he and his servants and the people would not heed God's words to Jeremiah, yet the king still sent to the prophet asking him to pray for them. V 5: "And the army of Pharaoh had left Egypt, and the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the news about them and went up from Jerusalem." Tzedekiah and his ministers clearly hoped that the Egyptian king was coming to help them by advancing against the Babylonians. They may have believed that the Babylonian withdrawal from Jerusalem was the harbinger of new miracles of an order similar to the miracle performed in the time of King Hezekiah, when Sennacherib and the Assyrian army suddenly withdrew from their siege of Jerusalem and turned tail. Vv 6-11: Jeremiah tells the king of Judah not to let the people deceive themselves, for no such miracle was going to take place since Jerusalem was doomed to be taken by the Babylonians and burned. V 12: Jeremiah was in a most dangerous position in Jerusalem because of his resolute defiance of the prevailing "political correctness" among the king's ministers. At the time of the above prophecy Jeremiah was not in prison (see v 4), but he very likely feared that he would soon be detained, and this may be why he wanted to "slip out" (LA-HALEEK) of the city among the people and go to his home town of Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin (RaDaK). Targum Yonasan and Midrash darshen the word LA-HALEEK as suggesting that he wanted to divide his ancestral possessions among the people and/or to collect his share of gifts to the priests. V 13: The officer at the gate who detained Jeremiah was none other than the grandson of the false prophet Hananyah ben Azoor (see Jer. ch 28), who before his death left instructions to his offspring to do everything in their power to ensnare Jeremiah (Rashi). The officer accuses Jeremiah of seeking to desert to the Babylonians and betray his own people. V 15: "The officers (SARIM) were enraged with Jeremiah and struck him…" These officers were the king's ministers of state. As the ensuing narrative shows, the power politics in Jerusalem on the eve of its capture were such that the faction that favored rebellion and resistance against Babylon had the upper hand and apparently had the power to intimidate the king himself. V 17: When King Tzedekiah wanted to speak to Jeremiah, he had to do so in secrecy. Tzedekiah seems to have understood very well how stubborn his ministers were, and he knew that they were likely to take extreme measures to silence the prophet. When he asked Jeremiah, "Is there word from HaShem?" it seems as if he still hoped that the inexorable message of doom would somehow change. But the message remained exactly the same: Jerusalem would fall and Tzedekiah would be captured by the Babylonians. Even when in prison and in mortal danger, Jeremiah did not flinch from telling the truth.

Chapter 38 Vv 1ff: Jeremiah's known line that the resistance would end in disaster and that the people would be best advised to submit to the Babylonians enraged the dominant faction in Jerusalem, who now call upon Tzedekiah to put the prophet to death because he was demoralizing the people and weakening their will to resist.

V 5: "And King Tzedekiah said, Behold he is in your hands…" Tzedekiah appears to have had a softer heart than his ministers, but he felt powerless to defy them. The rabbis considered Tzedekiah to be a Tzaddik except that he did not stand up against the wicked people in his generation (Sanhedrin 103a; cf. Rashi on II Chronicles 36:12). V 6: Jeremiah was lowered into the pit with ropes because the pit was so deep. V 7: "And Eved-Melech the Cushite, a senior officer in the king's house, heard…" The apparent meaning of the text is that the officer in question was called by the name Eved-Melech ("servant of a king"), and that he was black (=KUSHI). However, here, as in a number of other places where the word KUSHI appears in the Biblical text (Numbers 12:1, Psalms 7:1, Amos 9:7), the rabbis darshened that a word considered to have a somewhat pejorative connotation is intentionally used of something very good and precious in order to deflect the evil eye (see Talmud, Mo'ed Katan 16b). Thus the rabbis stated that in our verse, the "Cushite" alludes to Tzedekiah, who was really a Tzaddik, and that the "servant of the king" was in fact Jeremiah's disciple, Baruch ben Neriyah (see RaDaK on our verse). The Midrash states that in reward for this act of heroism in saving Jeremiah's life (risking the vengeance of the king's ministers), Eved-Melech the Cushite merited to be one of the nine people who went into the Garden of Eden alive (Yalkut Shimoni on Genesis 5 #42). V 10: It needed THIRTY men to pull up Jeremiah from the pit because they were all so weakened by the famine caused by the Babylonian siege (Rashi). Vv 14ff: "And King Tzedekiah sent and took Jeremiah…" Again, Tzedekiah is anxious to hear what the prophet has to say, and he swears not to harm him or hand him over to his enemies. Yet he is unable to heed the prophet's warnings and submit to the Babylonians for fear that he would be handed over to those Judeans who had already surrendered and then get lynched. Despite Jeremiah's reassurances, Tzedekiah still would not heed the prophet's warnings for fear of his own ministers. The king knew very well what they would do to Jeremiah if they discovered that he had the king's ear, and he advised him to hide the contents of their discussions from them.

Chapter 39 The narrative now reaches its climax with the story of the flight and capture of King Tzedekiah and the exile of Judah to Babylon. A parallel account of the capture of Jerusalem is also found in the closing chapter of Jeremiah (ch 52), which after many intervening chapters about later events then rounds off the book with that event in order to show God's justice in punishing the nation with destruction for failing to heed the warnings of His prophets. However, the purpose of the narrative in our present chapter and those that follow is not so much to recount the details of the destruction as to trace what happened to those who survived, among whom Jeremiah played as active a role as the one he played in Jerusalem before its capture. V 4: "And they fled and went out at night from the city by way of the king's garden through the gate between the walls and he went out on the way to the Aravah." The Aravah is the Jordan valley. Having inhabited Jerusalem for many hundreds of years, the kings of Judah had had ample time to prepare for various contingencies, and they had evidently had the foresight to prepare the long tunnel which – according to tradition – Tzedekiah used from Jerusalem to the plains of Jericho in the hope of making his escape. However, precisely as he was about to emerge from

the cave, God sent a deer which the Babylonian forces sighted and pursued. The deer entered the cave and the Babylonians went after it – and saw Tzedekiah coming out, and captured him (Tanchuma Numbers #9). This was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel: "I have spread out My net against him" (Ezekiel 12:13; see Rashi on Jer. 39:4). V 7: "And he blinded Tzedekiah's eyes…" – "Rava asked Rabbah bar Meri, Surely this contradicts what was prophesied of Tzedekiah, that 'you shall die in peace' (Jer. 34:5). He replied in the name of Rabbi Yohanan that the latter prophecy was fulfilled because Nebuchadnezzar died in his lifetime" (Mo'ed Katan 28b). V 10: "But some of the poor people who owned nothing Nevuzaradan left in the land of Judah …" The Babylonians exiled the upper classes of Judah in order to destroy their aspirations for independence, but there were not bent on destroying Judea and its agriculture completely. V 11: "And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave instructions concerning Jeremiah…" Nebuchadnezzar understood better than the rulers of Judah that Jeremiah was a true prophet, and treated him with great respect, as he did Daniel and his companions. V 14: From a careful analysis of the texts (cf. Jer. 40:1), RaDaK infers that initially Jeremiah was taken by junior Babylonian officers from the "Courtyard of Confinement" (the king's prison) together with the other exiles and like them put in chains to be taken to Babylon. Only afterwards did these officers learn that Nebuchadnezzar's chief officer, Nebuzaradan, had received special instructions from the king to leave Jeremiah free to choose what he wanted to do, and they then took him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. According to Rashi and Metzudas David, prior to the capture of Jerusalem Gedaliah had gone over and submitted to the Babylonians on the instructions of Jeremiah, and when the city was captured, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as governor over the remaining inhabitants of Judea.

Chapter 40 V 1: "The word that came to Jeremiah… after Nevuzaradan sent him off from Ramah… when he was bound in chains among all the exile of Judah and Jerusalem …" The Midrash tells that Jeremiah wanted to accompany the exiles on the road to Babylon and of his own volition stuck his own neck in among convoys of chained exiles in order to empathize with them and encourage them (cf. Rashi on this verse). According to the Midrash, the "word" that now came to Jeremiah was that he was to stay in Judea and join Gedaliah – this teaching is derived from a careful analysis of verse 5 of the present chapter, "He had not yet turned back [when he was told], Turn back (VE-SHUVAH) to Gedaliah…" However, according to the simple, non-midrashic meaning of V 1, the "word" that came to Jeremiah is the prophecy that will be recounted below in Chapter 42 vv 7ff. V 3: "…and HaShem brought it about and did as He said…" Coming from the mouth of Nebuchadnezzar's chief officer, this shows that the destruction of Jerusalem was not only a message for the Jews but a sanctification of God's name in the eyes of all the nations. Vv 6ff: Jeremiah joined Gedaliah at Mitzpah, where the latter now had his headquarters as governor of the remaining poor farmers of Judea. The officers of

the forces who were "in the field" (v 7) were the Judean officers who had fled from Jerusalem in the face of the Babylonians. They now gathered around Gedaliah, who swore to them that as long as they submitted to the king of Babylon he would act as a loyal intermediary with the Babylonians on their behalf and protect them from any acts of vengeance. They were then joined by more Judeans who had fled from the Babylonians to the surrounding territories of Moab, Ammon and Edom etc. Had the surviving Judean officers been willing to heed Gedaliah and Jeremiah, a remnant of Judah could have remained living peaceably in their land. But the tragic assassination of Gedaliah and the survivors' refusal to heed Jeremiah led to the final collapse of all vestiges of Judean independence. Vv 13ff: Yohanan ben Kare'ach and the other officers of Judah warn Gedaliah that Ishma'el ben Netanyahu had been planted in their midst by the king of Ammon in order to assassinate him. Ishma'el was "from the seed of the kingship" (Jer. 41:1) – i.e. from the royal family of Judah. According to the rabbis, he was the twentyfourth generation descendant of King David's son Yerahmi-el from his wive Atara, a convert woman of royal origins (see I Chronicles 2:26). Ishma'el was jealous of Gedaliah because of his appointment by the Babylonians as governor of Judea. V 16: "And Gedaliah said… you are speaking falsely about Ishma'el." Gedaliah rejected what today would be called "credible intelligence" because he was unwilling to accept LASHON HARA, an "evil report" about Ishma'el. This might seem meritorious, but Gedaliah made a mistake that proved to be literally fatal, trying to be more virtuous than the actual Halachah. The prohibition of ACCEPTING an "evil report" about someone means that we should not necessarily BELIEVE what people may tell us about that individual. However, we are still entitled, and indeed duty bound, to take all due precautions IN CASE what they say turns out to be true. Thus the sages said, "Show him respect, but consider him suspect" (KABDEIHU VECHASHDEIHU).

Chapter 41 THE ASSASSINATION OF GEDALIAH V 1: "And it was in the seventh month…" Gedaliah was assassinated on Rosh HaShanah (1 st Tishri, the seventh month) but because Rosh HaShanah is a festival, the fast commemorating his death was not fixed on that day but was deferred until the day after the festival, 3 Tishri (RaDaK). The "Fast of Gedaliah" is the "fast of the seventh month" mentioned by the prophet Zecharaiah, who says that like the other fast days commemorating the calamities associated with the destruction of the Temple, in time to come it is destined to be turned into a festival.(Zechariah 8:19). Rashi (on v 1) states that the "king's ministers" who collaborated with Ishama'el ben Nathanyah in the assassination were motivated by jealousy of Gedaliah over the fact that he had risen to greatness. It may have been a tradition for people to gather with their leaders for the New Year. Ishma'el and his band sat down to partake of the festival meal with Gedaliah in order to lull him into thinking they had come in peace. They then proceeded to murder him in cold blood together with all the Jews and the Babylonian officers who were with him. This was an act of overt rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, who had appointed Gedaliah as governor of the remaining population of Judea . It was certain to elicit harsh retribution from the Babylonians. It was their fear of such a response that led the remaining Judeans to flee. This brought all vestiges of Jewish

life in Judea to an end and thus put the final seal on the decree of destruction and exile. V 5: "And men came from Shechem, from Shilo and from Shomron…" These men came carrying flour offerings and incense in their hands because when they left their homes they evidently intended to sacrifice in the Temple, not knowing yet that it had been destroyed. On hearing the news of its destruction, they had torn their beards, rent their clothes and cut themselves in mourning and they changed direction and made their way to Mitzpah in the hope of joining Gedaliah. In killing them it is clear that Ishma'el was bent on trying to destroy any possibility of a selfgoverning Judean entity under the protection of the Babylonians. V 9: It is ironic that the pit into which Ishma'el threw the victims of his massacre, which signified the final destruction of the independent kingdom of Judea , was the very pit that King Asa of Judah had constructed generations earlier in order to protect the kingdom. This pit is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. Vv 11ff: Yohanan ben Kareyah, who warned Gedaliah against Isha'el, now emerges as the de facto leader of the bedraggled remnant of Judah that were still in Judea . Nothing is written of the whereabouts of Jeremiah at the time of the actual murder of Gedaliah. We learned earlier that Jeremiah had come to Gedaliah "and dwelled with him among the people that remained in the Land" (Jer. 40:6). However it seems unlikely that the prophet was with Gedaliah when Ishma'el came to kill him as he would not have escaped. It is more plausible that he was with Yohanan ben Kareyah and his band, with whom he stayed later even when they went against his advice (see Jer. 43:7-8). Yohanan ben Kareyah was convinced that the Babylonians would take severe retribution against all the Judeans because of Gedaliah's assassination, and after retrieving those who had been taken captive by Ishma'el, made his way with all his party of remnants from Givon (which is north of Jerusalem) to Bethlehem (which is to the south) with the intention of fleeing to Egypt.

Chapter 42 The plea made to Jeremiah by the captains of the remaining Judean forces and by Yohanan ben Kareyah together with all the rest of the people to pray for them and seek guidance as to what they should do next was far from being as innocent as it appears. They knew that they wanted to flee to Egypt and they hoped for rubberstamp approval from the prophet, even though they swore to him solemnly that they would obey him no matter what he would say. However, when it came to it, they did precisely the opposite (Chapter 43:2). V 7: "And it was at the end of ten days and the word of HaShem came to Jeremiah." Prophecy rarely comes instantly, but only after intensive preparations by the prophet. It took Jeremiah ten days to arrange his prayers and meditations in order to put the question of destiny posed by the surviving remnant of Judah before God and receive an answer. Vv 10ff: Prior to the destruction of the Temple, Jeremiah had repeatedly counseled the people to submit to the Babylonians and accept the decree of exile. But now that God had executed His plan and caused the Temple to be destroyed in atonement for the sins of the nation, the remnant of Judah could have remained in their own land had they been willing to swallow their pride and accept the Babylonian yoke. Jeremiah urged them to do this, but on no account to try to

escape the Babylonians by fleeing to Egypt. The people imagined that they could avoid war and famine by going there, but this was entirely contrary to the Torah, which in three places warns Israel not to return to dwell in Egypt (Exodus 14:13; Deut. 17:16 & 28:68; see Rambam, Laws of Kings 5:7-8). Yohanan and his band wanted to reverse history by seeking Jewish survival in exile in Egypt, but it was impossible to go backwards. There was no alternative but to submit to the yoke of the new blazing star of Babylon, the first of the four empires that were historically destined to subjugate Israel in order to complete the entire cycle of repair and rectification through which the nation will ultimately be restored. The purpose of the later exiles was to smelt and refine the souls that remained faithful to the Torah, whereas if the people returned to Egypt, they would revert to complete idolatry. As we see in the continuation (Jer. 44:17), this was precisely the intention of those who were traveling with Yohanan ben Kareyah. Jeremiah warned them that if they went to Egypt, the very sword and famine that they feared would come upon them and destroy them. V 20: "For you have gone astray at peril of your lives, when you sent me to HaShem…" – "Jeremiah saw on the people's faces that they were not willing to stay where they were in Judea. Accordingly he told them that they had indeed made a great mistake in sending him. Had they not done so, they would have been unwitting transgressors. But now that they had sent him yet still intended to rebel by going to Egypt, they would be willful sinners (Metzudas David).

Chapter 43 After the conclusion of Jeremiah's answer to the remnant of Judah that they must remain in Judea and not seek safety in Egypt, where they would surely be destroyed, the people brazenly accused him of prophesying falsely simply because he had told them the opposite of what they wanted to hear. V 3: "For Baruch ben Neiriyah has set you against us…" It is not clear why Yohanan ben Kareyah and his band suspected Baruch ben Neiriyah, who was Jeremiah's foremost disciple and who had played a most prominent role in Jeremiah's contacts with the kings of Judah (Jer. 36:4ff and 38:7, see Rashi there). Metzudas David (on Jer. 43:3) suggests that Yohanan's faction had had some dispute with Baruch and suspected that he persuaded Jeremiah to urge them to remain in Judah in order that they would fall into the hands of the Babylonians. Vv 5ff Yohanan ben Kareyah and the captains of the remaining Judean forces now took the entire band of remnants to Egypt, blatantly defying Jeremiah just as the people of Jerusalem and the leaders of Judah had time after time ignored his warnings and violated his counsel ever since the beginning of his ministry, causing their own destruction through their own obstinacy. V 8: "Then the word of HaShem came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes…" Despite the fact that the people had willfully flouted his authority, Jeremiah did not abandon them to their folly but accompanied them down to Egypt, hoping that he might yet persuade them to relent. Jeremiah prophecies that the remnant of Judah that fled to Egypt would not escape Nebuchadnezzar there, because he would come and defeat the Egyptians and destroy the very idolatrous temples in which the Judeans wanted to worship the stars.

Chapter 44 Jeremiah knew that the hearts of the Judean fugitives to Egypt were inclined to idolatry (unlike those who submitted to Nebuchadnezzar and went into exile in Babylon, where Tzaddikim like Daniel and his companions remained faithful to HaShem throughout the exile). Jeremiah appeals to the Judeans in Egypt to internalize the lesson that it was the idolatry of the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem that had led to their destruction, and that the same fate would befall those who reverted to idolatry in Egypt. The prophet warns the people that that they would all die by the sword or by famine. Vv 15ff: The people blatantly defy Jeremiah and answer that they have every intention of following the cult of the "queen of the heaven". [As discussed in the commentary on Jer. 7 vv 17-18, some consider this to have been the cult of a planet that was considered to be the ruler of the heavens; others hold that this itself was the cult of the sun, cf. Jer. 43:13. Yet others consider it to have been a cult involving all the stars and planets.] The people argue that far from their pursuit of this cult having CAUSED of their troubles, it was the very insufficiency of their devotion to it that was the real cause of their troubles, while their pursuit of it had brought them only blessing. It is noteworthy that the men sought to defend the cult because their wives were heavily involved in it (v 15) whereas the women were convinced that they had the full support of their husbands in following the cult (v 19). [One wonders whether there is not a parallel in the present era in the phenomenon whereby pressure from feminist women (some of whom are apparently involved in a certain kind of Shechinah-cult = Meleches HaShamayim???) has caused the male "rabbis" of the Reform and Conservative movements to overthrow millennia of Torah tradition in calling women to the reading of the Torah, appointing female "rabbis", etc. etc.], The entire cycle that ended with the destruction of the Temple began when King Solomon allowed himself to be drawn after the idolatries of his foreign wives. Now the complicity of the remnant of Judah in their wives' idolatry in Egypt was to lead to their final destruction. Vv 20ff: Jeremiah again warns the people that it was the idolatry of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea that caused their destruction, and that likewise it would cause the destruction of the fugitives to Egypt. The tiny remnant that would escape the sword and return to Judea would then know whose words would stand – those of the prophet or those of the people. The sign of the truth of Jeremiah's prophecy would be the imminent defeat of Pharaoh Hofra of Egypt at the hands of the Babylonians.

Chapter 45 The prophecy of the defeat of Pharaoh Hofra by the Babylonians with which the previous chapter ended was directed to the remnant of Judah who had fled to Egypt in order to show them that their trust that they would find security and prosperity in that land was entirely misguided. The above prophecy marked the conclusion of Jeremiah's prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem and the fate that was to overtake the remnant of Judah in Egypt. The present short chapter (Jer. ch 45) consists of a prophecy directed specifically to Jeremiah's leading disciple, Baruch ben Neiriyah. This predates by many years the prophecies in chapters 37-44, which were delivered in the reign of Tzedekiah, the

last king of Judah, at the height of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, and after the destruction of the Temple, when the remaining inhabitants of Judea fled to Egypt. Jeremiah had already foreseen the destruction of the Temple and the exile years before they came about. As we learned in Jer. ch 36, in the fourth year of the reign of King Yeho-yakim, eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple, Jeremiah had already composed the book of Eichah, "Lamentations", in which he depicted the coming calamity in graphic detail. He sent Baruch ben Neiriyah to read it in the Temple, and it came to the attention of the king, who tore the scroll to shreds and burned it. Witnessing the stubborn rejection of his master's prophecies by the king and his ministers must have been a harsh lesson for Baruch, who had sought in Jeremiah a teacher in prophecy as Moses had been to Joshua and Elijah to Elisha, yet who now heard only that disaster was inevitable and that the wellsprings of prophecy would dry up. V 3: "You said, Woe is me now! For HaShem has added grief to my pain. I am weary in my sighing and I find no rest." The "sighing" from which Baruch felt weary alludes to the breathing discipline that was the foundation of the elaborate meditations practiced by the students of the prophets in order to attain holy spirit. These meditations consisted of holy names and letters intoned in lengthy sequences (as brought down in the writings of the medieval kabbalist, Rabbi Avraham Abulafia and as discussed by R. Aryeh Kaplan in "Meditation and the Bible"). Yet despite his "sighing", Baruch could find no "rest", MENUCHAH. MENUCHAH alludes to the indwelling of the Divine Presence (Shechinah), causing prophecy (cf. Numbers 11:26, "the spirit RESTED" upon them"; see Rashi on Jer. 45:3). Vv 4-5: God's message to Baruch was that a vast upheaval was in progress bringing destruction and suffering throughout the world, and that at such a time he could not expect to attain the tranquility of holy spirit. "And you seek out great things (=prophecy) for yourself???" Baruch should be grateful that he would at least escape this upheaval with his life. In the words of the Midrash, "The Holy One blessed be He said to Baruch, If there is no vineyard, there is no need for a fence; if there is no flock, there is no need for a shepherd. I only reveal Myself to the prophets for the sake of Israel " (Mechilta). Baruch ben Neiriyah went to Babylon, where he taught Ezra and the other outstanding prophets and sages who led the Men of the Great Assembly. Ezra remained in Babylon as long as Baruch was alive, and only after his death did he go up to Jerusalem.

Chapter 46 "I HAVE GIVEN YOU AS A PROPHET TO THE NATIONS" (Jeremiah 1:5) Chapters 46-51 consist of Jeremiah's prophecies about the punishment and destruction that would befall the nations neighboring on the Land of Israel – Egypt, the Philistines, Moab , Ammon , Edom and Syria – culminating with his prophecy of the fall of Babylon (chs 50-51). Our present chapter contains the first of Jeremiah's prophecies about the nations. He begins with Egypt, which was the first oppressor of Israel. The prophecy falls into two main parts:

(1) Chapter 46 vv 1-12 prophesying the defeat of Pharaoh Necho at the hand of the Babylonians at Kharkhemish in the fourth year of the reign of King Yeho-yakim. (2) vv 13-26 prophesying Nebuchadnezzar's invasion and destruction of Egypt as prophesied earlier in Jeremiah 44:30. (1) Vv 1-12: The fall of Pharaoh Necho: Egypt aspired to the position of prime influence in the entire region and was therefore perturbed by the ascent of Babylon, which eclipsed Assyria and upset the regional balance of power. Pharaoh Necho wanted to strike down the Babylonians at Kharkhemish, a strategic stronghold in the upper valley of the Euphrates near the present-day Syrian-Turkish border about 100 km north east of Aleppo. It was on his way there that he struck down King Josiah of Judah, who sought to intercept him and prevent him from marching through the Holy Land. Soon after the death of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho installed Yeho-yakim as king of Judah, but when he marched back to Kharkhemish in the fourth year of Yeho-yakim's reign, he was defeated decisively by the Babylonians, after which "the king of Egypt did not any more go out from his land because the king of Babylon took everything that had belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt until the River Euphrates" (II Kings 24:7). Vv 3-4: The prophet scornfully tells the Egyptians to prepare for battle, prophesying that they will flee and be defeated (vv 5-6). Vv 7-8: Egypt is compared to a swelling river because the entire prosperity of the country depended on the Nile, but whereas Egypt wanted to sweep over and influence the entire region, in fact enemies would come up against her and defeat her. V 11: The prophet taunts Egypt, telling her to seek medicine from Gil'ad when in fact there is no medicine for her wound. (2) The second part of Jeremiah's prophecy against Egypt in vv 13-28 is read annually in the synagogue as the Haftara of Parshas BO, which tells the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The destruction of Egypt as narrated in that Parshah is echoed in Jeremiah's prophecy of the disaster that was to befall Egypt at the hands of the Babylonians in the time of Pharaoh Hofra. This took place in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (Seder Olam, Rashi on v 13). V 17: "Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has passed the appointed time" – he boasted that he would go out and defeat the Babylonians and fixed a date for his campaign, but in the end he did not go out and the appointed time passed. V 19: "Prepare for yourself the baggage of exile…" Jeremiah advises the Egyptians to prepare for exile, since the Babylonian policy was to transfer the nations they conquered elsewhere in order to break their national identity. The Egyptians were exiled for a period of forty years, as prophesied in Ezekiel 29:13. Jeremiah hints in v 26 at the restoration of Egypt after their exile. V 27: "And as for you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob…" Here Jeremiah comes to comfort the Jews who were exiled to Babylon in order to encourage them not to despair of being redeemed when they saw that the Egyptians were exiled to a place nearby and returned after only forty years while their own exile was much further afield and they had still not been redeemed (Metzudas David). Even if God destroys the other nations, He will never destroy Israel , even though He chastises them. "As for you, do not fear, O My servant Jacob, says HaShem, for I am with you!"

Chapter 47 Jeremiah was sent to prophesy not only to Israel but also to all the surrounding nations. Without exception they had shown hostility to Israel throughout their history and gloated over their suffering and exile. Thus the raging fury that caused the destruction of Jerusalem swept across the entire region leaving none of the other nations unaffected. Jeremiah had already been commanded to make the nations "drink" from the "cup" of God's anger. "For thus says HaShem, the God of Israel, to me: Take this wine cup of fury from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it" (Jeremiah 25:15). Following his prophesies in the previous chapter about the calamities that were to befall Egypt, Jeremiah now turns to the Philistines, who inhabited Gaza and the surrounding areas to the south of the Land of Israel as well as Tyre and Sidon and their environs to the north. The Philistines appear to have suffered a double punishment in the time of Jeremiah. The first was at the hands of the Egyptians. When the Babylonians were besieging Jerusalem during the last years of King Tzedekiah, Pharaoh king of Egypt wanted to advance against them not so much to help Judah (whom he did not want to be too powerful) but rather in order to deliver a blow to Nebuchadnezzar, whom he perceived as being a severe threat to Egypt's aspirations to global dominion. When the Babylonians heard that the Egyptians were marching against them, they temporarily withdrew from Jerusalem (cf. Jer.37:5) and began to advance against the Egyptians. This caused Pharaoh to turn back, and on his way back to Egypt, his forces swept through and ravaged Gaza, as mentioned in the present chapter, Jer. 47:1. The second blow to Gaza came later on, when the "waters arising from the north" (v 2) – the Babylonians – swept through and destroyed all the Philistine habitations, as detailed in this chapter.

Chapter 48 Moab too was ravaged by the whirlwind of fury that swept through the entire region. A number of reasons are given in our text for the suffering that afflicted the Moabites. "For because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you too shall be taken, and Kemosh [the god of Moab] and his priests and his princes together…" (v 7). The Moabites had enjoyed prosperity and peace throughout their history. As we learn in v 11, they had never suffered exile, and they believed that they were immune. They had rejoiced and gloated when they saw the calamity that overtook the Ten Tribes of Israel, laughing at them as people laugh at a thief caught in the act (v 27). It was the pride and arrogance of the Moabites that sealed their fate (v 29-30). The prophet urges the enemies of the Moabite to exact God's vengeance from them with the utmost diligence. "Cursed be he who does the work of HaShem negligently, and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood" (v 10). Nothing similar was said by the prophet in the case of any of the other nations against whom he prophesied. The Moabites were singled out for this severe vengeance because they were cousins of Israel (Lot, the father of Moab, was Abraham's nephew) and Israel was commanded not to afflict the Moabites (Deut. 2:9) yet the Moabites persistently showed themselves to be implacable enemies of Israel (see RaDaK on v 10). Nevertheless, "I will bring back the captivity of Moab at the end of days, says HaShem" (v 47). According to RaDaK (ad loc.), this will take place in the time of

Mashiach, despite the fact that all the nations became intermingled and at present the identity and whereabouts of the Moabites are unknown. Nevertheless they will return at the end of days and will be subject to Israel, as prophesied in Isaiah 11:14.

Chapter 49 Vv 1-6: Prophecy of the punishment of Ammon. Like the Moabites, the Ammonites were descended from Abraham's nephew Lot but ungratefully showed nothing but hostility to Israel. Thus it was the king of Ammon who engineered the assassination of Gedaliah ben Ahikam, which brought Judean independence to an end (see Jer. 40:14). V 1: "Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malkam (=the god of Ammon) inherit Gad and his people dwell in his cities?" – When the Ten Tribes went into exile, the neighboring Ammonites occupied the territories of Gad, Reuven and the other tribes, claiming that they had been seized from Ammon (RaDaK). V 2: "Rabbah of the children of Ammon" is none other than Amman, capital of the present-day kingdom of Jordan . V 6: As in the case of the Moabites (ch 48 v 47), Jeremiah prophesies that eventually the Ammonites will return to their land. RaDaK states that this will be at the end of days with the coming of Mashiach. Vv 7-13: The vengeance against Edom. RaDaK (on v 7) states that this prophecy relates to the future fall of Edom. Jeremiah's prophecy against Edom parallels those of Obadiah, Isaiah (ch 34) and Ezekiel (25:12-14). V 12: "Behold, those who do not deserve to drink the cup will surely drink – shall you [Edom] go unpunished?" The other nations that oppressed Israel were not their brothers and deserved less of a punishment than Edom, who was Israel's brother yet still oppressed them (Rashi). Vv 14-22: Depiction of the terrible fall of Edom. V 22: "Behold, like an eagle he will ascend and fly and spread his wings over Basra …" The Basra mentioned here is popularly identified with Basra in Iraq , although scholars consider this to refer to a town called Basra in the south of present-day Jordan , which is where the original territory of Edom was located. Nevertheless, in relation to the popular identification with Basra in Iraq it is of interest that until today this town is a stumbling block for the army of Britain, which some consider to be latter-day Edom . Vv 23-27: The punishment of Damascus, the capital of Aram . Vv 28-33: Prophecy of the punishment of Kedar and the kingdom of Hatzor . RaDaK states that Kedar and the "children of the east" mentioned in this verse are from the children of Ishmael. Verse 28 specifically states that it is Nebuchadnezzar who would strike them. This is because all the other nations mentioned by Jeremiah in these prophecies of retribution were struck not only by Nebuchadnezzar but also by others, whereas Kedar was struck only by Nebuchadnezzar. Vv 34-39: Prophecy of the punishment of Eilam. As in the case of Moab and Ammon, Eilam is destined to be restored at the end of days (RaDaK on v 39).

Chapter 50 Vv 1-3: Prophecy of the destruction of Babylon. Jeremiah's ministry fell at the very height of Babylonian might and dominion, yet he still prophesied that she would fall, unlikely as this may have seemed to the people of his time. "For a nation has come up against her from the north" – this refers to Medea and Persia, who under Darius and Cyrus respectively overthrew Babylon in the time of Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Belshazzar, as described in the book of Daniel. Vv 4-8: The salvation and restoration of Zion after the destruction of Babylon. "In those days and at that time… the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together…" (v 4). The collapse of Babylon would lead to the restoration of Judah, and with them those members of the Ten Tribes who remained in the Land of Israel after the exile of their brothers and who attached themselves to Judah, accompanying them into exile in Babylon (Metzudas David, RaDaK on v 4). Simultaneously this prophecy of the unification of Israel and Judah surely also refers to the eventual return of all the exiled Ten Tribes and their reconciliation with Judah at the end of days, and verses 5-8 referring to the salvation have eternal significance and are not bound only to the return to Zion in the days of Ezra after the fall of Babylon. Vv 9-16: Depiction of the vengeance against Babylon and its fall. V 11: "Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O robbers of My heritage…" Retribution will befall Babylon because they plundered God's heritage – Jerusalem – yet had joy and success until now (Metzudas David). V 12: "Your mother shall be greatly ashamed…" It is customary to recite this verse when one sees cemeteries of heathens (Berachos 58a). Vv 17-20: Salvation of Israel after the destruction of Babylon. Verse 17 refers to the main exiles: that of the Ten Tribes under Sennacherib, and that of Judah and Benjamin under Nebuchadnezzar. RaDaK comments that verses 18 and 19 refer simultaneously to the restoration of Judah to Jerusalem after the fall of Babylon and to the future restoration of Israel. V 20 prophesies the ultimate cleansing of Israel and Judah from all sin at the end of days. Since all the sins will be turned into merits, they will SEARCH to see if there are any remaining sins that can yet be turned into merits!!! (Rabbi Nachman). Vv 21-34: God's war and vengeance against mighty Babylon. V 25: "HaShem has opened his armory and has brought forth the weapons of His indignation…" The daily carnage in Iraq today seems to be the fulfillment of this prophecy. V 29: "According to all that she did, so do to her…" God's vengeance is "measure for measure". Vv 33ff: The fall of Babylon would be proof of the might of Israel's Redeemer. Vv 35-40: Prophecy of the destruction and devastation that would overtake Babylon.

Vv 41-46: Depiction of the might of the enemy that would fight against Babylon. None can thwart God's plan.

Chapter 51 The previous long chapter about the destruction of Babylon is now followed by an even lengthier chapter continuing with the same theme. V 1: "Behold I will raise up against Babylon and against those that dwell in Levqamay, a destroying wind…" The commentators point out that LEV-QAMAY, which literally means "the heart of those that rise against Me", is made up of the letters corresponding to KASDIM (=Chaldeans) in the AT-BASH cipher (where TAV stands for ALEPH and SHIN for BEIT etc.) V 5: "For Israel has not been widowed not Judah from his God…" The coming destruction of Babylon is not a matter of chance. It is God's vengeance against her for destroying His Temple and exiling Judah . Thus the passage continues (v 10): "HaShem has brought forth our vindication…" V 11: "HaShem has raised up the spirit of the kings of Medea". Darius king of Medea conquered Babylon in 3389 (=371 B.C.E.). Jeremiah wrote down the present prophecy in the fourth year of Tzedekiah (see v 59), which was in the year 3327 (=433 B.C.E.). Thus Jeremiah prophesied the fall of Babylon at the hands of Medea 62 years before it occurred. Vv 15-19 appear with very minor verbal differences in Jeremiah 10:12ff. Vv 20ff: "You are My battering ram and weapons of war: with you I will smash (VENIPATZTI) the nations…" In the words of Rashi (ad loc.): "Up until now I have preserved you to be a destroyer and to smash the peoples against whom I have decreed exile." The prophet emphasizes that Babylon's power and glory were not due to her intrinsic greatness but were given to her by God purely in order to serve His ulterior purpose of punishing the nations. In vv 20-23 the word VENPATZTI, "I will smash," appears NINE TIMES. Vv 34f: "Nevuchadrezzar king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me…" These are the words of Zion and Jerusalem. Although Judah had sinned and deserved God's punishment, Nebuchadnezzar's greed and cruelty were disproportionate, and God would justly punish him in order to avenge His people and His city. Cf. Psalms 137:8-9. V 39: "When they are heated I will make feasts for them, and I will make them drunk…" This is exactly what happened when Babylon fell in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Belshazzar, who made a great feast, became drunk, exhibited the captured vessels of the Holy Temple and was killed that very night, as described in Daniel ch 5. V 45ff: "Go out from her midst, My people…" During the period in which Jeremiah delivered the present prophecy, he was consistently urging the people of Judah to submit to Babylon and accept God's decree of exile. Yet at exactly the same time he was prophesying that 62 years later the Jews would leave Babylon. V 56: "For HaShem is the God of recompense, He shall surely pay back." These words express the essential moral of the entire book of Jeremiah, most of which is made up of his warnings to Judah that God would punish them for their sins with

destruction and exile. The inhabitants of Judea were in denial, but after all his warnings, Jeremiah was proved correct when events turned out exactly as he had prophesied and the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, killed or exiled its inhabitants and destroyed the Temple, as described in chapters 39ff. This was how God "paid back" Judah. Afterwards the turn of Babylon would come, because although she was merely an instrument in God's hand, she was far from being righteous and committed great evil in the way she carried out her mission, and God would "pay back" Babylon with her eventual destruction. V 59: This verse implies that King Tzedekiah went in person to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign (seven years before the destruction of the Temple) in order to meet with Nebuchadnezzar, and this is the opinion of Midrash Seder Olam. However the opinion of Targum Yonasan is that Tzedekiah himself did not go to Babylon but sent Serayah as his emissary (see RaDaK). The purpose of the mission was to conciliate Babylon, yet at this very moment Jeremiah saw that Nebuchadnezzar would not be conciliated but would destroy Jerusalem , and that this very act would seal the fate of Babylon , which would be destroyed. Thus seven years before the destruction of the Temple Jeremiah instructed that the scroll of his prophecies of the coming destruction of Babylon should be tied to a heavy stone and cast into the River Euphrates as a sign that Babylon would eventually sink. V 64: "Thus far the words of Jeremiah." This marks the end of the prophecies of Jeremiah: the remainder of the book is narrative.

Chapter 52 The major part of this chapter (verses 1-27 and 31-34) appears almost word for word in the concluding section of the Book of Kings (II Kings ch 24 vv18-20 and ch 25 vv 1-21 & 25-30). The only differences of substance between the chapter here and the section in Kings are: (a) Kings 25:22-26 gives a brief account of the appointment of Gedaliah ben Ahikam and his assassination, which was described in detail in Jeremiah ch 40; (b) Our present chapter in Jeremiah vv 28-30 gives precise figures of the numbers of (male) members of the tribes of Judah who were exiled to Babylon in three successive waves of exile. These three waves of exile were: (1) the exile of King Yechonyah (=Yeho-yachin), which took place "in the seventh year" after Nebuchadnezzar subdued his father, King Yeho-yakim – 3023 exiles (v 28); (2) "In Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year: this was the exile of Tzedekiah which took place with the destruction of the Temple – 832 exiles (v 29); (3) "In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar": Midrash Seder Olam (quoted by Rashi) explains that in this year Nebuchadnezzar conquered Tyre and swept away Judeans who had fled there and to the regions of Ammon and Moab – 745 exiles (see Rashi on vv 28-30). This sober account of the destruction of Jerusalem, the plunder of the Temple vessels and the complete exile of all the surviving members of the tribe of Judah concludes the book of Jeremiah, showing the vindication of all of his prophesies about the coming calamity despite the fact that most of the people of his time refused to believe them and openly scoffed and persecuted him. Thus we see that the truth of prophecy does not depend on whether people accept it or not. "Many are the thoughts in the heart of a man, but it is the counsel of HaShem that will stand" (Proverbs 19:21). Jeremiah prophesied calamity, but he also prophesied redemption and restoration. The fact that all his prophesies of calamity came about is our guarantee that those of restoration will also come about. His prophesy ends with the release of King

Yeho-yachin from prison after the death of Nebuchadnezzar. King Yeho-yachin was given a position of honor in Babylon, and this in itself was a sign of hope. During his captivity Yeho-yachin repented, and although when he was a sinner he had been cursed that he would die childless, the decree was revoked and he had a child who fathered Zerubavel, who rebuilt the Holy Temple. MAY HASHEM LET US WITNESS ALL OF JEREMIAH'S PROPHECIES OF REDEMPTION AND RESTORATION SPEEDILY IN OUR DAYS. AMEN.

Book of Ezekiel Chapter 1 Ezekiel's prophetic ministry commenced a few years prior to the destruction of the First Temple and spanned a period of over twenty years. Ezekiel received Torah from the prophet Jeremiah, and there is a tradition that he was actually his son and was called "the son of Buzi" because people despised (BUZ) Jeremiah (RaDaK on Ezekiel 1:3 in the name of Targum Yerushalmi). The opening prophesy in the book of Ezekiel, which came to him in Babylon, is dated to five years after the exile there of King Yeho-yachin (v 2). This took place eleven years before the destruction of the Temple. Ezekiel went into exile with Yeho-yachin together with sages and prophets like Daniel, Hananya, Mishael, Azariah and Mordechai. It is surmised that Ezekiel began to prophesy prior to leaving the Land of Israel, in accordance with the principle that the Shechinah does not rest upon a prophet outside the Land unless it first rested upon him in Israel (Moe'ed Katan 25a). Some hold that Ezekiel's first prophecy is contained in chapter 2, while others hold that it is in chapter 17 (Rashi on Ezekiel 1:3). "And it was in the thirtieth year…" (verse 1). Our commentators prove that Ezekiel is dating his prophesy to the thirtieth year since the previous YOVEL (Jubilee year), which was the year in which Hilkiyahu the High Priest found the Torah scroll in the Temple in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah (see II Kings 22:8ff and II Chronicles 34:14ff; Rashi on Ezekiel 1:2 and RaDaK on Ezekiel 1:1). Although this led to a spiritual revival for a time, it also marked the sealing of the decree of destruction and exile. Thus Ezekiel tells us that when he received this prophecy of the departure of the Shechinah from the Temple, he was already in exile. Much of his prophetic mission was to rebuke the wicked people of his generation for the sins that were to lead to the destruction of the Temple and the subsequent exile of the rest of the people. He also prophesied against the nations and about the war of Gog and Magog. However the climax of his ministry came "in the twenty fifth year after our exile" (Ezekiel 40:1). This was in the next Jubilee year (see Rashi ad loc.), when he had a vision of being taken back to Jerusalem, where he saw every detail of the Future Temple, prophesying the final restoration of Israel at the end of days and the order in which Melech HaMashiach, the Cohanim, Levites and the Twelve Tribes will dwell in the Land forever. "…by the River Kvar…" (v 1) – "If the Shechinah does rest on the prophets outside of the Land of Israel, it speaks with them only in a place of purity, over the water" (Mechilta Bo, cf. Daniel 8:2 & 10:4). Some identify the River Kvar with the Euphrates. The Hebrew word KVAR means "already", implying that what Ezekiel saw in his vision existed long before. The letters of KVAR are the same as the word REKHEV, a "vehicle", root of the word MERKAVAH ("chariot") – for in his vision Ezekiel saw the divine "Chariot". "…and there the HAND of HaShem was upon him" (v 3) – "Every time the word 'hand' is used in this work or anywhere else in connection with prophecy, it is an expression indicating FORCE: prophecy overwhelms the prophet despite himself, similarly to the way in which madness takes over a madman" (Rashi ad loc.).

"And I looked, and behold a storm wind…" (v 4). It is proper to approach the study of Ezekiel's vision with deep awe and trepidation because he unveils some of the profoundest secrets of God's providence over creation through the divine "Chariot". Ezekiel had his vision of the heavenly order through which God governs the world on the very threshold of the destruction of the Temple. What he saw was "the chariot of the throne of glory of the Shechinah – and because it was coming with fury to destroy Israel, it appeared in the form of a storm wind and a cloud" (Rashi on v 4). Ezekiel saw it "coming from the north" because it was coming from the land of the Chaldees, which is in the north (Jeremiah 1:14). "And why did it go there? In order to bring the entire world under the dominion of Nebuchadnezzar, so that no-one would be able to say that He delivered His nation, Israel, into the hands of a lowly people" (Hagigah 13:2). Ezekiel was to see further details of the divine "chariot" in later visions (Ezekiel 8:1ff, 10:1ff). He would then see the Divine Presence withdrawing stage by stage from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem prior to its destruction. However, the main focus of the vision in our present chapter is not upon the extraneous "fury" that was to bring this about but rather upon the inner workings of the heavenly order of "angels" – the CHAYOS, "beasts", lit. "vital beings", and OPHANIM, "wheels" – through which God governs the creation. Thus it was "from OUT OF THE MIDST" of the storm wind, the cloud and fire that Ezekiel saw the Chayos, i.e. he caught a glimpse of the interiority that lay beneath the external "storm wind". These Chayos – the "beasts" that "draw" the divine "chariot" – are described in vv 5-12. From Rashi's careful textual analysis, it appears that there are four overall Chayos, each of which has four "faces" (that of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle), and each of its four faces in turn consists of all four faces. Thus each Chayah has 16 faces, and since each face has four wings, each Chayah has sixty-four wings (Rashi on v 6). This suggests that God's providence may be seen as a hologram in which each part contains the whole, and each aspect includes all the different aspects. "The lion is the king of the wild beasts; the ox is the king of the animals; the eagle is the king of the birds, and man stands proudly above them all. And the Holy One blessed be He rules proudly over all of them and over the entire universe... Why does it say here 'the face of an ox on the left' but later on it says 'the face of one was the face of a cherub' (Ez. 10:14) and does not count the ox? The reason is because Ezekiel begged for mercy and it was changed into a cherub. He said: Master of the World, how can the accuser (the golden calf, which was an idolatrous representation of the ox, which Israel saw at Sinai) be turned into the defender (the ox of the Merkavah)? But is not the face of a cherub the same as the face of a man? The difference is that one is a big face (man) and one is a small face (cherub)" (Chagigah 13b). [The face of the cherub is "small" because it is on the left=TZIMTZUM.] "And their feet were straight feet" (v 7). They did not have joints since unlike material animals they had no need to bend their legs to sit or lie down (Rashi ad loc.). From this verse we learn that when praying the Amidah prayer we should position our feet straight together like angels (Berachos 10b). Verses 12ff portray the Chayos in movement and their relationship with the Ophanim beneath them. The Chayos move because of the RUACH – the will of God – that is clothed within them (v 12). The Chayos can move in any direction without turning because they have faces in all directions (ibid.). They are described as "running and returning" (v 14). The metaphor is one of the flame of a furnace or a bolt of lightning which shoots out and virtually simultaneously flashes back from where it came. "Similarly when the Chayos move their heads out from under the firmament that is stretched above them, they

become filled with fear because of the Shechinah which is above the firmament, and they hurriedly bring their heads back under" (Rashi ad loc.). The Chayos are spiritual forces yearning for God and seeking to transcend their boundaries, but they can do so only for a moment before fear and trepidation force them to retreat. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that the mode of "running and returning" characterizes all spiritual life and endeavor. We must constantly strive to go beyond our boundaries, yet we are constrained to remain within them and our task is to actualize the vision we attain at moments of transcendence within the limitations that God has set for our lives (Likutey Moharan I, 6 & 22 etc.). Just as when animals draw an earthly chariot they cause its wheels to turn, so the celestial Chayos cause the OPHAN ("wheel") of the divine "chariot to move. The Ophan is "an angel that stands on the earth and his head reaches the Chayos, and his name is Sandalphon" (Chagigah 13b). This Talmudic comment alludes to the way that the lower levels of God's governmental order are like a "shoe" (sandal) that garbs the lowest of the upper levels (the "feet") and through which those higher levels operate in order to bring about specific effects on earth. The Hebrew word translated as "angel" is MALACH, which essentially means a messenger or agent through which another higher force operates. Metzudas David (on v 15) states that each Chayah had only one Ophan rather than a separate Ophan for each of its four faces. Each Ophan was like "a wheel within a wheel", effectively turning it into a kind of ball that could roll in any directions without ever needing to turn (v 17). The Ophanim had eyes all over them so that they could see in all directions since they never turned (v 18 and Rashi ad loc.). Verse 18 expresses the "chain of command" whereby the RU'ACH ("spirit"), which is the "the will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu" clothed in the Chayah (Rashi) caused the Chayah to "move" (=act), and this in turn automatically caused the Ophan to move (act), since "the spirit of the Chayah was in the Ophanim". "And I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty…" (v 24). The voice that Ezekiel heard was like the voice of God as He spoke at Mt Sinai (Metzudas David, RaDaK ad loc.). "And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne…. And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of ADAM…" (v 26). Riding the Chariot is ADAM – the Holy One blessed be He: the gematria of the MILUI (expansion) of the letters of the Tetragrammaton with alephs, expressing the absolute unity of God on all levels, is 45=ADaM. The prophet saw only a "likeness like the appearance" – it is forbidden to confuse the MASHAL (metaphor) with the NIMSHAL (the subject of the comparison) and to imagine for a moment that the prophet saw a human form. The human form as we know it is but the faintest reflection of a reflection of the divine reality of which Ezekiel caught a glimpse. "And I saw something like the color of electrum (CHASHMAL)…" (v 27). Rashi comments: "We are not permitted to seek to understand the meaning of this verse" (cf. Chagigah 13a). "There was a certain boy who wanted to understand the meaning of the Chashmal and a fire came forth and consumed him – because he had not reached the proper age. But let Hananiyah son of Hizkiah be remembered for good, because if not for him the sages would have taken the book of Ezekiel out of the Biblical canon on account of the passages that apparently contradict the Torah. What did he do? They brought him three hundred barrels of oil (to light his lamp) and he sat in an attic and darshened Ezekiel to resolve the contradictions" (Chagigah ibid.). "As the appearance of the rainbow…" (v 28). Contrary to the philosophy of the rainbow

generation, the Talmud teaches that it is improper to gaze for long upon the rainbow (though glancing momentarily is permitted) since it alludes to the glory of God. "Whoever sees the rainbow in the cloud ought to fall upon his face, as it says, 'Like the appearance of the rainbow… and I fell on my face'" (Berachos 59a). * * * Ezekiel 1:1-28 & 3:12 are read as the Haftarah on the first day of the festival of Shavuos commemorating the Giving of the Torah. * * *

Chapter 2 Having risen prophetically from level to level – from seeing the storm wind and then the "angels" who execute God's will… until he heard His voice speaking to him – Ezekiel is now given his mission. "And He said to me, Son of man… (BEN ADAM)" (v 1 & 3 etc.). Unique among the prophets, God repeatedly addresses Ezekiel as the "son of man". "It seems to me," says Rashi, "that he only called him the 'son of man' in order that he should not become arrogant after having had a vision of the Chariot and of the supernal order" (Rashi on v 1). "The son of man… Son of pure people, son of righteous people, son of people who practiced kindness, son of people who demeaned themselves for the sake of My glory and the glory of Israel " (Tanna d'vei Eliyahu ch 6). "Whether they will hear or whether they will refuse to hear…" (v 5). The prophet has the obligation to deliver his message regardless of whether people heed it or not. "And they shall know that a prophet was among them" (ibid.) – "I want them to know when they are punished that there was a prophet in their midst who reproved them and they did not listen" (Rashi ad loc.). In his vision, Ezekiel was given a scroll of prophecy that he was to "eat" (v 8) – i.e. to learn it, remember it and internalize its message so that the words would be fluent on his mouth (Metzudas David ad loc.). "And in it was written lamentations and mourning and woe" (v 10 – a harsh message! Let us "eat" and internalize the teachings of our prophets and learn to be true BNEY ADAM!!!

Chapter 3 We read at the end of the previous chapter how a hand spread forth a scroll before Ezekiel, "…and it was written inside and outside, and in it was written lamentations and mourning and woe" (Ez. 2:10). Targum (ad loc.) renders: "…And written in it was what happened from the beginning and what is destined to happen in the end, and in it was written that if the House of Israel transgress the Torah, the nations shall rule over them, but if they practice the Torah, lamentations, mourning and woe shall depart from them." Our present chapter opens with God's command to Ezekiel to "eat this scroll" – to imbibe and internalize its message of rebuke so as to ready himself for his mission to the House of Israel. In vv 4-10 God fortifies Ezekiel in preparation for his mission, warning him that whereas any other people would heed God's rebukes, Israel are brazen and hard-hearted – but reassuring him that God has made him even stronger than them, like the slender Shamir worm, which has the power to eat through stone (v 9).

Following the vision of the Chariot with which Ezekiel opened (Ez. 1:1ff) and his appointment as prophet (2:1-3:10), God now tells him in verse 11 of our present chapter to return to the main body of exiles in Babylon from which he had become separated when he began to prophecy by the river Kvar. "Then a spirit took me up and I heard behind me a voice of great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of HaShem from His place" (v 12). In the words of Rashi (ad loc.), "After He completed giving His instructions, He commanded the wind to carry him to the place where the exiles were." Metzudas David (ad loc.) explains: "It is as if He was saying to the prophet, Do not think that now that the Shechinah is leaving its place in the Temple Holy of Holies the Glory of HaShem will not be blessed and praised as it was when it was in its place in the Holy of Holies. For even though it will have left its place, He is still blessed and praised" – i.e. His true glory transcends any possible earthly revelation of it, since nobody can know His place (cf. Chagigah 13b). The phrase "Blessed be the glory… from His place" is the second response in the KEDUSHAH (Sanctification) recited by the prayer leader and congregation as the high point of the communal repetition of the daily morning and afternoon AMIDAH and Shabbos and festival Mussaf prayers immediately following the joint response of "Holy! Holy! Holy!..." (Isaiah 6:3). The verse here in Ezekiel 3:12 is also recited in KEDUSHAH D'SIDRA (the prayer "Uva LeTziyon…") after the daily morning Amidah and at Minchah on Shabbos and festivals and on Saturday nights. Ezekiel could still hear the awesome sound of the wings of the Chayos and the noise of the Ophanim as the spirit carried him away from the "place" of his vision back to the exiles in Babylon (vv 13-14). "Then I came to the exiles in Tel Aviv…" (v 15). A TEL is a hill or mound, while AVIV refers to ripe barley, which in Israel is the sign of SPRING (Ex. 9:31 & 13:4 etc.). It is indeed after the name of the Jewish place of exile in Babylon mentioned in our present verse that the modern Israeli city of Tel Aviv was named when it was founded in 1909 to serve as a residential suburb of the ancient port city of Yafo ( Jaffa ). The name had been used by the author Nachum Sokolow as the title of his Hebrew translation of Theodore Herzel's " Old New Land " to symbolize the spring-like rebirth of a new state on the mound remaining from a much earlier state. Ezekiel spent seven days in a state of total shock following his return from the exalted world of prophetic vision to the bustling center of the Babylonian exiles from Judah , until God spoke to him again with further teaching about the nature of his mission (vv 15-16). The prophet was obliged to address both the wicked and the righteous. He was to warn the wicked to turn from their evil ways, and he was to warn the righteous not to allow themselves to lapse. If the prophet failed to rebuke them he would bear responsibility for their evil deeds and lapses, but as long as he discharged his duty he would be "clean" and they alone would bear the consequences of their evil. "And when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, I will lay a stumbling block before him and he will die…" (v 20). "If the righteous man makes the mistake of thinking that on account of his having been righteous for a long time God will forgive him for the evil he now commits, I will prepare a stumbling block for him" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "The stumbling block will be that he will succeed in all his affairs in this world, because he will eat in this world the fruits of the righteousness he was intended to eat in the world to come, 'and his righteousness that he did will not be remembered' i.e. in the world to come" (RaDaK ad loc.). "And He said to me, Arise, go out to the plain (BIK'AH)…" (v 22). "He instructed him to go out to the plain where He showed him the Glory as He had showed him by the River Kvar,

for the plain was a place of greater purity than Tel Aviv, which was a human habitation. He sent him this vision time after time in order to deepen his understanding of God's providence and His way of governing the creation. Moreover that plain (BIK'AH) was the same plain in which the original Tower of Babylon had been built (Gen. 11:2), and He began showing him His providence over His creatures when he mixed up their language and thwarted their intention" (RaDaK on v 22). In the plain God gave Ezekiel further instructions and a series of prophecies that are contained in the coming chapters (chs 4-7). From now on the prophet was to shut himself up in his house as if imprisoned and not to speak to the people except when God opened his mouth in prophecy, for the people would not listen to him. The reason was – in the words of the repeated refrain (ch 2 vv 5, 6 & 7; ch 3 vv 26 & 27) – "FOR THEY ARE A REBELLIOUS HOUSE".

Chapter 4 SIGNS AND SYMBOLS At various junctures, certain prophets were instructed to carry out symbolic actions as a way of vividly dramatizing their message. In the present chapter Ezekiel (still in the "plain" receiving the series of prophecies that began in v 23 of the previous chapter) is given three sets of instructions. 1: THE BRICK (vv 1-3) Ezekiel was to take a large building block and carve on it a representation of the city of Jerusalem, which he was to surround with siege towers, siege mounds, army camps and battering rams symbolizing the coming Babylonian assault. "And take for yourself an iron pan and set it as a wall of iron between you and the city" (v 3) – "From the day the Holy Temple was destroyed, a wall of iron stands between Israel and their Father in heaven, as it says, 'Take for yourself an iron pan…'" (Berachos 32b). 2: LYING ON HIS SIDE (vv 4-8) The "brick" would be positioned where the prophet could gaze upon it before him (see v 7) while lying immobilized on one side for extended periods. "Lying on one side for a long time without being able to turn onto the other side is extremely hard" (RaDaK on v 4). Rashi explains that Ezekiel was to endure this pain and suffering for a specific number of days corresponding to the number of years that Israel had vexed God with their defiance, "and you will atone for their sins since the punishments I have said I will bring upon them are harsh in your eyes. I have made it easier for you to bear the pain I have suffered for the total number of years they have sinned before Me by turning them into the corresponding number of days" (Rashi on vv 4-5). "Through this pain the sins of Israel would be atoned without their being utterly destroyed on account of their sins" (Metzudas David on v 4). "When a king of flesh and blood wants to punish a rebellious province, if he is cruel he kills them all. If he is kind, he kills half of them. But if he is overflowing with kindness, he chastises their leaders. Similarly the Holy One blessed be He chastised Ezekiel in order to cleanse Israel of their sins" (Sanhedrin 39a). The prophet was to lie on his left side to atone for the sins of the House of Israel – the Ten Tribes – whose kingdom was centered to the "left" (=North) of Judah (see Ezekiel 16:46; Metzudas David on v 4). Rashi (on v 5) gives an exact account of how all the years in which Israel sinned from the period of the first Judges until the exile of the Ten Tribes by Sennacherib add up to a total of 390. Likewise in his comment on v 6, Rashi gives an

account of the 40 years in which Judah sinned from the time of the exile of the Ten Tribes until the year of Ezekiel's present prophecy five years after the exile of King Yeho-yachin (see Ez. 1:2) i.e. in the fifth year of King Tzedekiah. "Behold, I will lay cords upon you" (v 8): "You shall feel the stringency of My decree of instructions as if you were bound by thick ropes so that you are incapable of turning from side to side" (Rashi ad loc.). 3: FAMINE RATIONS (vv 9-17) "And take for yourself wheat and barley etc." (v 9). During these extended periods of lying on one side, Ezekiel was to eat in the same way as people facing famine under siege. Barley is normally animal feed: people only make bread of wheat mixed with inferior grains when supplies are scarce, and they then permit themselves only minimal rations for fear of being left with nothing (vv 9-11). The most repulsive aspect of the prophet's diet was that the fuel for baking his crude loaves would be dried human excrement (v 12). This would symbolize how "the children of Israel will eat their bread unclean among the nations to which I shall drive them" (v 13). This decree so appalled Ezekiel – a priest who had eaten only kosher, ritually pure food from his youth – that he cried out bitterly in horror (v 14): "I have never eaten an animal that died of itself or was torn by beasts…" – "not even a dying animal that was slaughtered hurriedly to permit it consumption"; "…nor did loathsome meat ever enter my mouth" – "not even from an animal over which a sage had to issue a ruling because of a question over its fitness for consumption… not even an animal from which the priestly portions had not been duly separated" (Talmud Chullin 37b). Because of Ezekiel's plea for mercy, God softened the decree, permitting him to use animal droppings as fuel to bake his bread instead of human excrement. Even so, it was impossible to avert the coming famine in Jerusalem in which the people would waste away because of their sins (v 17).

Chapter 5 In the previous chapter Ezekiel was commanded to carry out a series of symbolic actions alluding to the coming Babylonian siege against the city of Jerusalem, represented by a large builder's brick. Now God commands him to take "a sharp sword, a barber's razor" and shave the hair of his head and beard, which he is to weigh out carefully into three equal portions (v 1 of our present chapter). He is to burn a third on top of the "city" carved into the brick; he is to smite a third with a sword round about the "city", and he is to take the last third and scatter it to the winds (v 2). The meaning of these symbolic actions is specified later in the chapter in verse 12: a third of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were to die under siege through the burning "fire" of plague and famine; a third would be cut down by the sword while trying to escape the Babylonians, while a third would be scattered in every direction in exile, and even there the sword would chase after them. The only consolation in all of this was God's instruction to Ezekiel in verse 3: "You shall also take from these a small number and bind them in the corners of your garment…" – "These are the few people who would go into exile to Babylon and live" (Rashi ad loc.). Yet even some of these would be burned in the fire that was to ravage the House of Israel (v 4). The saving of the remnant through being bound in the corners of Ezekiel's garments suggests that these were the people who "took hold of the Tzitzis" of the Tzaddik, i.e. followed his advice (see Likutey Moharan I, 7) and that they were saved in

his merit. In verses 5-10 The prophet set's forth God's "case" against the sinners of Jerusalem, on account of which He was to unleash the terrible retribution alluded to in Ezekiel's signs. "Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations and countries are round about her" (v 5). "I put her inhabitants there for their own good, because she is the choicest of all lands, 'fairest of sites, the joy of all the earth' (Psalms 48:3). For she is in the center of the world, and therefore her air and climate are better than those of all other lands. Her inhabitants should have followed the straight path and carried out my good statutes. But instead they changed them, and did greater evil than all the nations around them" (RaDaK on v 5). "…nor have you done according to the practices of the nations around you" (v 7) – "For the nations never exchanged their gods even though they have no godly power, whereas you have exchanged My glory for that which is of no benefit. You have not followed the practices of those who are well ordered, but instead you have followed the practices of those who are corrupt" (Rashi ad loc.; Sanhedrin 39b). "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold I, even I am against you…" (v 8) – "You have betrayed Me, so I too am against you" (Rashi). Verses 9ff specify the retribution that God was to send against Jerusalem. Only thus "shall my anger spend itself and I will relieve my fury" (v 13). In the Hebrew text, the word rendered "I will relieve" is VA-HANICHOSI. In a play on this word, the Talmud teaches that when Israel suffers at the hands of the nations, God HEAVES A DEEP SIGH (ANACHAH)!!!" (Berachos 59a). Because of her abuse of her privileged status, the desolate Jerusalem would become the reproach of all the surrounding nations (vv 14-15).

Chapter 6 In continuation of the prophecy of the coming destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, Ezekiel – located in Babylon – is now commanded to turn his face in the direction of the hills of Israel and to prophecy against them. This was because the favored locations for the people's idolatrous altars and cult centers were on the tops of hills, which were not only places of outstanding natural beauty but also afforded spectacular skyscapes of all the planets, stars and constellations they worshiped. Later on in Ezekiel ch 8 we will be shown an intimate picture of how even the most respected dignitaries of the people perpetrated the most abominable forms of idolatry in the very Temple itself. In our present chapter we hear of the retribution God was to send against this idolatry, which was evidently rampant throughout Judah and practiced on all its hilltops: not only their altars and sun-images but their very cities would be destroyed, and the bodies of the guilty would fall dead before their worthless idols (vv 3-7). "…and you shall know that I am HaShem" (v 7): the whole purpose of this retribution was to teach the people what they refused to learn the gentle way – that God has complete power and will not overlook the flouting of His will. Broken-hearted in exile, the remnant would understand the evil of their ways and repent (vv 7-10).

Chapter 7 The prophecy in the present chapter is the last in the series of prophecies that began in chapter 3 verse 22, when God told Ezekiel to go out into the plain, giving him a series of instructions about symbolic actions he was to take in order to dramatize the coming

destruction of Jerusalem (ch's 4 & 5). After that He then began to explain to him the reason for the decree. Thus in the previous chapter the prophet was instructed to prophesy to the hills of Israel about the coming destruction of the land on account of the rampant idolatry, while in the present chapter he prophesies about the imminence of the decree, again emphasizing that it is on account of the abominations practiced by the people of Judah. Then in the following chapters (ch 8ff), Ezekiel is taken in prophetic vision from Babylon to Jerusalem, where God shows him how leaders of the people were actually practicing their idolatrous abominations in the Holy Temple itself. "The end! The end is come upon the four corners of the land!" (v 2) – "This is the 'end' of which I spoke when I said, 'When you will have grown old (VENOSHANTEM) in the land and become corrupt… I bear witness against you today that you shall surely perish' (Deut. 4:25). The gematria of VENOSHANTEM is 852. From the time Israel entered the land until the Temple was built was a period of 440 years, and the First Temple stood for another 410 years, making a total of 850" (Rashi on v 2). Repeatedly the prophet emphasizes that the coming calamity would be in retribution for the people's abominations (vv 3, 4, 8, 9 & 20). "Violence (HAMAS) is risen up into a rod of wickedness – not because of them and not because of their multitude and not because of their roaring, and the lamentation is not because of them" (v 11). This rendering of verse 11 follows the explanation of Metzudas David (ad loc.), who states that "the 'violence' would be that of Nebuchadnezzar, a man of violence who arose to be the rod striking Israel wickedly and cruelly. But his success was 'not because of them' – i.e. not because of the merit of the Babylonians or because of their great multitude or because of their terrifying war cries but only because of the hand of God" (ibid.). Our commentators interpret Ezekiel's prophecies in these chapters as referring only to the destruction of the First Temple, and there is no suggestion whatever that they may refer to a future destruction. Nevertheless, all of the prophecies that were included in our Biblical canon contain teachings for all times. Since in our times one of the principal leaders of Arab violence and terror against Israel has been the so-called HAMAS movement, we should heed the prophet's teaching about HAMAS (v 11) – as explained by Metzudas David – and keep in mind that this movement has no intrinsic power of its own and is able to cause trouble for Israel ONLY because the hand of God chastises until we repent of our sins. "Let the buyer not rejoice nor the seller mourn…" (v 12). "The way of the world is that the buyer rejoices over his acquisition while the seller mourns that financial pressures forced him to sell… but the prophet says that one who sells a field in Israel has no need to mourn over it because even if he would not have sold it, it would remain his only for a short time since he was soon to go into exile and abandon it. Likewise the buyer had no reason to rejoice, because his purchase would not remain his for long" (RaDaK ad loc.). "They have blown the trumpet and prepared everything, but no-one goes out to the war…" (v 14). "When the enemy comes against them, they will have prepared themselves for war, but no-one will go out to fight" (Rashi ad loc.). The military paralysis that was to take hold of Judah under attack from Nebuchadnezzar is reminiscent of the present-day military paralysis of the state of Israel even in the face of constant provocations, incessant daily rocket and missile attacks against innocent civilians, etc. Her leaders call it "restraint", but their inability to take any decisive military action against the people's enemies for most of the time since the 1967 Six Day War has seriously eroded the country's security. We must understand that this too is the "hand of

God". Ezekiel prophesies that because of the sin of idolatry, the Holy Temple was to be given over to strangers to destroy (vv 20-22). Because of the blatant injustices perpetrated by the people, the very worst of the nations would come to take over their houses and the pride of their land (vv 23-24). Prophecy, Torah and wise counsel would depart, leaving spiritual devastation and confusion (vv 25ff) "…and they shall know that I am HaShem" (v 27).

Chapter 8 "And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month…" (v 1). This was in the month of Elul in the sixth year after the exile of King Yeho-yachin. RaDaK (ad loc.) quotes from Midrash Seder Olam stating that the year in question had been a leap year, explaining that because of the extra month inserted into the leap year, over four hundred and thirty days had passed since the prophecies in the previous chapters. In chapter 4 vv 4-6 Ezekiel had been commanded to lie on his left side for 390 days to atone for the sins of Israel and a further 40 days to atone for those of Judah – a total of four hundred and thirty days. He would certainly have carried out these instructions immediately after the conclusion of the prophetic vision in which they were given. This means that the prophetic visions in our present chapter and those that follow came to him directly after these 430 days. Ezekiel was the spiritual leader and head of the Sanhedrin of the Judean exiles in Babylon, and thus the elders of the people came to sit before him daily. It was in their very presence that HaShem's "hand" of prophecy overwhelmed him, and in his vision he saw himself being taken by the locks of his head and carried by a RU'ACH, "wind" or "spirit", to the northern gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. This was "the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy" (vv 1-3). The "image of jealousy" was the idolatrous image originally made by King Menasheh. When Menasheh repented, he cast it out of Jerusalem but did not destroy it, and his son King Ammon restored it. Despite the Torah revival in the reign of Ammon's son King Josiah, it appears that the wicked kings who followed him again restored this image. It must be understood that such an image was not merely a fancy representation dreamed up by some artist, which people then proceeded to worship for no reason. King Menasheh was an outstanding Torah scholar (103b) and without doubt found the deepest rationalizations for the image he set up. (Rabbi Nachman teaches that God intentionally brought it about that the writings of the ancients justifying their idolatry should be lost since later generations, lacking the wisdom to refute them, would otherwise be in dire peril of succumbing to their influence, Likutey Moharan II, 32.) Thus Midrash Rabbah Devarim states that Menasheh's image had four faces corresponding to the four Chayos of the divine "Chariot". It seems that Menasheh had deep knowledge of what Ezekiel was later to see in his vision (Ezekiel ch 1) but Menasheh turned the angels into gods, violating the Second Commandment by representing them with physical images. While Ezekiel physically sat in Babylon shortly before the destruction of the Temple, God sent the "wind" or "spirit" to carry him to Jerusalem in order to take him on a "virtual tour" of the Temple so he could see what the people were actually practicing within its holy precincts (vv 3ff). "And behold the God of Israel was there according to the vision that I saw in the plain" (v 4). In Ezekiel's vision in the plain (ch 3 vv 23ff) he had seen the same Glory that he had seen at the River Kvar (ch 1 vv 4ff). This is what he now saw in the Temple – for the

Shechinah was still dwelling there, for it was only in his vision in Chapter 10 that Ezekiel was to see how the Glory departed from the Temple stage by stage. The presence of the Glory in the Temple during his vision in our present chapter is precisely what made the idolatry of the people there so offensive. Besides the "image of jealousy" (vv 5-6), God showed Ezekiel the many other representations of creeping things, abominable beasts and other idols which the people were worshiping in secret chambers. "And seventy men from among the elders of the House of Israel and Ya'azanyahu the son of Shafan in their midst…" (v 11). "He was an important figure and his generation learned from him, and this is why God was angry with him" (Rashi ad loc.). As we follow Ezekiel on his "virtual tour" of the abominations practiced by the most respectable people in the holiest of places, we can but imagine the kinds of abominations reportedly practiced by some of the most prominent public figures of our times in the secret chambers of places like the Vatican, Bohemian Grove in N. California and many others that the wider public knows nothing about. "For they say HaShem does not see us – HaShem has abandoned the earth" (v 12). The idolaters may have believed that God was the first cause of the creation, but "they said that He does not see what the creatures do because they believed that He had left the earth in the hands of the heavenly order of stars and planets and did not watch over it" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "And behold, there sat women making the Tammuz weep" (v 14) – "This was a certain metal statue that they used to heat up from within and its eyes were made of lead which began to melt because of the heat of the furnace. It looked as if the statue was weeping, and the women would say, He is asking for a sacrifice" (Rashi ad loc.). "And He brought me into the inner court…. And behold… about twenty-five men with their backs towards the Temple of HaShem and their faces towards the east, and they were prostrating themselves towards the sun…" (v 16, cf. Talmud Succah 51b). As if this in itself was not offensive enough, Rashi and Metzudas David commenting on the phrase rendered as "they put the branch (Z'MORAH) to the nose" (on v 17) write that the people were crudely breaking wind from behind, creating a kind of vibrating "song" (from the root ZEMER), and that the prophet is saying that the foul smell would simply come into their own nostrils – i.e. their shame would rebound in their own faces.

Chapter 9 "And He cried in my ears with a loud voice saying…" (v 1). In the last verse of the previous chapter (from which the present verse follows with no section break in the Hebrew text), God had said that He would have no mercy on the people of Jerusalem because of their sins, "and though they CRY IN MY EARS WITH A LOUD VOICE, I will not hear them" (Ezekiel 8:18). The opening verse of the present chapter directly echoes this phrase, and now God "cries out with a loud voice" ordering "those that have charge of the city" to draw close with their weapons of destruction in their hands (v 1 of our present chapter). Ezekiel, who in his prophetic vision was standing in the Temple courtyard, now saw "six men coming by way of the Upper Gate" (v 2) together with a seventh wearing linen with a scribe's equipment at his side. RaDaK states that according to the plain meaning of the text, Ezekiel prophetically saw the ministers of Nebuchadnezzar who were to enter Jerusalem when the city walls were breached six years after this prophecy (Jeremiah 39:3, see RaDaK on v 2 of our present chapter). On the level of Drash, the sages of the Talmud stated that the first six men were destructive angels, KETZEF, AF, CHEIMAH, MASHKHEES, MESHABER and MEKHALEH – "Rage, Anger, Fury, Spoiler, Smasher and

Destroyer" – while the King's "scribe" dressed in linen who later cast fire upon the city was the angel Gabriel (Shabbos 55a, Rashi & RaDaK ad loc.). The "brazen altar" by the side of which they stood to receive their orders was the name given to King Solomon's stone altar, which replaced the brazen altar for animal offerings that Moses had made for the Sanctuary in the wilderness. The stone altar stood in the AZARAH, the main Temple courtyard (as opposed to the golden incense altar, which stood inside the Temple sanctuary in between the Menorah and the Showbread Table). "And the glory of the God of Israel ascended from the cherub upon which it rested to the threshold of the House…" (v 3). Since the inauguration of the Temple by King Solomon, the Shechinah (the Divine Presence="the glory") had rested in the Temple Holy of Holies over the KAPORES, the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, in between the cherubs that stood upon it. This "point" was the interface between our material world and the spiritual world that governs it. Our present chapter and the next describe how, simultaneously with ordering the destruction of Jerusalem , the Divine Presence ascended from its place and stage by stage left first the Temple and finally the city. "We learn from our texts that the Shechinah made ten journeys … from the Altar cover (KAPORES) to the cherub, from one cherub to the other, from the cherub to the threshold, from the threshold to the courtyard, from the courtyard to the altar, from the altar to the roof, from the roof to the wall, from the wall to the city, from the city to the mountain and from the mountain to the wilderness, and from the wilderness she ascended and dwelled in her place, as it says, 'I shall go and return to My place'" (Hosea 5:15; Rosh Hashanah 31a; cf. the princess's journey in her carriage in Rabbi Nachman's story of The Lost Princess). As the glory ascended from the cherub, HaShem called to the "scribe" to place marks on the heads of all the remaining tzaddikim in Jerusalem – those who sighed over the abominations practiced in her midst. These were to be a sign for the angels of destruction to spare them when they came to slaughter the wicked. These marks were akin to the marks daubed with the blood of the paschal lamb on the doorposts and lintels of the houses of the Children of Israel in Egypt to save them from the angels who came to destroy the Egyptians (RaDaK on v 4). However, the sages of the Talmud taught that even though there were indeed still some tzaddikim in Jerusalem who were pained by these abominations, the "scribe" could find nobody who was free of all guilt. "There was never an occasion when goodness came forth from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He and He afterwards relented so that it turned into bad except in this case. God told Gabriel to go and mark the foreheads of the tzaddikim with ink so that the destructive angels would have no power over them, while placing a mark of blood on the foreheads of the wicked so that the destructive angels would have power over them. But the Attribute of Justice said: Master of the World, what is the difference between these and those? He said: These are complete tzaddikim while those are completely wicked. Justice said: They had the power to protest but they did not. He said: It is revealed and known before Me that if they had protested, the wicked would not have listened. But Justice replied: 'Master of the World, to You it may have been revealed, but they did not know (and they ought to have protested)'… Thus the verse says, 'Slay the old, the young men and girls, the children and the women… but do not come near any man who has upon him the mark'. But immediately after this, the same verse continues, '…and BEGIN at My sanctuary (MIKDASHI)' and it goes on to say, 'and they BEGAN with the elders who were before the House' (v 6). Do not read the word as MIKDASHI but rather as MEKUDASHAI, 'My sanctified ones' – these are the men who kept the Torah from Aleph to Tav" (Shabbos 55a). We may learn from this that it is not sufficient to practice the Torah ourselves: we are also obliged to protest against the

wicked who violate it. Verse 7 describes how God gave instructions to the destroyers to go into action. "And it came to pass as they were slaying them that I was left" (v 8) – Ezekiel realized that he alone was left, because the scribe did not inscribe the mark of life on the foreheads of anyone else since he could not find anyone who was a complete tzaddik owing to their failure to protest against the abominations (Metzudas David ad loc.). Ezekiel screams out begging for mercy, but God answers that the sin of Jerusalem was too great, because they had said that God had "abandoned" the earth – i.e. that there was no such thing as divine providence or judgment, and they were therefore free to do as they pleased – and now He would show them His providential hand of judgment (vv 8-9). "And behold the man clothed in linen… reported saying, I have done according to all that You commanded me" (v 11) – "For you only commanded me to make a mark on the foreheads of the righteous and not anyone else, and so have I done, because I did not mark the foreheads of anyone else since I did not find any tzaddikim" (Metzudas David ad loc.).

Chapter 10 In the opening chapter of the book, Ezekiel described his first vision of the Divine Glory "riding" upon the "Chariot" – the apparatus of Chayos and Ophanim through which God providentially governs the world. In his vision in the present chapter, which directly continues the narrative in the previous chapter about how God commanded the agents of destruction to destroy Jerusalem, Ezekiel tells HOW the "apparatus" he had seen in the earlier vision now began to OPERATE, in this case in order to cast the fire of destruction upon the city as demanded by the divine Attribute of Justice. Whereas in chapter 1 Ezekiel called the "beasts" drawing the chariot CHAYOS, he now calls them KERUVIM, "cherubs", (for the reason discussed in the commentary on chapter 1; see also the comment on v 20 of the present chapter). Looking towards the "throne" or "seat" of the "chariot" over the firmament above the heads of these "cherubs", the prophet hears the divine voice commanding the "man dressed in linen" – the angel Gabriel – to go between the "wheels" below the cherubs and fill his hands with coals of fire to cast all over the city (v 2). While Ezekiel, looking prophetically at the very roots of God's providence, saw everything happening almost simultaneously, the actual events took time to unfold in This World. Thus verse 2 states: "And He said (VAYOMER) to the man dressed in linen, and he said (VAYOMER)…" Rashi comments: "Wherever the text says VAYOMER… VAYOMER… this is only in order to darshen. The Holy One blessed be He spoke to Gabriel, and Gabriel in turn spoke to the cherub requesting that he GIVE him the coals (instead of Gabriel's filling his own hands with them directly) in order that the coals should be cooled so as to lighten the decree. Thus it says later, 'and he took it and gave it into the hands of the one dressed in linen' (v 7). …And even though the one dressed in linen received them, he did not throw them immediately but only six years after the time he received them, so that the coals should become dimmed in his hand all those six years. The proof is that this prophecy was given to Ezekiel in the sixth year of Tzedekiah's reign (see Ezekiel 8:1) while the city was destroyed in the eleventh year" (Rashi on v 2). "Then the Glory of HaShem went up from the cherub to the threshold of the House" (v 4). Rashi states that this ascent of the Shechinah is the same as described in the previous chapter (Ezekiel 9:3). The narrative in the present chapter complements that in the previous chapter. Perhaps in his vision the prophet saw everything in one simultaneous

flash, but when it came to telling what he saw, he had to go back and forth to describe different aspects. "And the sound of the wings of the cherubs was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks" (v 5). The "outer court" is the rest of the Temple Mount outside of the inner courtyard. "Could it be that the voice only reached there because it was low? No – for the verse says that it was 'like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks' (i.e. the great voice in which He spoke at Mt Sinai, Deut. 5:19). But when it reached the outer courtyard, it stopped and went no further (see Rashi on v 5; see. Metzudas David ad loc.; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 1:1). A screen of TZIMTZUM (limitation, contraction) intervenes, preventing all who are unworthy from hearing the inner voice of God's providence. In vv 6-7 Ezekiel sees how the cherub puts coals into the hand of the one dressed in linen. IN vv 8ff the prophet gives further description of the cherubs – the chayos he saw in the vision in chapter 1 – and the ophanim, describing again how the ophanim, the omni-directional wheels of the "chariot", "automatically" went wherever the "head" – the cherub, the "beast" drawing it – went. "And every one [of the cherubs/chayos] had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle" (v 14). Ezekiel himself tells us in verse 20 that the cherubs he saw in the present vision were themselves the chayos he saw in his vision at the River Kvar (Ezekiel 1:5ff). The only difference is that in the present vision he saw the face of a cherub instead of the face of the ox that he had seen at the River Kvar. Our sages opened a tiny chink into the mystery of the reason for this change when they said that Ezekiel begged God to have mercy, asking how the "accuser" (the golden calf – an "ox") could become a "defender" (one of the drawers of the Divine Chariot; Talmud Chagigah 13a). With Ezekiel watching, the Divine Chariot makes successive "journeys" out from the Temple. As long as the Temple stood, it was at the very center of everything: all the lines of God's providence radiated outwards from there to the entire world. Even today, God's providence remains at the center of everything, but from the time of the destruction of the Temple it ascended from there and can no longer be seen to be manifestly radiating from Jerusalem. It continues to govern the world, but it does so from a place of mystery. "Blessed be the glory of HaShem FROM HIS PLACE" (Ez. 3:12; Kedushah).

Chapter 11 "Then a spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the House of HaShem… and behold at the door of the gate twenty-five men…" (v 1) – "These were the same men that he described earlier in chapter 8 v 16 having their backs to the Sanctuary, except that there he did not specify who they were, but here he names two of them" (Rashi ad loc.). "Then He said to me: These are the men that devise mischief and give wicked counsel in this city, who say, It is not near: let us build houses…" (vv 2-3). In his prophetic vision of Jerusalem shortly before the destruction of the Temple, Ezekiel saw the people whose stubbornness was to bring down calamity upon themselves. As we find in detail in the prophecies of Jeremiah (chs 28ff), despite the fact that Nebuchadnezzar had already carried off King Yeho-yachin and the leading sages and Tzaddikim of Jerusalem to exile in Babylon, most of those who remained in the city under King Tzedekiah were certain that "It is not near…" – i.e. that the prophecies of the imminent destruction of Jerusalem by

Jeremiah and Ezekiel would certainly not materialize soon, and if at all, only in the far-distant future. Fortified by the soothing assurances of numerous false prophets both in Jerusalem and also among the exiles in Babylon, those who still remained in Judah were convinced that Nebuchadnezzar's empire would collapse within a couple of years and that they should therefore "build houses" and "dig in" for a long stay in Jerusalem (see Jeremiah ch 28. Contrary to their ideas, in Jer. 29:5 it is the exiles in Babylon that he instructs to build houses and plant gardens.). The remaining inhabitants of Jerusalem defiantly say: "This city is the cauldron and we are the meat" (v 3) – "Just as the meat is not taken out from the pot until it is completely cooked, so we shall not go out of the city until we die a natural death" (Rashi ad loc.). But in just the same way as Jeremiah warned the remaining inhabitants of Jerusalem that the sword, famine and plague were very shortly to be unleashed against them (Jer. 29:17), so his disciple Ezekiel is now told to prophesy that God would bring against them the very sword they feared (v 8 of our present chapter). "You shall fall by the sword: I shall judge you at the border of Israel " (v 10). The "border of Israel" refers to "Rivlah in the land of Hamath" (II Kings 25:21) – this is the town of Antioch or Antakya in modern-day Turkey – where Nebuchadnezzar was encamped while his armies took Jerusalem, and where he judged the captured King Tzedekiah and killed his sons in front of his eyes before blinding him. Antioch is the northern boundary of the Promised Land (Numbers 34:8; see Rashi on verse 10 of our present chapter). "And it came to pass, while I prophesied, that Palatiyahu son of Benayah died…" (v 13). The sudden death of one of the most prominent leaders of the twenty-five idolaters whom Ezekiel saw in the Temple courtyard was part of his prophetic vision and did not actually occur until later, for according to the Talmud in Kiddushin 72b, Palatiyahu went into exile in Babylon. Ezekiel's vision of his sudden death came to confirm that the illusions of the defiant inhabitants of Jerusalem would simply burst like a bubble. Ezekiel cried out in horror at what he saw (v 13) but in verse 14 God answered him by explaining the wickedness of Palatiyahu and the other defiant inhabitants of Jerusalem. Our commentators explain that the seemingly repetitious phrasing in verse 15, "…your brothers, your brothers, your kinsmen and all the House of Israel in its entirety," comes to allude to the successive stages in which first the exile of the Ten Tribes and then that of King Yeho-yachin had taken place prior to this prophecy (see Rashi, Metzudas David and RaDaK on v 15). The remaining wicked inhabitants of Jerusalem under Tzedekiah were scoffing at all these exiles, saying, "Get you far from HaShem, for to us is this land given in possession" (v 15) as if God Himself had cast out the exiles to far-off lands and would no longer watch over them, giving those in Jerusalem the entire country of Israel in perpetuity. (A similar brand of snobbery is not unknown today among certain Israelis who simply dismiss the whole of Diaspora Jewry as being of no significance.) "Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: Although I have cast them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the countries, I shall be to them a little sanctuary in the countries where they have come" (v 16). These are almost the first words of any kind of comfort we have had so far in the book of Ezekiel (see also Ezekiel 5:3), promising that those who had submitted to the decree of exile would in fact remain under God's constant providence and protection. Despite the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, they would have "a little sanctuary" in the form of the synagogues in which they would pray during their exile. The phrase in this verse MIKDASH ME-AT, "a little sanctuary", is one of the foundations of the idea that the synagogue building becomes sanctified with a sanctity akin to that of the Temple in virtue of its being used for the

communal prayer services, and that it must therefore be treated with the appropriate respect (Megillah 29a, Rambam, Laws of Prayer ch 11). Indeed it was through the vibrant community life in their synagogues, study halls and community centers that the Jews of the Diaspora kept the torch of Torah life burning brightly through thousands of years of exile. "And I shall gather you from the nations…" (v 17) – "Since even the exiles themselves thought they would never return to their own land and that those in Jerusalem would inherit it, He therefore says to them 'I shall gather you in'… and then I shall bring you back to the Land of Israel. This is speaking about the days of Mashiach" (Metzudas David ad loc.). In verse 18 we learn that the returning exiles will cleanse the Land of all the abominations that had been practiced there. May this come soon in our days! Amen. "And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and I will give them a heart of flesh…" (v 19). "'One heart' means that their hearts will no longer be divided and in doubt as to whether to believe in HaShem, for they will believe in HaShem with all their heart; 'a new spirit' means a new willingness to follow His laws; 'a heart of stone' is a heart hard as stone, whereas 'a heart of flesh' is a heart soft as flesh – submissive and easy-going (NO-ACH)" (Metzudas David on v 19). The stubborn remaining inhabitants in Jerusalem had said, "WE are the FLESH" (v 3), but God promises that it will be those purified by the tribulations of the long exile that will have "a heart of flesh" at the end of days. When Rabbi Nachman arrived in the town of Breslov, which became his center for most of the last eight years of his life (1802-1810), he said that his followers would always be called the Breslover Chassidim, revealing that the Hebrew letters of BReSLoV are the same as in the phrase in our verse, LeV BaSaR, "a heart of flesh" (Chayey Moharan #339). "And the glory of HaShem went up from the midst of the city…" (v 23). This verse brings us to the conclusion of the series of prophecies that began in chapter 8 v 1, when the "form of a hand" coming out of the fire took Ezekiel by the fringes of his head from Babylon to the Temple courtyard in Jerusalem, where he witnessed the abominations the people were committing there and simultaneously, the withdrawal of the Divine Presence in stages from the Temple. It was the Divine Presence and its "Chariot" that he had originally seen in his opening vision by the River Kvar (Ezekiel ch 1) and in the plain (Ezekiel 3:23). Now, at the end of his prophetic vision of being in the Temple Courtyard, Ezekiel sees the "Chariot" finally departing the city of Jerusalem and standing on "the mountain" (v 23 of our present chapter). "This is the Mount of Olives, which stands to the east of the city" (Rashi ad loc.). "And a spirit took me up and brought me to Kasdim (= Babylon) to the exiles in a vision through the spirit of God" (v 24). "This informs us that the journey to Jerusalem and the return to Babylon were not MAMASH (i.e. in material reality), but it was through a vision that came through the spirit of God that it appeared to him so" (RaDaK ad loc.).

Chapter 12 In the new prophecy that opens in this chapter, God says to Ezekiel: "Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but see not; they have ears to hear but they hear not, for they are a rebellious house". This "rebellious house" refers to the body of exiles in Babylon among whom Ezekiel dwelled. "For they had seen that they had come there in exile, but it was as if they had not seen and had not heard God's reproof, because they were still encouraging those who remained in Jerusalem, sending them false prophets and sorcerers telling them that those who stayed would not go into exile, such as Shemayahu the Nachalami, who sent letters to all the people in Jerusalem

giving them false promises" (RaDaK). Shemayahu's campaign is the subject of Jeremiah's prophecy in Jer. 24:32. In order to dramatize the fact that the remaining inhabitants of Jerusalem would definitely go into exile shortly with the destruction of the Temple, Ezekiel is commanded to "prepare the vessels of exile" (v 3) – "These are a drinking pouch, a dish and a mat, and each one serves two purposes: the pouch is filled with water and used as a pillow; the dish is used for eating and drinking, and the mat is used to sit and to sleep on" (Eichah Rabasi). In the gaze of all the community in Babylon Ezekiel was day after day to go through the motions of a person going into exile (v 4) in order to symbolize vividly the imminent exile of those who still remained in Jerusalem. "Dig through the wall in their sight…" (v 5). "This was to symbolize how Tzedekiah would leave Jerusalem through a tunnel through fear of leaving openly on account of the Chaldees" (Rashi ad loc.). The intention of Ezekiel's exercise was to arouse the curiosity of the exiles in Babylon about the meaning of his mysterious actions, and in vv 8ff God tells him how he was to answer them. "Say to them… This burden (=prophecy) concerns the prince in Jerusalem (=Tzedekiah) and all the House of Israel that are among them (= in the streets of the city)" (v 10, see Metzudas David). Six years prior to the destruction of the Temple and the capture of Tzedekiah, Ezekiel here prophesies: "My net also I shall spread upon him and he shall be taken in My snare, and I shall bring him to Babylon to the land of the Kasdim: yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there" (v 13). As he emerged from his escape tunnel, Tzedekiah was caught by Chaldean soldiers who were hunting deer (the snare). Even when he was taken to Babylon, Tzedkiah never saw it because he had already had his eyes put out in Rivlah on the way. In vv 17-20 Ezekiel is commanded to eat and drink in the public view in the frenzied, anxious way of exiles in order once again to impress upon the people in Babylon that it was illusory to believe that Jerusalem would not fall, because very soon the remaining inhabitants would be going into exile. Those who were living in the world of illusion wanted to believe that if there was any substance in Ezekiel's prophecies, they would only materialize in the far distant future, but in vv 21-28 God commands him to emphasize to the "House of Rebellion" that the coming catastrophe was no far-off prophetic vision, but IMMINENT.

Chapter 13 As discussed in the commentary on the two previous chapters, both among those who had gone into exile in Babylon with King Yeho-yachin prior to the destruction of the Temple and also among those who still remained in Jerusalem, numerous false prophets were highly active, prophesying the imminent collapse of the Babylonian empire and peace for Jerusalem (see Jeremiah chaps 28-9). In the prophecies in our present chapter and the next, Ezekiel is instructed to speak out against these false prophets and sorcerers "who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing" (v 3). They are compared to "foxes amidst ruins" (v 4) because just as the many breaches in the walls of a ruined building afford ample opportunities for foxes to escape from there should any man enter, so these false prophets have left the walls of Jerusalem – its spiritual defenses – full of breaches through which they themselves would flee in

time of danger leaving the city completely exposed to the enemy. Verse 5 explains the work of the true prophet – to repair the breaches and spiritual defenses of Israel so that they may stand on the day of war. The false prophets employed the classic locutions of the authentic prophetic tradition – "Thus saith the Lord" etc. – but their visions were vain and deceptive (vv 6-7). Accordingly, "My hand shall be against the prophets that see vanity… they shall not be in the COUNSEL (SOD=secret) of My people, neither shall they be written in the WRITING of the House of Israel, neither shall they enter into the LAND of Israel …" (v 9). This verse lists three ways in which these false prophets would be completely rejected. The Talmud explains that the "COUNSEL (or SECRET) of My people" refers to SOD HA-IBBUR, "The secret of pregnancy". This is the esoteric Torah wisdom relating to the intercalation of the Hebrew calendar (having months of 30 days interspersed with months of 29 days, and periodic leap years of 13 instead of 12 lunar months) which ensures that the lunar year remains in synch with the solar year. Besides the astronomical calculations involved in this wisdom, the alignment of the "moon" (MALCHUS, NUKVA) with the "sun" (TIFERES, ZEIR ANPIN) is a fundamental pillar of the Kabbalah. The WRITING of the House of Israel refers to SEMICHAH ("ordination") whereby a senior sage and recipient of the authentic Torah tradition metaphorically places his "hand" (authority) upon a student initiate (cf. Numbers 27:18). Such ordination with the "hand" is a form of "writing" in that the subsequent status of the student as a sage in his own right now endures like something written. The LAND of Israel means literally the Holy Land (Talmud Kesuvos 112a; see Likutey Moharan I, 61:2-3 for Rabbi Nachman's in-depth explanation of the inner connection between the three concepts.) The simple meaning of the passage in verses 10-16 is that these false prophets and diviners were constructing what appeared to be a protective "wall" for Jerusalem through their reassurances to the people that there would be peace, "plastering" this wall with every kind of plausible rationalization and rhetorical flourish, but that God would send driving rain and hail (=the Babylonian enemies) and wash this entire flimsy "wall" and its "plaster" away. With no twisting of a single word in the same passage in vv 10-16, it is possible to see a clear contemporary reference to the so-called "Security Fence" that the Israeli government has built in recent years with the ostensible purpose of keeping terrorists out of those parts of the country enclosed within it. (This wall does NOT divide the Biblical Promised Land from territories outside it, but rather, it runs bang through the very middle of the heartland of Judea and Samaria, ripping them into shreds, awarding all the territories to the east of it to the Arabs who happen to be there today while enclosing the Jews inside Little Israel within what former Israel Foreign Minister Abba Eban called "the Auschwitz borders".) The Israeli government "have deceived My people, saying 'Peace' when there is no peace, and it builds a wall and they daub it with plaster" (v 10). The plaster is provided by the mainstream media, which soothe the citizens into believing that this "wall" will provide "security". It is plain that in building this fence the government seeks to define the borders of the truncated future State of Israel they wish to hold onto after unilaterally throwing away vast swathes of the precious territories of the Holy Land that came back under Israeli sovereignty in the 1967 Six Day War, as if the sacrifice of those territories together with a defensive "wall" will provide the people of Israel with security. But the plain reading of Ezekiel's prophecy indicates that far from being a factor in the Final Settlement, this wall will in due course be swept away by God's wrath in preparation for the genuine Final Settlement as prophesied by Ezekiel in the closing chapters of his book.

Verses 17ff address "the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own heart". According to the plain meaning of the text, these were women who in exchange for gifts of barley and pieces of bread, practiced various kinds of divination and fortune-telling, sewing cloth armbands and head veils for use in special rituals by the people who came to consult them, whom they would answer quite arbitrarily according to the fancies of their own hearts (vv 18-19). They were simply entrapping the souls of the people and sending them to hell (Rashi on v 20), causing distress to the righteous with their falsehoods while encouraging sinners in their path with the result that they did not repent (v 22). God warns that He will put an end to their divination and save his people from their clutches (v 23).

Chapter 14 "Then men from among the elders of Israel came to me…" (v 1). As God's ensuing message to Ezekiel makes plain, these elders were making the pretence of earnestly seeking out guidance from the prophet, but in fact they had "set their idols up in their heart" (v 3) – i.e. internally, they had willfully fanned the flames of the evil inclination's craving for idolatry in their hearts, and they had "put the stumbling block of iniquity before their faces" (ibid.), i.e. they were fully intent on gratifying their craving. They were thus examples of those who come to the true Tzaddik as if to repent and draw near to God, but inwardly want to seek some way to do this without having to sacrifice their material lusts and cravings. Despite the fact that their intentions were impure, God was willing to answer them (v 4) "in order that I may catch the House of Israel in their own heart…" (v 5): His purpose was "in order to take hold of them in their hearts and draw them closer to Me despite their being separated from Me because of their thoughts and idols, for when they see that I listen to them and answer them, they will know that there is a God in Israel" (Metzudas David ad loc.). God warns these hypocritical exiles in Babylon that they must turn aside from their idolatry completely, for anyone who makes a pretense of coming to the prophet to search out HaShem while still entertaining thoughts of idolatry will be destroyed and cut off from His people (vv 6-8). The false prophets and those who seek them out will both be punished (vv 9-11). A new prophecy opens in verse 12, running to the end of this chapter (Ez. 14:23) with a brief pause between v 20 and v 21. The main theme of verses 12-20 is that under the normal rules of God's providence, if an entire country sins, even the perfect Tzaddikim who live there will not be able to save anyone except themselves from God's punishment. Nevertheless, in verses 21-23 God promises that even when He would send His four "evil judges – the sword, famine, evil beasts and plague" – against Jerusalem , He would still spare a remnant of the city's sons and daughters, which would provide some consolation for those who had already gone into exile in Babylon earlier. "Son of man: When a land sins against Me by trespassing grievously, I shall stretch out My hand against it… Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they would only save their own lives through their righteousness" (vv 13-14). Noah and Job were familiar figures in the lore and legends of Israel , while Daniel was an outstanding contemporary of Ezekiel who also went to Babylon in the exile of King Yeho-yachin and soon attained greatness in the court of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel chs 1ff). The reasons for citing these three specifically as examples of the perfect Tzaddik in this context are discussed at great length by our commentators. Metzudas David explains: "These three are mentioned because Noah alone survived the flood but he could not protect the people of his generation. Likewise Daniel was unable to protect his entire people, for he alone was accorded high status in Babylon, while Job could not even protect his own children

and household because they were all destroyed and he alone survived. This is why it says that even if the three of them were present together, the line of judgment would not necessarily protect anyone else" (Metzudas David on v 14. Rashi and RaDaK ad loc. explain at length other parallels between Noah, Job and Daniel.) Thus under the normal rules of God's providence, even the perfect Tzaddik might be unable to protect the people from suffering retribution for their sins. The paradox is that despite this, owing to God's love for Israel, even when He would strike Jerusalem with the imminent blow, "yet behold, there shall be left therein a remnant to be brought out, both sons and daughters" (v 22). Although many would die when the Babylonians captured the city, others would survive and would be taken to Babylon to join the exiles who were already there, who would see their ways and deeds, "…and you shall know that not without cause have I done all that I have done there, says the Lord God" (v 23).

Chapter 15 THE FOREST VINE In the short prophecy in this chapter, God asks Ezekiel a series of rhetorical questions about the forest vine that produces no fruits – a metaphor for the sinful people of Jerusalem (vv 1-5). These questions lead to the inexorable conclusion that there is no alternative but to consume the vine with fire (vv 6-8). The vine in question is not the cultivated vine of the vineyard, which produces grapes, but "the branch that grew up among the trees of the forest" (v 2) – the wild vine that, like the other wild trees in the forest, does not produce fruits. At least the other trees of the forest may provide useable wood, but not only is wood of the vine in question useless for any kind of work: it does not even have the strength to serve as a mere peg to hang something on! (v 3). Isaiah had already compared Israel to such a vine in his "song of his Beloved": "My Beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill… and planted it with the choicest vine… and He hoped that it would bring forth good grapes but it brought forth foul grapes" (Isaiah 5:2). Several generations later, Ezekiel now prophesies about this vine: "Behold it is cast into the fire for fuel: the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned – is it fit for any work?" (v 4 of our present chapter). The fire had already "devoured both ends of it" – for the Arameans had already encroached on Israel from the north and the Philistines from the south (Isaiah 9:11), but as for Jerusalem, which was in the middle, "He set it on fire from all around yet they did not know, and He burned it yet they did not lay it to heart" (Isaiah 42:25). Even after having seen the calamity that befell the Ten Tribes and the rest of Judah, and despite having themselves been "scorched" by the "fire" of God's "evil judgments" of famine, plague and the sword, the inhabitants of Jerusalem still did not heed His rebuke. "Is it fit for any work?" – "If they will not repent and improve their behavior, there is no other solution except to deliver them to the fire to be consumed: Jerusalem too will be destroyed" (see RaDaK on v 4). "I shall set My face against them, for they came forth from the fire, and the fire shall consume them…" (v 7). Targum (ad loc.) renders: "I shall send them My punishment on account of their having transgressed the teachings of the Torah, which were given from the midst of the fire, and nations fierce as fire shall destroy them."

Chapter 16 The very harsh reproof against Jerusalem contained in the lengthy prophecy in the

present chapter is developed through the allegory of Israel as an abandoned baby girl upon whom God took pity, taking her in, dressing her and providing for her magnificently, only to see her turn into a shameless harlot desirous of nothing but fornication. In retribution God will gather all her "lovers" around her as enemies and deliver her into their hands for punishment until she is completely chastened. "Your birth and your nativity are from the land of the Canaanite: your father was an Emorite and your mother a Hittite" (v 3). Nothing could be more damning than the simple meaning of the text, which suggests that the people of Jerusalem were kinsfolk of the very nations that the Land of Israel vomited out before them on account of their abominations. "And as for your birth on the day you were born: your navel was not cut, nor were you washed in water for cleansing, you were not salted at all nor swaddled at all" (v 4). Israel's "day of birth" was in Egypt, when God "found" them like a baby abandoned in a field with no one to take pity on it (vv 4-5). In an important halachic teaching, the sages of the Talmud stated that "all the things mentioned in this passage of reproof may be performed for a woman who gives birth on the Sabbath. It is permitted to deliver a child on Shabbos, to cut the umbilical cord, to wash the newborn baby, to salt its skin and wrap it in swaddling clothes" (Shabbos 129b). God alone took pity on the abandoned, slave people: "When I passed you by and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you: In your blood, live! Indeed, in your blood live!" (v 6). This verse is included in the Pesach Seder Night Haggadah, and among the verses recited at the naming a boy child immediately following his circumcision. The double appearance of the word "blood" in the verse alludes to (1) the blood of the circumcision performed by the Children of Israel at the time of the Exodus; (2) the blood of the paschal lamb, for it was in virtue of these that they were redeemed (Rashi on v 6). "I caused you to increase like the plants of the field…" (v 7): This verse, also included in the Pesach Haggadah, alludes to the fruitfulness of Israel – which was the sign of the "puberty" of the new nation, which was now ready to be taken in as God's "wife" through the redemption (vv 7-8). Verses 9-13 as rendered by Targum Yonasan allude to God's redemption of Israel from Egypt , giving them not only the material wealth of their enemies but also the Torah and the commandments and the Sanctuary that they were commanded to build in the wilderness. But the great beauty and glory of the once-abandoned girl went to her head and caused her to lavish her fornication on all passers by (vv 14-15). Not content with her true "husband" and savior, she made male images – idols – and offered them the very bounties God had given her (vv 17-19). "Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters whom you gave birth for Me to sacrifice to them" (v 20). "If a person had five sons, four were allocated to worship idols while one was set aside to go to school to learn Torah, but when the person came to sacrifice one of his sons to Molech, he would offer the one he had set aside to learn Torah" (Midrash Tanchuma quoted by Rashi on v 20). The people went deeper and deeper into their "fornication" returning to their Egyptian former masters to multiply harlotry (vv 23-26), causing God to send the Philistines against them to chastise them (v 27), but they were not chastened, and continued seeking to ingratiate themselves with other heathen nations, such as the Assyrians and

Babylonians (vv 28-29). "Yet you have not been like a harlot that scorns the payment" (v 31). The normal harlot sneers at the sums offered by her clients, showing that she is interested only in the reward and not the fornication itself. But the people of Jerusalem paid and bribed their foreign "lovers" to fornicate with them out of sheer love of the immorality itself (vv 33-34). [Similarly, the present-day government of Israel offers constant "concessions" and other gifts and bribes to their Arab enemies in the hope of buying their "love", but their enemies remain implacable.] God warns the "harlot" that because of her immorality, He will gather all her "lovers" and put her on trial before them and let them tear down her high places, strip her, stone her and pierce her with their swords, burning her houses in order to assuage His anger (vv 36-43). "Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you saying: Like mother like daughter! You are your mother's daughter, who loathed her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children…" (vv 44-45). The "mother" is the Land of Canaan, which "loathed her husband and her children" in the sense of vomiting out the sinful Canaanite nations. Jerusalem's "sisters" are Shomron – the citadel of the Ten Tribes, who had also been "vomited out" and exiled from the Land – and Sodom, which had been overturned because of her wickedness (v 46). The sins of Jerusalem were far more serious than those of Sodom and the Ten Tribes (vv 47-51), and what was worse than anything was that Jerusalem used to sanctimoniously judge and condemn the Ten Tribes for their sins when she herself was no better (v 52, cf. II Chron. 13:8). "When I bring back the captivity of Sodom and her daughters and the captivity of Shomron and her daughters, then I will bring back the captivity of your captives in the midst of them" (v 53). "This will be in the time of Mashiach" (Metzudas David ad loc.). The return of the captivity of Shomron means the return of the Ten Lost Tribes. Rashi states that the return of the captivity of Sodom means that God will "heal the land of sulfur and salt and settle it with inhabitants" (Rashi ad loc.). The future "healing" of the waters of the Dead Sea is prophesied at the end of Ezekiel (47:8). Present-day Jewish settlements in the region of the Dead Sea are among the miracles of modern times, and it is said that Israeli scientists have developed plans for habitation there by enormous populations in the future. The people of Jerusalem may have forgotten and despised God's Covenant, but God Himself promises to remember it and to establish it forever (vv 59ff). Verse 61 states that Israel will be chastised and ashamed when God will give her older and younger sisters to her even though she is undeserving. This implies that at the time of the redemption God will put the territories of her neighbors under the dominion of Jerusalem, not because of her own merits but because of His compassion (see Rashi on v 61). God's very compassion will cause her to remember her evil and be ashamed of her former deeds.

Chapter 17 "Son of man: propound a riddle and speak a parable to the House of Israel …" (v 2). In verses 3-10 Ezekiel sets forth the allegory of the great eagle that snatched the top branch of the cedar, taking it to a land of traders and planting instead a spreading vine. The meaning of the symbolism is then explained in verses 11-21. The great eagle with its long, outspread wings symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (Rashi on v 2;

see verse 12), under whose rule Babylon was flying high and conquering the world. The "Lebanon" to which the eagle came refers the Land of Israel , "for it has good forests which are called Lebanon " (RaDaK on v 3). The top branches of the cedar, which the eagle snatched, symbolize King Yeho-yakim and his mighty warriors, whom Nebuchadnezzar took into exile (Rashi on v 3; see verse 12). The "seed of the land" which the great eagle then planted symbolizes King Tzedekiah (Rashi on v 5; see verse 13), whom Nebuchadnezzar appointed to replace Yeho-yakim's successor Yeho-yachin after his brief three-month reign and subsequent exile to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar made Tzedekiah swear a solemn oath of loyalty (cf. v 13). "And it sprouted and became a spreading vine…" (v 6). Initially Nebuchadnezzar gave Tzedekiah dominion over the neighboring lands of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon (Jer. 27:3, see RaDaK on v 6 of our present chapter) but intended that he should remain the vassal of Babylon. However, when Tzedekiah flourished, he betrayed the eagle that "planted" him, rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar while hoping for "water" and succor from the second great eagle in the allegory symbolizing Pharaoh, king of the other great world power of the time – Egypt (see verse 15). Surely this cannot succeed, HaShem declares, for the first eagle would certainly pull up the roots of the vine and cut off its fruit (an allusion to Nebuchadnezzar's killing Tzedekiah's sons) while the second eagle would utterly fail to defend the vine with the great power and abundant army it had promised (see Rashi on v 9; cf. verse 17). "Shall it not utterly wither when the east wind (= Babylon, which is to the east of Israel) touches it? It shall wither in the plantations where it grew" (v 10). "Thus says HaShem: As I live, surely My oath that he has despised and My covenant that he has broken I will put upon his own head" (v 19). The oath that Tzedekiah swore to Nebuchadnezzar was in the name of HaShem, and for that reason it was as if he had sworn to HaShem, so that when he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar it was a rebellion against HaShem (see Metzudas David on v 19). For that reason God would punish him "upon his own head": this alludes to how Nebuchadnezzar put out Tzedekiah's eyes. In verse 20 Ezekiel prophesies in exactly the same words as he had used earlier (Ez. 12:13) that God would trap Tzedekiah in His snare, alluding to his capture near the exit to his escape tunnel by a party of deer-hunting Babylonians. Yet the prophecy ends with words of comfort, for "I shall take from the high cedar… and I will pluck off from the top of its young twigs a tender one and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain" (v 22). RaDaK (on v 22) explains that the "top of its young twigs" alludes to King Yeho-yachin, who repented in his prison cell in Babylon and fathered She'alti-el, the father of Zerubavel, who led the Judean exiles back to Jerusalem – the "high and lofty mountain – and built the Second Temple. Zerubavel was the archetype of Melech HaMashiach, and Rashi and Metzudas David (ad loc.) explain this verse as a prophecy about Mashiach, who will be from the seed of David and will rule in Jerusalem.

Chapter 18 The present chapter is a discourse on the ways of God's justice. It's starting point is a riddle or proverb that has a thrust different from that of the proverbs and allegories in the previous chapters. The inferior vine whose fruits are a pain to the mouth has figured prominently as a symbol of sinful Israel in the prophet's allegories in chapters 15 and 17. But in the people's defiant rejoinder to the prophet, they took the same metaphor and turned it into a glib quip that justified their continuing on their sinful path. We hear what the people were saying when God challenges the Children of Israel: "What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: The fathers

have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge?" (v 1). Metzudas David explains the people's proverb: "The fathers ate the sour grapes that are supposed to set the teeth on edge, yet they did not set their teeth on edge. Then why should the teeth of the children be set on edge if they themselves have not eaten the sour grapes? That is to say: Does it make sense that our ancestors sinned yet spent all their days in tranquility without receiving retribution, and that we, their children, who are not such great sinners as they were, should be punished for their sins?" (Metzudas David on verse 2 of our present chapter). The true prophets were constantly warning the people that God's retribution was to strike them imminently. Rashi spells out the counter-argument the people were posing in their proverb: "Is this the way of the Holy One blessed be He – that the fathers sin and the children get punished? The kings of Israel sinned for many years before they were finally exiled. We too do not need to fear that we shall be punished for our sins" (Rashi on v 2). To justify their stubborn sinfulness, the people were mocking the entire concept of divine retribution, pointing to the fact that very often complete sinners appear to enjoy prosperity and tranquility all their days. This chapter's prophetic discourse on God's ways of justice in answer to the people does NOT address the mystery that is the main subject of the debates and discussions in the book of Job: Why do the wicked seem to prosper while the righteous often suffer? Rather, Ezekiel states the inexorable law of God's justice: "Behold, all the souls are Mine: as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine. It is the soul that sins that shall die" (v 4) – "Everyone loves his own possessions and wants them to endure…. 'The soul that sins shall die' because there is then no reason to favor it, but if not for the sin, why should He withdraw His favor?" (Metzudas David ad loc.). The discourse proceeds to set forth the various corollaries of this basic principle of personal responsibility that is the foundation of God's justice. Verses 5-9 depict the conduct that befits a truly righteous person. Not only does he steer well clear of all idolatry, keeping clean in the areas that are "between man and God"; he also observes God's laws "between man and man", keeping well clear of adultery, business malpractice, robbery and exploitation of the poor etc. practicing true justice. "He is just: he shall surely live" (v 9). Verses 10-13 depict the opposite case – the son of a righteous man who turns into a robber and a killer, practicing everything that his father rejected. All his father's righteousness will not protect him from the penalty for his deeds. "Shall he then live? He shall not live… he shall surely die" (v 13). In yet another inter-generational swing, the wicked son gives birth to a son "who sees all the sins that his father did but considers and does not do similarly" (v 14). It is one of the great mercies of creation that sinful parents do not necessarily breed sinful children, and that a new generation can break out of the ways of the old and lead better lives. Verses 14-17 depict the righteous life of the grandchild: "He shall not die because of the sin of his father, but he shall surely live" (v 17). Verse 20 concludes the first part of the discourse with a restatement of the fundamental principle of God's justice: "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." In a new development of the theme of the discourse, vv 21-23 teach that even the habitual sinner will also live if he repents of his sins and follows the path of justice and

charity. The possibility of repentance is the greatest gift of God's compassion – for, "Do I desire the death of the sinner, says HaShem, but surely, rather, that he should repent of his ways and live!" (v 23). This verse figures prominently in the prayers of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The corollary of the principle that the wicked can repent is that there is also always a danger that the righteous may lapse. "But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness… shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be remembered…" (v 24). This does NOT mean that if a tzaddik sins, all his merits are instantly wiped out. Rather, "our rabbis explained that this verse applies to the case of someone who was righteous but comes to regret his good deeds" (Rashi ad loc.). "The fathers ate sour grapes – shall the teeth of the children be set on edge?" The people's pungent proverb gave terse expression to their philosophy that there was no such thing as divine justice. But the prophet has answered them with his discourse setting forth the principles of God's ways. "You say: The way of the Lord is unfair. Hear now, O House of Israel: Is My way unfair? Surely your ways are unfair!" (v 25; cf. v 29). A world without reward for good deeds and punishment for bad is a world run amok. But God's world is one of justice and retribution, and for our own benefit we should therefore repent and LIVE.

Chapter 19 The two short allegories contained in the present chapter complete the series of prophecies that began in Chapter 8 v 1, "in the sixth year, in the sixth month…" (i.e. SIX YEARS AFTER the exile of King Yeho-yachin and King Tzedekiah's ascent to the throne, and FIVE YEARS PRIOR to the destruction of the First Temple).It was in that year that Ezekiel was carried by a RU'ACH, "wind" or "spirit", from Babylon to the Temple in Jerusalem to witness the abominations of the people and the withdrawal of the Shechinah from the city (chs 8-11), after which he was brought back to Babylon to prophesy to those who were already in exile there, delivering various reproofs veiled in allegory and metaphor (chs 12-19). The prophecy in the present chapter is the last of that year, for the following chapter is dated to "the seventh year in the fifth month" (ch 20 v 1; see the commentary there). "And you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel" (v 1). The three "princes" that are the subject of this lament are the righteous King Josiah's three wicked sons, who ruled in Jerusalem in the period culminating in the destruction of the First Temple: Yeho-ahaz (II Kings 23:31ff), Yeho-yakim (ibid. vv 34ff) and Tzedekiah (II Kings 24:17ff). Not included is Yeho-yachin, the son and successor of Yeho-yakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled after only 3 months, replacing him with Tzedekiah. The first of the two allegories in the present chapter is that of the lioness and her cubs (vv 2-9). "What a lioness was your mother…!" (v 2). The mother lion is the House of Josiah (Metzudas David ad loc.). "And she brought up one of her cubs… and it learned to catch prey; it devoured men (ADAM)" (v 3). This refers to Yeho-ahaz, who robbed his own people Israel , who are called ADAM (see Rashi ad loc., cf. Ez. 34:31), and who was taken by Pharaoh Necho to Egypt where he died, as told in II Kings 23:33-34 and alluded to in v 4 of our present chapter.

Verses 5-9 allude to how Pharaoh Necho replaced Yeho-ahaz with another of the "lioness' cubs" – Yeho-ahaz' brother Yeho-yakim – but the latter pursued the same sinful path, as told in Jeremiah (22:18, ch 36:1-32 etc.), and "the nations set upon him on all sides" (v 8 of our present chapter, cf. II Kings 24:2) and he was ignominiously captured by Nebuchadnezzar, dying on the road to Babylon. The second of the allegories in this chapter (vv 10-14) is that of a fruitful vine that grows too tall and proud and is then cut down in fury. This alludes to Tzedekiah, the last king of Judah, and recalls the lengthier earlier allegory in Ezekiel 17:5-10 & 13-21. "And a fire has gone out from the rod of her branches" (v 14 of our present chapter) – "It is because of the transgression of her kings and leaders that all this evil has come upon her" (Rashi ad loc.). This teaches that the leaders of the people are expected to be the exemplars of the righteousness required of the Holy Nation, and when the leaders fail, this is the root cause of Israel's troubles.

Chapter 20 * * * In accordance with the Sefardic custom, Ezekiel 20:1-20 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Kedoshim, Leviticus 19:1-20:27 * * * "And it was in the seventh year in the fifth month on the tenth of the month" (v 1). The fifth month is the month of Av, and the tenth day of Av was destined to be the day when the Temple was destroyed (for although it was set on fire on 9 Av, the conflagration continued for the whole of the 10 th ). The present prophecy came to Ezekiel four years before this occurred. "Each year God sent him one prophecy with which to reprove the people, and even though he was sent other prophecies in between, the first of his prophecies in any given year was the one that is specifically dated to that year" (RaDaK ad loc. Cf. Ezekiel 1:2 and 8:1). RaDaK continues: "His telling the month and the day of this prophecy was a hint that this would be the date on which Jerusalem was destined to be destroyed. The coming of the elders to the prophet on that day was arranged by God so that they should hear the reproof on that day, because it was on account of their sins and those of their fathers that the Temple was to be destroyed. Now these elders who came to seek out HaShem were Tzaddikim from among those who went into exile with Yeho-yachin, and when God said to them, 'I shall not be inquired of by you', it was on account of the sins of their generation. Perhaps they came to inquire if the exiles in Babylon would ever return to the Land of Israel… Seder Olam states that these elders of Israel were Hananiyah, Mishael and Azariah (Daniel 1:6, 3:12 etc.)." If the elders themselves were righteous, those whom they represented were less so, to go by the explanation by Rashi (on v 1) as to what the people were saying. "If He won't listen to us, we too shall not be punished for our sins, for it means He has already sold us and He has no further claim against us. We are like a slave whose master has sold him or a woman whose husband has divorced her: They simply have no further connection with one another!" (Rashi's comment here is founded on verse 32 below in accordance with the interpretation that will be explained in our commentary.) In verse 3 God tells the prophet to respond that He will NOT answer the people's inquiry, i.e. He will not send a prophecy with specific information, which would be a sign of great favor. This implies that the people were in disfavor. But Rashi points out that "At the end of this book, Ez. 36:37, he says, 'I SHALL be inquired of by the Children of Israel'. This is one of the places that teaches us that the Holy One blessed be He MAY go back on an evil decree" (Rashi on v 3).

Instead of providing the people with the information they wanted about how long the exile would last, God reproves them in a lengthy review of the history of their rebellions from the time of the birth of the nation in Egypt. Verses 5-9 recount God's self-revelation to Israel while still in Egypt in order to redeem them and lead them to the Promised Land. But from the very outset, "They rebelled against Me and did not want to listen to Me…" (v 8) – "It was hard for them to give up idolatry" (Mechilta). "These were the wicked, who made up the majority of Israel, who died in the three days of darkness" (Rashi on v 8). Yet despite the rebellion, God redeemed them in order to keep His promise to the Patriarchs, so as not to desecrate His name (v 9) as if He did not have the power to do so. Verses 10-16 tell the next stage in the saga of rebellion during Israel's sojourn in the wilderness. Even after God's spectacular self-revelation in giving them the Torah and mitzvos, they would not listen. "They did not go in My statutes…" – "They tried Me with the golden calf"; "…and they greatly desecrated My Sabbaths" – "Some of the people went out to gather manna" (v 13 with Rashi's glosses). Verses 17ff continue the saga, implying that God would have wiped out the people in the wilderness but for His compassion. Instead, He asked the new generation born to the rebels in the wilderness to observe His life-giving Torah, yet they too failed to keep it. "I too lifted up My hand to them (=swore) in the wilderness, declaring that I would scatter them among the nations" (v 23). Here we see that later cycle of exiles that afflicted Israel was already decreed when they were in the wilderness, and Moses warned them there that this is what would befall them if they sinned (see Deut. 4:25ff). "So I too gave them statutes that were not good… and I defiled them through their gifts…" (vv 25-6). Rashi explains: "I delivered them into the power of their evil inclination so as to cause them to stumble in their sins… The very gifts that I instituted – to dedicate every firstborn to Me – I delivered into the power of their evil inclination, which caused them to hand those very firstborn to the Molech god. These are the 'statutes that were not good'" (Rashi ad loc.). In vv 27-9 the saga of rebellion continues with the people's entry into the Land of Israel , where instead of affirming God's unity through offering sacrifices only in the Temple in Jerusalem , they scattered to all the hills and natural beauty spots, each making his own altar of pride. In verses 30ff the prophet is commanded to address the people of his own generation directly, as if to say: After all this history of rebellion, what are YOU going to do??? In verse 31 God swears that He will not be inquired of by the House of Israel, implying the withdrawal of His direct, detailed providence (HASHGACHAH PRATIS) from the people, signified by the absence of prophecy. "But that which comes into your mind (HA-OLEH AL RUCHACHEM) shall never come about, that you say, 'We shall be like the nations…'" (v 32). After the lengthy preceding catalog of Israel's rebellions, one might have thought that God's patience would have been exhausted and that He would reject them for ever more ("replacement theology"). But this important verse tells us otherwise. The rebellious Israelites of Ezekiel's day thought that if God had rejected them (by taking them into exile without revealing the date of their redemption), this gave them a carte blanche to assimilate with the surrounding nations. Many Jews in modern times, despairing of Mashiach, have come to the same conclusion. The phrase in verse 32, HA-OLEH AL RUCHACHEM, "that which arises in your RU'ACH, spirit, mind" is the basis for the rabbinic teaching that the OLAH sacrifice comes to atone for rebellious thoughts and doubts (Vayikra Rabbah #87).

However, God says that this thought of complete assimilation that has come into their minds "SHALL MOST SURELY NEVER COME ABOUT" (v 32). This is because God will never allow Israel to assimilate and disappear, even if He has to rule over them "with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm and outpoured anger" (v 33). An example of this "outpoured anger" in modern times was when the proportion of assimilated Jews in Europe rose to over 50% in the 1930's, provoking a fury that while indiscriminately wiping out six million Jews, religious and non-religious, also indirectly lead to the establishment of the State of Israel, a huge ingathering of the exiles and the ongoing Torah revival that is taking place in our generation. Thus verses 34ff depict the final redemption and ingathering of Israel at the end of days, which we have reached in our times. "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations" (verse 35). Rashi (ad loc.) states that this is the same wilderness in which the Children of Israel journeyed for forty years. Does this allude to the countries of the nations in which Jews have lived during the long exile? Or could it be that the "wilderness of the nations" contains an allusion to the United Nations, where Israel is subjected to daily remonstrations??? Verse 36 teaches that the final redemption will be an event quite as great and cataclysmic as the redemption from Egypt. God will bring the people back under the discipline of the Covenant (v 37) and purge out the rebels (v 38). Verse 40 promises the restoration of the Temple services in Jerusalem. "And I shall be sanctified through you in the eyes of the nations" (v 41) – "Through you I will be sanctified in the eyes of the nations when they will see that My hand has ruled" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "This will be in the war of Gog and Magog" (RaDaK ad loc.). At the end of days Israel will look back over their history and understand the root cause of the suffering they endured in exile – their own rebellions (v 43) – and this new level of self-understanding will keep them bound to the service of God forever after.

Chapter 21 Following the prophecy of the final redemption in the closing section of the previous chapter (Ez. 20:40-44), our present chapter contains very harsh prophecies about the imminent calamity that was looming over Jerusalem as Ezekiel spoke: the destruction of the First Temple was only four years ahead. The first of these prophecies was once again heavily veiled in allegory: "Son of man, set your face towards the south and preach towards the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field of the south… Behold I will kindle a fire in you and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree…" (vv 2-3). The prophet himself complained that the people would mock him as a false prophet who simply made up his own clever riddles and parables (v 5, see RaDaK). Accordingly God immediately sent him another much more specific prophecy retroactively explaining the meaning of the previous allegory by depicting the coming horror of the sword that was be unleashed against the people of Jerusalem (vv 6-10). The "forest of the field" in the allegory (v 2) symbolized the Holy Temple (v 7), which would be plowed like a field (Rashi on v 2). The consumption by fire of "every green tree… and every dry tree" (v 3) meant that the sword would consume the righteous and the wicked indiscriminately (v 8). Moreover, "My sword shall go out of its sheath against ALL FLESH from the south to the north" (v 9) – "Because I know that the nations will rejoice over your calamity, I shall vent my fury against them and incite Nebuchadnezzar against them all" (Rashi ad loc.). In vv 11-12 the prophet is instructed to sigh and groan bitterly in front of his fellow exiles

in Babylon in order to dramatize the horror that was soon to afflict Jerusalem. The reason why he had to do this was because the people simply did not believe that Jerusalem could possibly fall. Even when Nebuchadnezzar was marching against her with his armies, Rashi (on v 28) states that the people did not believe he could succeed. Thus a new section of the prophecy in verses 13-22 vividly depicts in detail the sharpened, polished sword that was to be unleashed against Jerusalem. Nobody should imagine that God had prepared this sword for any other purpose than to chastise His "son" Israel (v 15). Vv 19ff foretell that the sword would be doubled and then strike a third time. Rashi (on v 19) explains that this alludes to how first Nebuchadnezzar's sword would strike Jerusalem, then the sword of the Ammonites would strike Gedaliah ben Ahikam (Jeremiah 40:14-41:2), and finally the sword would catch up with Yochanan ben Korach and the other remaining Judeans who sought refuge from the Babylonians in Egypt. In a further prophecy in vv 23ff, God tells Ezekiel to "appoint two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: the two of them shall come out of one land; and construct a signpost – construct it at the head of the way to the city". Here the prophet is once again commanded to take symbolic actions that would dramatize graphically what was destined to happen, which he foretells in vivid detail in vv 26ff. At the start of what was to become Nebuchadnezzar's final advance against Jerusalem, even the Babylonian king himself would at first not know which of two possible directions he would take, because just as Tzedekiah had rebelled against him, so had the Ammonites (RaDaK on v 33). The prophet foretells that Nebuchadnezzar would stand at the crossroads and instruct his diviners and augurs to practice their occult arts, firing flashing arrows, observing the Teraphim statues and examining the innards of sacrificed animals in order to discover which road would bring him success (v 26). Even Nebuchadnezzar was in grave doubt whether he could succeed in capturing Jerusalem – but forty-nine different signs and auguries consistently indicated that he would (see Rashi on v 28). The people of Jerusalem were doomed because of their sins (v 29) and those of her king (v 30), who would be stripped of his crown at the same time as the High Priest would be stripped of his turban with the destruction of the Temple (v 31). Even though Nebuchadnezzar decided to march first against Jerusalem, the Ammonites were not to escape the sword. When his auguries fell out against Jerusalem, the Ammonites rejoiced (Rashi on v 33) and their own augurs promised them that they were henceforth safe (Rashi on v 34), but this would prove to be false and Ezekiel concludes by prophesying that the time would come when God would vent His wrath upon them at the hands of the kings of Media (vv 35-7; see Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 22 The prophecies in this chapter detail the sins for which Jerusalem was to be destroyed. The catalog of sins begins with bloodshed, because "even though the city was full of idols and other abominations, the worst sin of all is the shedding of innocent blood" (RaDaK on v 2). "Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his might, have been in you to shed blood" (v 6) – "Whoever was stronger prevailed" (Rashi ad loc.). "This teaches that they would stretch out their hands and arms from under their sleeves and take bribes to corrupt justice" (Tanchuma). "They have made light of father and mother…" (v 7) – "All the abominations against which they were warned in Parshas KEDOSHIM (Leviticus ch 19) are enumerated here"

(Rashi on our verse). After all these sins, "Can your heart endure or can your hands be strong in the days when I shall deal with you???" (v 14). "Son of man: the House of Israel has become like dross" (v 18) – "Dross is the waste of silver. He compares them to metals that are all inferior to silver, as if to say that if they were all melted in the furnace they would all be accounted as dross and not as silver" (RaDaK ad loc.). Vv 19ff depict the coming calamity as a terrible burning and smelting of metals that will cause everything to melt down and loose its original form (see RaDaK on v 19). The concluding section of the prophecy in verses 23-31 gives further details the sins that were leading to this retribution. "Her priests have violated My Torah" (v 26) – "It was their duty to rebuke and teach the people and inform them about the law, but they did not do so. This is their violent robbery (HAMAS) – they stole Torah from those who needed to learn it" (Rashi ad loc.). "…and from My Sabbaths they have hidden their eyes" (v 26) – "Jerusalem was destroyed because they violated the Sabbath there" (Talmud Shabbos 119b). "And I sought for a man among them that should build up the wall and stand in the breach before Me for the sake of the land, so that I should not destroy it, but I did not find one!" (v 30). Had there been some true Tzaddikim, they could have saved the city! Let each of us take responsibility to strive to be the one who stands in the breach. In the merit of our TESHUVAH, may God spare us from all further troubles! Amen. * * * According to the Ashkenazi custom, Ezekiel 22:1-16 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Kedoshim, Leviticus 19:1-20:27 * * *

Chapter 23 This chapter's extended allegory about two lustful adulterous sisters comes to explain and justify the coming destruction of Jerusalem on account of the people's idolatry. The older (=GEDOLAH, literally "greater") sister is Oholah, representing the Ten Tribes (the majority of Israel) under the leadership of Ephraim in their capital city of Shomron. The name Oholah is from the root OHEL, a tent, alluding to the "tent" or temple erected by Jeraboam, first king of the breakaway Ten Tribes, for the worship of his golden calves, and also to the house of Baal later erected by Ahab (Rashi on v 4). The name OHOLAH signifies HER tent, i.e. hers and not HaShem's, for He had no share in it (RaDaK on v 4). The "junior" sister, representing Judah, whose capital was in Jerusalem, is called Oholivah, "because My tent (OHOLI), My sanctuary, was in her (BAH)" (Rashi ibid.). From their earliest youth the two sisters had acted like harlots (v 3). RaDaK explains that "Every expression of harlotry used in connection with the Assembly of Israel refers to idolatry. Even though the imagery is that of adultery and intercourse, this is all part of the allegory because she is compared to a harlot, but this is a metaphor for every kind of idolatry" (RaDaK on v 3). The infatuation with idolatry was more than a matter of simply bowing to graven images. Israel had a fatal fascination for foreign nations and their worldviews, cultures, styles and fashions (cf. vv 7, 12, 14-15), as if the YETZER RA (evil inclination) of the people whom God chose to be distinct and separate from all others necessarily craved for the diametrical opposite of separation, i.e. assimilation. The same craving to be like the nations has been manifest time and time again in Jewish history until the present, as in the case of those who sought to Hellenize during the Second Temple period, those in medieval Spain who embraced the philosophy and culture of the

host country, those in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe who idolized the French and German "enlightenment", and those today who have eyes only for secular culture, the punkier the better. Already in Egypt "their breasts were pressed and their virgin teats were handled" (v 3) – "That is to say, the Egyptians taught them the ways of their abominations" (Rashi ad loc.). Initially Oholah led the way, "and she doted on her lovers, on those of Assyria , her neighbors…" (v 5). Rashi (ad loc.) states that this alludes to the bribe paid by Menachem ben Gadi, one of the later kings of Israel, to Pol king of Assyria to help consolidate his kingship (II Kings 15:19). This indicates that political expediency was often a major factor in Israel's dalliance with the nations. "Neither did she abandon the lewd practices she brought from Egypt" (v 8) – "We find that Hosea ben Elah (king of Israel) sent emissaries to Sou king of Egypt" (II Kings 17:4; Rashi on our verse). In vengeance for the kingdom of Israel's "adultery" with foreign nations, her "Husband" – God – delivered her into the hands of her lovers (v 9) – "for Sennacherib (king of Assyria) came and took them into exile" (Rashi ad loc.). Even though the allegory tells the story of both sisters, its essential purpose is to explain the reason for the calamity that was to befall the "junior sister", Oholivah, Judah and Jerusalem, who had witnessed Oholah's "adultery" and the terrible retribution she suffered as a result yet failed to take heed of the moral, and indeed did even worse (vv 11ff). Thus Jerusalem too "doted on the children of Assyria" (v 12) – "This refers to King Ahaz, who sent to the king of Assyria to help him" (Rashi ad loc.). Furthermore, "She increased her harlotries, and she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Kasdim…" (v 14). In the eyes of the people of Jerusalem, the distant Kasdim (=Chaldeans, people of Babylon and surrounds) were much more exotic than the nearby Assyrians, and mere images and pictures of Chaldean culture were sufficient to cause the Jerusalemites to become infatuated. Likewise today, merely through the power of TV, film, magazine and internet images, millions of people throughout the world are hypnotized by the culture disseminated by Hollywood even though the vast majority have never physically set foot anywhere near Hollywood itself. The allurements of ancient Babylonian men's fashions as described in v 15 bring to mind how the Sophisticate in Rabbi Nachman's story of "The Simpleton and the Sophisticate" fell in love with the elegant hats and long pointed shoes of the shop clerks he saw in Warsaw . "And the children of Babylon came to her into the bed of love" (v 17) – "I say that this refers to Hezekiah, who rejoiced over the emissaries sent by Merodach Beladan (king of Babylon) and fed them at his table and showed them his entire treasure house (II Kings 20:13; Rashi on our verse). But after having been defiled by the Babylonians, "her mind was alienated from them" (v 17) – the later kings of Judah, Yeho-yakim and Tzedekiah, rebelled against the Babylonians (Rashi ad loc.). Yet this did not spell the end of Oholivah's adultery, for "she multiplied her harlotries, recalling the days of her youth… in Egypt" – Tzedekiah sent emissaries to Egypt seeking help (Ezekiel 17:15; Rashi on verse 19 of our present chapter). Verses 22ff explain that in retribution for Oholivah's long history of adultery God would arouse her lovers – the very Babylonians from whom she now recoiled in disgust – against her. "They shall take away your nose and your ears" (v 25). The primitive punishment of a harlot by disfiguring her face in this way is a metaphor for the abolition of the kingship and the priesthood (Rashi ad loc.). The nose, which protrudes from the face, alludes to the king, who is above all the people, while the ears allude to the high priest, the bells on whose coat are heard by the ears when he enters the Sanctuary

(RaDaK ad loc.). All this would be Oholivah's punishment for going after the nations in the way of her sister Oholah (v 31). Verses 36ff further elaborate on the sins of the two sisters. "…And blood is on their hands… and also they have caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass (through the fire) to them to be devoured" (v 37). While this verse overtly refers to the people's Molech-worship, the "blood on their hands" also alludes to their willful vain emission of seed with their hands, for which they did not repent (see Rashi ad loc.). On the very same day that they sinned, they had the gall to enter the Holy Temple, where they set up an idol (Rashi on v 38). Vv 40ff depict Oholivah as a harlot seated on her couch at a banquet with her "lovers". "Then I said that she was worn out with adulteries…" (v 43) – God thought that perhaps the people would eventually tire of their ways, but they did not, and there was therefore no other recourse than to stone them and cut them in pieces, kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses (v 47). This terrible retribution would be a lesson to Israel and all the nations, who would know that God rules the world, "and I shall cause lewdness to cease out of the land" (v 48).

Chapter 24 "And the word of HaShem came to me in the ninth year in the tenth month on the tenth of the month" (v 1). This was the ninth year of the reign of King Tzedekiah – two years before the destruction of the Temple. The tenth day of the month of Teves of that year marked the commencement of King Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem, an event that is commemorated annually until today with the Fast of the Tenth of Teves. There were no radio transmitters, phones, emails or anything of the kind when Ezekiel, located far away from Jerusalem in Babylon, received this prophecy about what was happening in the Holy City and was instructed to record the date. "The ultimate purpose of writing down the date was because the prophet was in Babylon yet he recorded what was taking place in Jerusalem, and when the people would hear from messengers that it was so, they would believe in him and stop paying attention to the words of the false prophets" (Metzudas David on v 2). "And utter a parable…" (v 3). We learned earlier that the inhabitants of Jerusalem had their own glib slogan that "Jerusalem is the pot and we are the meat" (Ezekiel 11:3), meaning "just as the meat does not leave the pot until it is completely cooked, so we shall not leave the city until we die naturally" (Rashi ibid.). Now God turns the same metaphor of the meat in the pot against the inhabitants of Jerusalem with a vengeance. Only now was the pot being put on the stove: this alludes to the fact that the siege was just beginning. "…And also pour water into it" (v 3): from the moment the water is first poured in, it takes time for the pot to boil. Similarly the siege would last for two long years before the bitter end (see Metzudas David ad loc.). "Gather the pieces of meat into it…" (v 4) – "Out of fear of the siege, all the heads and ministers had gathered inside the city" (Rashi). "Take the choice of the flock…" (v 5) – "these are the choicest of Israel " (Rashi). "Make it boil well" (v 5) – "After all of them are inside, the siege engines will be drawn up and war will come to the city" (Rashi). Verses 6-14 explain and elaborate the metaphor. "Woe to the bloody city, the pot whose filth is in it" (v 6). The "filth" is the scum that rises to the surface as a pot of meat comes to the boil, but here, instead of being removed, the filth stays within – i.e. the sinners in

the city would not leave (Rashi). Instead, they would be burned up inside it (see vv 11-12). "For her blood is in her midst, she set it upon the bare rock…" (v 7). Our sages interpret verses 7-8 as alluding to the blood of the prophet Zechariah son of Yehoyada, which was spilled on the marble floor of the Temple Courtyard when he was killed on the instructions of King Yo'ash (II Chronicles 24:20-22) and which seethed incessantly in a mute call for vengeance until the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar's captain, Nevuzaradan, to destroy the Temple (Gittin 57b; P'sikta; see KNOW YOUR BIBLE on II Chronicles 24). The pot was to boil and boil until all the contents dried up and burned on the fire in order that "its impurity may be molten and its filth may be consumed" (vv 10-11) – only thus would the sins of the people be expiated. "Because I have purged you but you were not purged" (v 13) – God had sent prophets to rebuke the people but they did not heed them (see Rashi ad loc.).

"I AM TAKING AWAY THE DELIGHT OF YOUR EYES" (v 15) A new prophecy begins in verse 15 with God informing Ezekiel that He would take away "the delight of your eyes", i.e. the prophet's wife (see v 18), yet paradoxically, the prophet was instructed to exhibit no signs of mourning. He delivered his prophecy to the people in the morning; his wife died that very evening, and the following morning he acted quite unlike any mourner (v 18) in order to needle the people into asking him the reason for his strange behavior. The prophet's explanation to the people is given in vv 20-24: Ezekiel's loss of his wife represented the coming destruction of the Temple – for "Whenever a man loses his first wife, it is as if the Holy Temple was destroyed in his days" (Sanhedrin 22a). Yet just as Ezekiel exhibited no signs of mourning over his wife, so the remnant of Judah who were in Babylon at the time of the destruction of the Temple would show no outward signs of mourning over it. Rashi explains that the reason for this was because there would be nobody to comfort the people since there would not be a single one among them who would not be a mourner, and signs of mourning are only displayed in a place where there is someone to give comfort. Moreover, the people would be afraid to shed tears openly in the presence of the Babylonians in whose midst they lived (Rashi on v 22). Many important laws relating to mourning practices are derived from verse 17, which details the usual signs of mourning that Ezekiel was NOT to exhibit in this case. Instead, he was to "bind" his "turban" (PE-EIR) as usual. The PE-EIR refers to the Tefilin, which a mourner does not wear (Berachos 11a). Ezekiel was told: "Put your shoes on your feet", whereas a mourner is forbidden to wear shoes (Mo'ed Katan 15b). Ezekiel was told: "Do not cover your lips", but in earlier times, mourners would swathe their head in grief (ibid. 15a). Ezekiel was told: "And do not eat the bread of men", whereas a mourner is fed the first "meal of consolation" by his friends and neighbors (ibid. 27b). In the final section of this prophecy (vv 25-7) God tells Ezekiel that on the day when a fugitive would arrive in Babylon to break the news that the Temple had been destroyed, "your mouth shall be opened and you shall speak and be dumb no more" (contrary to His telling him in Ez. 3:26 to be dumb) because then the people would see that everything had happened exactly as the prophet had foretold long before, and the truth of his

prophecy would be vindicated.

Chapter 25 Ezekiel's grim prophecy in the previous chapter (Ezekiel 24) about the coming destruction of Jerusalem was specifically dated to the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem, which started on the tenth day of the tenth month (Teves) in the ninth year of the reign of King Tzedekiah (Ez. 24:1) and continued for two years until the destruction of the Temple and the city and the exile of its surviving inhabitants. Since Judah under David, Solomon and a number of its later kings had been the dominant power from the Nile to the Euphrates, the prospect of its imminent destruction and humiliation elicited great joy among the peoples in the neighboring territories of Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia as well as in the great maritime city of Tyre to the north of Israel and in Egypt to its south. Their relish increased as they watched Nebuchadnezzar tighten his stranglehold on Jerusalem. The prophecies in the coming eight chapters of Ezekiel (chs 25-32), which date from the period of the siege Jerusalem, all deal with the destined destruction of the above-mentioned nations in retribution for their gloating over the fate of Judah. The prophecies in our present chapter (Ezekiel 25) are directed against Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia, while Tyre and its ruler are the subjects of the prophecies in chs 26-28. These are then followed by a series of prophecies against Egypt in chs 29-32. Ezekiel's prophecies against the nations parallel the prophecies about the coming retribution against the nations contained in Isaiah (chs 13-16, 19, 21, 23, 25 & 34 etc.) and Jeremiah (chs 46-51). A comment in the Midrash may shed some light on the complex issue of whether these prophecies apply only to the specified nations at that time, who may since have simply perished from the face of the earth, or whether they apply to peoples existing until today, either in the same territories or elsewhere. "R. Huna said in the name of R. Acha: All the empires (MALCHUYOS) are called by the name of ASHUR (Assyria) on account of the fact that they have become wealthy (misASHRos) at the expense of Israel. R. Yose bar Chaninah said: All the empires are called by the name of NINIVEH on account of the fact that they took their beauty (misNA'Os) from Israel. R. Yose bar Chalaphta said: All the empires are called by the name of MITZRAIM (' Egypt ') because they oppress (METZIROS) Israel " (Bereishis Rabbah 17:4). Biblical Egypt, Niniveh, Ashur and Tzur etc. were the archetypal embodiment of certain characteristics that in later history became embodied in other nations (garbs). This while Ezekiel and the other prophets were without doubt on one level referring specifically to these nations as they were in their own times, since all their prophecies came through holy spirit, they simultaneously relate to nations that emerged later on embodying the same archetypal traits. The "sister" nations of Ammon and Moab were close relatives of the Israelites since their founding father, Lot, was a nephew of Abraham, who saved him from captivity at the hands of the four kings (Genesis ch 14). Thus their joy over the destruction of the Temple and the land of Israel (verses 3 and 8 of our present chapter) was an expression of rank ingratitude. Edom (=Seir) was an even closer relative of Israel since Edom's founding father was Esau, Jacob's brother, and thus when the Edomites handed fugitive Judeans over to Nebuchadnezzar's armies, it was a betrayal of their brotherly ties. Only through the destruction of their peoples and their land would these nations know that HaShem rules (vv 7, 11 and 14).

Chapter 26 "And it came to pass in the eleventh year on the first day of the month…" (Ezekiel 26:1). This was the eleventh year of the reign of King Tzedekiah. It was in this year that the Temple was destroyed. "The prophet does not reveal to us in which month he received this prophecy, but since he left it unsaid, it would appear that he is referring to the month in which the destruction took place, i.e. the month of Av" (RaDaK ad loc.; cf. Rashi & Metzudas David ad loc.). The prophecy in this chapter is the first in a series of prophecies running until ch 28 v 19 directed against TZOR, which on the level of PSHAT (the plain meaning) refers to the Lebanese sea-faring city-state of Tyre, which at its height was the center of a highly prosperous maritime empire stretching from one end of the Mediterranean Sea to the other. Yet at the same time as we read these prophecies as relating to Tyre, we should also bear in mind the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer that "every place in the Bible text where TZOR is spelled CHASSER ('defective', i.e. without the letter VAV in the middle), it refers to the kingdom of Edom, while every TZOR that is spelled MALEH ('full', i.e. WITH the VAV) refers to the city of Tyre" (Tanchuma Va-era ch 13; see KNOW YOUR BIBLE Isaiah ch 23). The root TZAR, without a VAV, means a trouble or oppressor, while the root TZOR with a VAV means to form or create. In the Hebrew text of Ezekiel's prophecies against TZOR, the name is sometimes spelled CHASSER (26:2, 26:3, 26:4, 26:7, 27:2, 28:2; 29:18) and sometimes MALEH (27:3, 27:8, 27:12). Verses 7ff in our present chapter specifically refer to the destruction of TZOR – i.e. Tyre – at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. Yet rabbinic commentary on TZOR's exclamation of glee at the destruction of Jerusalem in verse 2 – "Aha! I shall be filled with her that is laid waste" – refers it to the glee of Rome over the downfall of Israel . "Rav Nachman said: Initially, when they brought wine libations from Judah , their wine never became sour… but now it is the wine of the Edomites that does not become sour" (Pesachim 42b). "If someone tells you that both Caesarea (the Roman colonial capital of Judea) and Jerusalem are in ruins or that both are inhabited, do not believe him. But if he says that Caesarea is in ruins and Jerusalem is inhabited or that Caesarea is inhabited and Jerusalem is in ruins, believe him, as it says, 'I shall be filled with her that is laid waste' – If one is full, the other is in ruins, if one is in ruins, the other is full" (Megillah 6a). The implied see-saw linkage between the destinies of Israel and Edom-Rome is seen as the fulfillment of the Biblical prophecy about the descendants of Jacob and Esau that "the one people shall be stronger than the other people" (Genesis 25:23, see Rashi ad loc.). Verses 1-6 of our present chapter are an overall introduction announcing the coming destruction of TZOR on account of their glee over the destruction of Jerusalem. Verses 7-14 depict the destruction of Tyre at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. Verses 15-18 depict the horror that the downfall of TZOR would evoke among the other nations, who would understand that if such a thing could befall such a mighty world power, they were all imperiled. Verses 19-21 foretell the bitter end of TZOR, which will finally be wiped off the face of the earth. "And I shall bring you down with them that descend into the pit, to the people of old time" (verse 20). Those who "descend into the pit" are those who go down to Gehennom, and the "people of old time" are all the other nations who have been there from before (Rashi ad loc.). "And I shall set up my ornament in the land of living" (v 20) – "And I shall give beauty to Jerusalem" (Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 27 "Now you, son of man, take up a lamentation for TZOR…" (v 1). Ezekiel's prophecy in the previous chapter about the coming downfall of Tyre is now followed in the present chapter with an elaborate allegory about the calamity that was to befall this most successful ancient commercial superpower. Tyre was a heavily fortified Phoenician island city situated "in the heart of the seas" approximately 3.5 miles from the Lebanese mainland. A line of mainland suburbs provided timber and water for the mother city, which amassed enormous wealth from its maritime trade. As we see from our present chapter, every kind of exotic luxury product poured into Tyre from all parts of the then-known world. The locations of her many different suppliers and trading partners as mentioned in this chapter stretch from Persia (v 10) and Media (= Kilmad v 23) in the east to Greece (v 13), Italy (=Elisha v 7) and Germany (= Togarmah, "Germamia" v 14) in the west, and from S. Russia (=Meshech, cf. Muscovy, v 13) in the north to the Red Sea coastal regions of Arabia (v 21) and Africa (Phut=Libya? Somalia? v 10, Sheva= Ethiopia v 23) in the south. Tyre's great wealth and strength derived from her strategic position with "your borders in the heart of the sea" (v 4). "Because Tyre was situated in the sea and was destroyed in her place, Ezekiel depicts her allegorically as a most magnificent ship which was overloaded with cargo and was sunk by an east wind (see v 26), and because of the weight of the ship the sailors were unable to save it" (Metzudas David on v 5; cf. Rashi on v 26). The prophesied downfall of Tyre was to come about because "you have said, I am of perfect beauty" (verse 3). "Until now, everyone used to say that Jerusalem was 'of perfect beauty, the joy of all the earth' (Lamentations 2:15), but now (after the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar) you arrogantly say, 'I am of perfect beauty'" (Rashi ad loc.). In verses 4-25 of our present chapter, the prophet paints a detailed picture of the exceptional wealth and glory that led to Tyre's swelling pride, providing us with an abundance of fascinating information about the sophistication of trade and commerce in Biblical times. We should not think for a moment that the people of those times were simple and primitive. "The rowers brought you into great waters: the EAST wind has broken you in the heart of the seas" (v 26). Tyre became subject to Nebuchadnezzar, who came from the east and to whom she paid tribute, after which she fell under the power of Persia, also in the east. In verses 27ff Ezekiel prophesies that all of Tyre's wealth together with her sailors and men of war would "fall into the heart of the seas" (i.e. they would fall prey to other powers) causing horror and consternation among all her former trading partners and allies, who would tear out their hair and rend their garments in bitter mourning over the fearful destruction of such a glorious, prosperous world power on account of her overweening arrogance.

Chapter 28 After having addressed the CITY of TZOR in the previous chapter, the prophet is now told to turn to her RULER, the "Prince of TZOR", who was the very epitome of the maritime empire's arrogance. "Because your heart is lifted up and you have said 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of God in the heart of the seas', but you are a man and not a god, yet you set

your heart as the heart of God" (v 2). According to tradition, the "Prince of TZOR" is none other than Hiram king of Tyre , who was a friend of King David and collaborated with King Solomon in the building of the Temple in Jerusalem , and who is said to have lived for a thousand years! We learn from verse 15 of the present chapter that initially, "you were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created until iniquity was found in you". To have been a friend of the righteous King David and to have played a key role in the building of Solomon's Temple, Hiram must indeed have been a most exceptional CHASSID UMOS HA-OLAM (a saint of the nations of the world). Indeed our sages said that Hiram was one of thirteen who did not taste the taste of death (together with Enoch, Eliezer servant of Abraham, Methuselah, Eved Melech HaKushi, Batia daughter of Pharaoh, Serah daughter of Asher, the three sons of Korach, Elijah, Mashiach and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi – Yalkut Shimoni). Hiram is listed as one of nine who entered the Garden of Eden while they were still alive (Avos d'Rabbi Nathan). But the same source cites the view that Hiram was removed from there and his place was taken by R. Yehoshua ben Levi (Avos d'Rabbi Nathan). "You have been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering…" (v 13). This verse lists ten different kinds of precious stones, and is the foundation of the midrashic teaching that when God brought Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden, He made him ten CHUPOS (marriage canopies). This midrash (which conceals much more than it reveals) is based upon the style of DRUSH known as "understanding one thing from another". The ten canopies are not mentioned directly in the Biblical text in Genesis, but since Ezekiel reveals the adornments enjoyed by Hiram in Eden, the midrash deduces that these were the adornments that God brought for Adam and Eve. The above-mentioned view that Hiram was removed from Eden is also expressed in a lengthy midrash in Yalkut Shimoni giving a detailed description of an enormous phantasmagorical "sky-scraper" structure of seven "firmaments" that he built out of steel, glass and other materials, plating it with gold and studding it with precious stones, in order to provide a fitting throne for himself. This description brings to mind many modern expressions of the same kind of arrogance, such as the late lamented World Trade Center. The midrash concludes: "Hiram became arrogant because he had sent cedars for the Temple. The Holy One blessed be He said, I will destroy My House so that Hiram will not be able to vaunt himself over Me. What was his end? The Holy One blessed be He brought up against him Nebuchadnezzar, who raped his mother in front of his eyes and took him down from his throne and used to cut off two finger-breadths of his flesh every day and dip them in vinegar and make him eat them until he died a horrible death. And what happened to his palaces? The Holy One blessed be He tore apart the earth and hid them away for the righteous in the world to come" (Yalkut Shimoni). In the words of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (the "ARI"): "The matter of Hiram king of Tyre's arrogance arouses great wonder, but it may be understood in conjunction with teachings about Pharaoh king of Egypt, who was also very arrogant and said he was a god (see Ezekiel 29:3). Now all pride is in the neck (GARON, 'throat'), as it says, 'the daughters of Zion …walk with outstretched necks' (Isaiah 3:16). Now Pharaoh and Hiram are both rooted in the husks (KELIPOS) that have a hold on the neck of Zeir Anpin. This is why Pharaoh is called king of Egypt (MITZRAYIM) because Egypt is the "throat", which is very narrow (TZAR) indeed… Likewise TZOR is from the same root as MATZOR, like MITZRAYIM. The letters of Pharaoh rearranged make up the word OREPH (back of the neck), while the gematria of HIRAM is the same as that of GARON (with the kolel), because Hiram is on the side of the throat (the front of the neck) and not at the back (OREPH)… All the husks that have their hold at the throat – causing constricted

consciousness (MOCHIN D'KATNUS) – are greater than all the other husks, and their level is very great. This is why Pharaoh and Hiram, who both have their hold here, were very exalted and had the arrogance to turn themselves into gods. Pharaoh said, 'I do not know HASHEM' because he had no hold on the level of the expanded consciousness of HAVAYAH, and likewise Hiram said, 'I have sat in the seat of God (ELOKIM)' because his hold was on the level of ELOKIM, i.e. in the 'throat' but not in the head on the level of Havayah" (Sha'ar HaPsukim on Ezekiel ch 28). Verses 20-24 prophesy the destruction of Tyre 's northern neighbor of Sidon , which would remove a pricking briar from the side of the House of Israel. (The "pricks" were well felt in Israel during the 2006 Lebanon war, when many rockets fired by Hizbullah forces from Sidon caused considerable damage.) The downfall of Israel's proud neighbors will have the see-saw effect of facilitating the return of the House of Israel from their exile among the nations (vv 25-26). Speedily in our times! Amen.

Chapter 29 All the prophecies in the four chapters from the beginning of our present chapter until the end of chapter 32 relate to the downfall of Egypt at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar some years after the destruction of the First Temple, and to the final downfall of Egypt together with the other nations at the end of days. Egypt was the archetypal oppressor of Israel, and her downfall marks the redemption of Israel . Thus the last two verses of the previous chapter speaking of the ingathering of Israel from the nations (Ez. 28:25-26) together with verses 1-21 of our present chapter prophesying the downfall of Egypt are appropriate reading as the Haftara of Parshas Va-era (Ex. 6:2-9:35) recounting the destruction of Egypt through the plagues at the time of the Exodus. Ezekiel's opening prophecy in this series is specifically dated to "the tenth year in the tenth month on the twelfth of the month" (verse 1). This was the tenth year of the reign of King Tzedekiah and just over one year since the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. This prophecy was received BEFORE the prophecies against Tyre in the previous three chapters, which are dated to "the eleventh year", the year of the destruction of the Temple (Ez. 26:1). Thus we see that all these prophecies are not written in our text in the strict chronological order in which they were received. Rather, the series of prophecies against Tyre were arranged together because of their thematic unity, and likewise the prophecies against Egypt. From the quotation from the ARI Shaar HaPsukim cited in our commentary on Ezekiel chapter 28 about the kabbalistic conceptual connection between Hiram of Tzor and Pharaoh of Mitzrayim, it is clear why the series about Tyre and that about Egypt come one after the other. "Son of man: set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt … the great crocodile that crouches in the midst of his streams…" (v 2-3). "Because the entire greatness of Egypt and all her abundance were on account of the channels of the Nile, the prophet accordingly metaphorically refers to her king as the crocodile and to her people as the fish of the river" (Rashi ad loc.). "…who has said, My river is my own and I have made it for myself…" (v 3) – "I have no need for the ELYONIM (the supreme powers of God), because I have my river which provides all my needs" (Rashi). "…and I have made it for myself" (ibid.) – "through my own might and wisdom I have magnified my greatness and rule" (Rashi). Rashi here concisely brings out the essence of Pharaoh's idolatry of himself, his prosperity and power, believing that as long as his control over his natural resources was intact, nothing

could bring him down. The wealthy elite that own and control much of the world today apparently think the same way. "But I will put hooks in your jaws…" (v 4). "On account of his having represented him as a crocodile – which is considered to be a fish – he uses an expression relating to the way a fish is caught by putting hooks in its jaws to haul it out of the water" (Metzudas David ad loc.). "…and I will cause the fish of your streams to stick to your scales" (v 4) – "When they haul you up out of the river, your people will also be taken up out of the river – the fish metaphorically represent the people of Egypt, the ministers, horsemen, warriors as well as the poorer sections of the population, all of whom would be swept away" (RaDaK ad loc.). The essential reason for the coming downfall of Egypt was "because you have been a STAFF OF REED to the House of Israel …" (verse 6). "Several times they relied on them in the days of Sennacherib and in the days of Nebuchadnezzar but it did not avail them, like a soft reed that does not support one who leans on it" (Rashi ad loc.). RaDaK explains further: "The Egyptians promised Israel that they would save them from the Babylonians but they were unable to do so… as it says in Jeremiah 37:5 recounting how Pharaoh did march out from Egypt causing the Babylonians, when they heard, to go up from Jerusalem, but Pharaoh returned to Egypt and the Babylonians went back to capture and destroy Jerusalem. Thus not only did the Egyptians not support Israel but they actually harmed them because their trust in Egypt led them to rebel against the king of Babylon… and thus Ravshakeh (Sennacherib's lieutenant addressing those under Hezekiah who put their trust in Egypt) said, 'You have trusted in this broken STAFF OF REED'" (II Kings 18:21; RaDaK on our verse). This first in the series of prophecies about the coming destruction of Egypt does not specify who would bring the sword that would wreak the havoc there, which we only learn in the next prophecy (verses 17ff of our present chapter). The focus in this first prophecy is on the devastation itself, which would spread from one end of the country to the other (v 10ff). This would last for a period of forty years (v 11ff). Our commentators explain the deep thread of divine justice that underlies this forty-year timeframe. "Forty-two years of famine were decreed in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41) corresponding to the three times that seven bad cows and seven bad ears of corn are written in the text – once when Pharaoh saw his dream, once when he narrated it to Joseph, and a third time when Joseph explained to him what the seven empty bad cows and seven empty ears of corn were – a total of forty-two years of famine. But in the time of Jacob they suffered only two years of famine, because when Jacob came down to Egypt the famine ceased. The remaining forty years were exacted from them now" (Rashi on v 11). "And it was in the twenty-seventh year…" (verse 17). This cannot mean the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Tzedekiah since he reigned for only eleven years. All our commentators explain on the basis of the ancient historical Midrash "Seder Olam" that the "twenty-seventh year" was the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, i.e. eight years after the destruction of the Temple and the death of Tzedekiah, which was when Egypt was delivered into the hands of Babylon (Rashi, Metzudas David, RaDaK). Thus the series of prophecies beginning with that at the end of the next chapter (Ezekiel 30:20-26), which is dated to "the eleventh year" – i.e. of the reign of Tzedekiah, the year of the destruction of the Temple – were received BEFORE this prophecy from Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-seventh year. Thus again we see that these prophecies are not written in the book in the strict

chronological order in which they were received but rather are arranged thematically to bring out the prophet's message with maximum effect. Having prophesied in general about the destruction of Egypt and its reason in the earlier sections of our present chapter (vv 1-16), Ezekiel now "zooms in" and tells how Nebuchadnezzar would do the work, receiving the pillage of Egypt as his "reward" for his "great work" in destroying TZUR (vv17-21), after which, in the prophecy in the first part of the next chapter (Ez. 30:1-19), Ezekiel details the devastation in Egypt city by city. Then in the prophecies that follow from Ezekiel 30:20 until the end of the series about Egypt at the end of Chapter 32, he returns to give more of a "wide angle" perspective on the significance of the downfall of Egypt in comparison with the downfall of other great nations. "Son of man: Nebuchadnezzar made his army labor hard against Tzor… yet he had no wages, nor his army" (v 18). "The way of those who besiege a city for a long time is that they exert themselves and exhaust themselves carrying great loads of wood and stones. Nebuchadnezzar captured Tzor in the twenty-third year of his reign, as we find in Seder Olam… but after he took all its plunder the sea rose and swept it away from them, because it had been decreed against Tzor and her booty that they should be lost at sea" (Rashi ad loc.). Having read Ezekiel's prophecies about the downfall of Tzor in the previous chapters (Ezekiel chs 26-28), learning now how Nebuchadnezzar was sent to destroy it but could only receive his "reward" by plundering Egypt provides us with a fascinating insight into how the Almighty plays off one nation against another in order to bring about His inscrutable purpose in His providential government of human history. Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Egypt would be her retribution for having been a broken reed for Israel, and the decree against Egypt would spell redemption for Israel . "ON THAT DAY I shall cause the horn of the House of Israel to put out roots" (v 21). Rashi comments on this verse that he has neither heard nor found any satisfactory explanation of how the fall of Egypt would bring forth roots for Israel, and refers the phrase "on that day" back to verse 13 which says that God would gather in the Egyptians from their exile "at the end of forty years". Rashi explains that the end of forty years coincided with the short-lived reign of Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon. This was when the star of Persia began to rise, and with Persia's destruction of Babylon not only was Egypt freed from subjection to Babylon but the roots were planted for the rebuilding of the Temple, because Cyrus of Persia authorized the first wave of Judean exiles to return to Jerusalem under Zerubavel.

Chapter 30 Verses 1-9 of this chapter wail over the coming destruction of Egypt and her various neighbors and allies at the hands of God's MAL'ACHIM – "agents" and "messengers" (v 9), the executors of His inscrutable plans. Verses 10-19 detail Nebuchadnezzar's systematic destruction of Egypt, its population and their idols city by city. A new prophecy begins in verse 20, "in the eleventh year" – i.e. of the reign of Tzedekiah, the year in which the Temple was destroyed. This prophecy, running to the end of the chapter, "zooms out" from the detailed description of the devastation of Egypt into a more general summary of the unhealable breach of Pharaoh's power at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, showing how God raises up and God brings down, "and they shall know that I am HaShem".

Chapter 31

The prophecy in this chapter, which continues the series about the coming downfall of Egypt, was received by Ezekiel in Babylon "in the eleventh year in the third month on the first of the month" (v 1) – i.e. at the beginning of the month of Sivan in the eleventh year of the reign of King Tzedekiah, little more than two months before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem on 9 Av. The prophet challenges Pharaoh, asking him: "To whom do you think you compare in your greatness?" – "i.e. in aggrandizing yourself before God" (v 2 and Rashi ad loc.). For the empire of Assyria achieved even greater heights than Egypt , yet God cast Assyria down. If so, why should Pharaoh think he was any better and could survive? From the perspective of today's world of mega-superpowers, we may tend to look back on ancient Assyria, which had no cars, airplanes, computers, satellites and other marvels of modern technology, as little more than a short-lived puny forerunner of later empires. We should therefore bear in mind that in its time, Sennacherib's empire comprised the greater part of the known world, extending from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean across the entire Middle East deep into central Asia, while its capital of Nineveh was legendary for its grandeur and sophistication. The prophet allegorically depicts Assyria as a great cedar. "The waters made it great, the deep set it up on high…" (v 4). Targum renders: "It abounded with nations, it was mighty through its allies; it subjected the kingdoms under its rule and put its government over all the countries of the world". Rashi on verse 6 hints why God granted Assyria such power. "For what reason did Assyria attain greatness? Because Ashur (the founder of Nineveh ) refrained from collaborating in the plan of those in the generation of the dispersal (i.e. to build the Tower of Babel ), as it says, 'Ashur left that land' (Gen. 10:11), when all the people in the world joined together in one network to rebel against God… Furthermore, Ashur listened to the voice of the prophet Jonah and repented from the robbery in their hands". In other words, Assyria retained a certain moral level in virtue of which it attained greatness. Nevertheless, Assyria fell into the sin of pride and was therefore cast down: "You have lifted yourself up in height… and his heart is lifted up in his height. I have therefore delivered him into hand of the mighty one of the nations…" (vv 10-11). Sennacherib had arrogantly supposed that after his other successes over idolatrous nations he would be able to conquer God's city of Jerusalem, but his armies were miraculously wiped out overnight. Assyria still maintained its empire for more than a century after Sennacherib's defeat, but was finally overthrown by "the mighty one of the nations", i.e. Nebuchadnezzar, who had conquered Nineveh in the first year of his reign (Megillah 11b), twenty-seven years before his coming conquest of Egypt. Verses 12-13 allegorically depict the destruction of Assyria and all those who took refuge in the shadow of this "mighty tree" – i.e. its allies and tributaries. The purpose of its terrible downfall was to teach mankind God's lesson, "…so that none of all the trees of the waters (=the other nations) should exalt themselves in their height… for they are all delivered to death, to the nether parts of the earth in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit" (v 14). In the words of Metzudas David (ad loc.): "For all of them are destined to die and descend to the nether world, i.e. the grave… Since all of them are going to die, what point is there in swelling with arrogance over their great worldly power and wealth?" "I made the nations shake at the sound of his fall, with those that descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water were

comforted in the nether parts of the world" (v 16). Everything in this world reflects and alludes to the upper worlds, and thus the various nations in this world and their guardian angels correspond to the "trees" in the supernal Garden of Eden and are called this in the verse in keeping with the allegory of Ashur as the mighty cedar. The fall of this great tree and the descent of Ashur into hell "was a comfort to the other wealthy and mighty who had already died and were in their graves when they saw that even the mighty Ashur finally met with the same fate. For it is the way of a person who sees the same trouble that befell him strike even those greater than himself to feel comforted" (Metzudas David on v 16). The moral of the allegory about the fall of Assyria was directed against Pharaoh, who was to be defeated by Nebuchadnezzar eight years after this prophecy, but who apparently still believed he was invincible. "To whom do you think you compare in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden?" (v 18). Pharaoh and his multitude would suffer the same fate as all the other proud and mighty powers of this world and end up in the pit among the slain uncircumcised nations.

Chapter 32 The two prophecies in vv 1-16 and vv 17-32 of this chapter were received by Ezekiel in Babylon "in the twelfth year in the twelfth month" – i.e. in the month of Adar of the year following the destruction of the Temple, on the first and fifteenth of the month respectively. We see that days like Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon, and the 15 th Adar, which was later to become the festival of Shushan Purim, are particularly auspicious for spiritual ascent and prophecy. The message of these prophecies is directed against Pharaoh king of Egypt. "You thought yourself to be a lion among the nations, but you are like a crocodile in the waters" (verse 2). "You imagined that in relation to the other nations you are like a lion against a flock of sheep, but it is not so, because you are like a crocodile in the waters who has no strength except in his own place in the waters, but the moment he comes up onto the dry land he dies. Likewise, you have power only in your own land" (Metzudas David ad loc.). In other words, had Pharaoh been content with a policy of isolationism without trying to interfere in international affairs, he could have survived, but because he sought to wield influence throughout the world (as when Pharaoh Necho campaigned in the time of King Josiah to try to contain Assyria and when Pharaoh in Tzedekiah's time tried to campaign against Nebuchadnezzar) he came to grief. (Similarly, many Americans today are coming to the conclusion that their country would be more successful if it sought to play less of a role internationally, and that its role as global policeman is endangering its very survival.) Verses 3ff depict the coming fall of Egypt. "And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heaven and make its stars dark" (v 7) – "All who hear what has befallen you will mourn and be astonished, for each one will be fearful for himself saying that the destroyer will also succeed against us" (Rashi ad loc.). The final prophecy in this series against Egypt opens in verse 17. It is a lament on the multitude of Egypt, who are destined to be cast down to the very depths of the earth with all the other nations that have and will go down into the pit. "Son of man: wail for the multitude of Egypt and cast them down, her together with the daughters of mighty nations, to the nether parts of the earth with them that go down into the pit" (v 17). It is the prophet himself who is commanded to cast them down through the power of his words. "Prophesy against him and against all those who deny the Torah, who will go down to the pit of destruction. Here the Holy One blessed be He showed

Ezekiel that all those who deny the Torah go down to Gehennom" (Rashi ad loc.). This concluding prophesy against Egypt is more than merely the continuation of Ezekiel's prophesies about the fall of Egypt at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. It is in the form of an allegory of the Egyptians being taken down to hell and laid in their graves in a certain order or arrangement amidst the various other nations in hell, including Ashur (vv 22-23), Eilam (vv 24-25), Meshech and Tuval (vv 26-28), Edom (v 29) and the "princes of the north" (v 30). A common factor among these nations is that they are punished in this way because "they struck terror in the land of the living" (vv 23, 24 & 27) – i.e. they brought about destruction in the Land of Israel" (Rashi on v 23). In other words, all the nations mentioned are among the persecutors of Israel. The historical roles of Ashur (which exiled the Ten Tribes) and Edom (who destroyed the Second Temple) require no commentary. Eilam not only sought to capture Abraham's nephew Lot, ancestor of Mashiach (Genesis 14:1) but also aided the Babylonians in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, coming with them to harm Israel (RaDaK on Jeremiah 49:24). Meshech ("Muscovy", Russia) and Tuval are nations under the leadership of Gog king of Magog who will come up against Israel at the end of days (Ezekiel 38:1). In the words of the Biblical commentator MALBIM (Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Weiser, 1809-79) , on verse 17 of our present chapter: "This prophecy is very opaque indeed and it is not known what it comes to teach us, but earlier commentators have already commented that this is a future prophesy about the end of days in the time of the war of Gog and Magog, when all the nations will gather against Jerusalem… When the end comes, after Israel will already have settled in the land of Israel, the nations are destined to gather and capture Jerusalem, and Gog, prince of Meshech and Tuval will come from the lands of the north and the west, where the people are uncircumcised and called Edom, while Meshech and Tuval are from among the children of Japheth who dwell in Europe. And there (in Ez. Ch 38) he says that Paras (Persia) Kush (E. Africa? Pakistan???) and Phut ( Somalia ?) and Beith Togarma ( Turkey ?) will come with them, all of these being circumcised and adherents of the religion of the Ishmaelites. They will gather with the children of Edom to conquer the land from the hands of Israel, but when they arrive, turmoil will break out among them and each one will make war against his brothers, i.e. Edom and Ishmael will fight against each other because their beliefs are separate, and there God will judge them with the sword and with blood. Here the prophet starts by enumerating Egypt, Ashur and Eilam, who adhere to the religion of Ishmael and are today circumcised. Afterwards he enumerates Meshech, Tuval and Edom and their kings, and the 'princes of the north', all of whom are uncircumcised. The war will be between them. The main downfall will start among the Egyptians, who are close to the land of Israel. They will come at the head and fall. Then the Assyrians and Persians will come to exact vengeance on their behalf and then all of them – both sides – will fall." "For I have struck My terror into the Land of the Living" (v 32) – "I will put the fear of Me in the Land of Israel, and the fear of man will no longer be put among them" (Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 33 THE WATCHMAN Following his lengthy series of prophecies against Israel's various oppressors (chapters 25-32), Ezekiel now addresses his own people, who after losing their Temple and going into exile among the nations would only merit redemption and restoration through

Teshuvah, repentance. The prophecy in verses 1-20 of our present chapter is a teaching about Teshuvah and how God deals with sinners and tzaddikim. Verses 1-6 set forth the allegory of the watchman, who has the obligation to warn the people of a coming war. As long as he sounds his shofar of alarm, he has fully discharged his duty, and if the people of the city fail to heed his message and take appropriate precautions, they themselves bear full responsibility for all the harm that befalls them. Verses 7ff explain the allegory. The watchman is a metaphor for the prophet, who when he hears from the mouth of God about impending retribution (="war") has the obligation to warn the people in His name, in order that they should repent (see Metzudas David on v 7). "The sound of the shofar is the word of the prophet, as it says, 'Raise your voice like a shofar and tell My people their sin'" (Isaiah 58:1; RaDaK on v 7). If the prophet does indeed warn the people, he has fulfilled his duty, but if he fails to warn them he will bear the responsibility for their failure to repent and will be held to account. However, the people had fallen into despair, and did not believe in the efficacy of repentance. "Thus you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins are upon us and we are wasting away in them, how should we then live?" (verse 10). Metzudas David explains what the people were saying: "In truth we have committed sins and transgressions and we are wasting away because of our troubles, which have not come upon us for nothing. But how can we live – how can we be saved from destruction? – because they did not believe that Teshuvah would help, and it was as if they were saying that therefore they would continue sinning, since they were lost anyway" (Metzudas David on v 10). In answer to the people's despair, verses 11ff reveal God's ways of judgment, teaching that repentance ALWAYS avails the sinner. Righteousness brings LIFE to a person in this world and the next, while sin brings DEATH to a person in this world and the next. God is not cruelly vindictive, and has no desire for the sinner to die but rather that he should repent of his ways and live. God's "arm" is always outstretched to receive the penitent sinner. On the other hand, even one who has spent a lifetime in the pursuit of righteousness is not allowed to become complacent. "The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him on the day of his transgression…" (v 11). God will exact retribution from a wayward tzaddik who gives himself permission to sin in the belief that he can somehow "afford" it since any sin should be outweighed by his many past merits. "Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, Even if a person was a complete tzaddik all his days but rebelled at the end, he looses his earlier merits, as it says, 'The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him on the day of his transgression…'. And even if he was a complete sinner all his days but he repented in the end, his wickedness will not be invoked against him any more as it says, '…but as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble in it on the day when he repents of his wickedness'" (Kiddushin 40b). "Yet the children of your people say, 'The way of HaShem is unfair' – but it is their way that is unfair" (v 17). The people argued that "it was unfair to judge a person according to his later deeds, because they thought it would be more proper to take into account his earlier deeds together with his later deeds and weigh them against each other in order to reach a verdict" (Metzudas David ad loc.). At first sight it may indeed seem that people should be judged according to the aggregate of all their deeds, but in fact there is more compassion in judging them for their later deeds. This way the wicked person is able to repent and attain life even after a career of evil. And if a tzaddik lapses from his righteousness and sins, it is considered a benefit for him if he dies and is taken from the world, because then he can no longer sin (Metzudas David on v 19).

Righteousness and evil cannot simply be weighed one against the other because they are two entirely different categories. When a person carries out a mitzvah or good deed, he attaches himself to LIFE, gaining a reward that is beyond limits, above time. But when a person sins, he binds himself to this finite, time-bound world, which can only end in limitation and death. "Today if you will listen to His voice" (Sanhedrin 98a): Repentance must always be TODAY – not yesterday or tomorrow – because repentance is above time. There is only now. THE FUGITIVE "And it was in the twelfth year of our exile in the tenth month…" (verse 21). This was in the twelfth year counting from the exile of King Yeho-yachin, with whom Ezekiel had come to Babylon, and who was succeeded by King Tzedekiah. Metzudas David (ad loc.) states that the years are counted from Tishri while the months are counted from Nissan. Thus the "twelfth year" began in Tishri, almost two months after 9 Av of the "eleventh year", which was when the Temple was destroyed. The arrival of the escaped fugitive in Babylon bearing the tragic news came in the "tenth month" of the twelfth year, i.e. Teves, nearly five full months after the event. In the absence of today's instantaneous relay of news via satellite, etc., it was all the more remarkable that Ezekiel had already been informed of the news through holy spirit and told it to others the evening prior to the arrival of the fugitive. This was in fulfillment of God's promise to him in his earlier prophecy about the loss of his wife, symbolizing the destruction of the Temple, that "on that day, the fugitive will come to you to cause you to hear it with your ears. On that day your mouth will be opened and you will speak, and you will be dumb no more" (ch 24 vv 26-7). With the actual arrival of the fugitive now bearing a first-hand eye-witness report of the very destruction that Ezekiel had specifically prophesied, the people would know that he was a true prophet. But even after the destruction of the Temple, the people could still not believe that they had lost the Land of Israel (vv 23f). Indeed, a residue of "the people who had nothing" still remained in Judea tending the vineyards and fields (Jeremiah 39:10) until the assassination of the Babylonian-appointed governor, Gedaliah ben Achikam. They apparently believed that they could retain their hold on the land, arguing that "Abraham was one yet he inherited the land, whereas we are many – to us the land has been given as an inheritance" (verse 24 of our present chapter). Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai explained that they were saying, "If Abraham, who was only given one commandment (circumcision), inherited the land, how much more so should we, who have received many commandments, receive the land as our inheritance" (see Rashi on v 24; see Tosephta Sotah for other midrashim on this verse, and Likutey Moharan, Intro to Part II, for Rabbi Nachman's inspiring explanation of the phrase "Abraham was one"). But God's reply to the people was that "You eat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood – shall you then possess the land?" (v 25). Verses 27-29 warn that the land would be completely destroyed because of their sins. Those who want Israel to remain intact in our land today should take heed. In verses 30-33 God warns Ezekiel not to be deceived by the outwardly pious manner of those in Babylon who came to him to enquire about the latest word of prophecy, because they too were still far from genuine repentance, looking on his prophecies scornfully as "a song for flutes by one who has a pleasant voice who can play the instrument well – for they hear the words but they do not carry them out" (v 32). But harsh reality would finally bring them to know that they had a prophet in their midst.

Chapter 34 THE SHEPHERDS OF ISRAEL The prophecy in this chapter is an indictment of the corrupt leadership of Israel which applies until today. The leaders are supposed to be the "shepherds" who feed and pasture the flock of the people, but instead they feed themselves, taking the fat, the meat and the wool of the best and healthiest for themselves, while abandoning the weak, sickly, broken, scattered and lost (cf. Zechariah 11:15-17). The failure of the leaders has left the people like a scattered flock exposed to the ravages of wild beasts. Verses 7-10 warn the shepherds that God will depose them from their position of leadership. In the very beautiful passage of comfort in verses 11ff, God promises that in place of the corrupt leadership of the people, He Himself will pasture the flock. This corresponds to His promise that when the people will repent, "HaShem your God will turn your captivity and have compassion upon you and will return and gather you from all the nations… If your outcasts be at the utmost parts of heaven, from there will HaShem your God gather you and from there will He fetch you…" (Deuteronomy 30:3-4). These promises that God extends personal providence to each and every one of us in order to bring us to follow His ways should be a comfort to all those who feel they can still find no true leader of flesh and blood to guide them. "And as for you, My flock… behold I judge between one lamb and another" – between those with powerful fists and the weak" (verse 17 and Rashi ad loc.). It is not sufficient for the corrupt leaders to be removed: the people at the grass roots must change their ways and enter the mode of helping one another instead of each being bent on the pursuit of his own selfish interests at the expense of everyone else. "Is it a small thing to you that you have eaten up the good pasture but you must also tread down with your feet the residue of the pasture lands?" (v 18). It is permitted to eat and enjoy, but the individual citizen must realize that it is immoral for him to wantonly consume, despoil the environment and squander resources instead of protecting and preserving them for the common good. Similarly, it is immoral for farmers to destroy produce in times of a glut in order to keep prices "stable" at the same time as many people are starving. In vv 20f God warns that He will bring the strong and mighty to judgment for oppressing the weak. This is the compassionate diametrical opposite of the philosophy of Nietzsche. "And I will establish one shepherd over them, namely my servant David" – "i.e. a king from his seed" (v 23 and Rashi ad loc.). "And I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing" (verse 26) – "And I will cause them to dwell around My Temple, and they will be blessed" (Targum ad loc.). "But you are My flock, the flock of My pasturing, you are ADAM" (v 31) – "You are called ADAM but the idol worshipers are not called ADAM" (Yevamos 61a). All true members of Israel are encompassed under the noble form of ADAM – "and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of ADAM upon it from above" (Ezekiel 1:27).

Chapter 35

The previous prophecy ended with consolations to Israel about the future restoration under Melech HaMashiach, directing our attention to the end of days, which has become the main underlying theme in these later chapters of Ezekiel. The coming chapters will bring us prophesies about how the Land of Israel will flourish at the end of days (ch 36), and about the spiritual rebirth of the "dry bones" – the souls of Israel (37). Interwoven with these prophesies are prophesies about the judgment of Israel's persecutors at the end of days. Thus prior to the prophecy of the Future Temple and the Final Settlement (chs 40-48), chapters 38-9 deal with the war of Gog and Magog, while our present chapter (Ez. 35) foretells the future destruction of Edom, the offspring of Esau, who was the embodiment of the primordial serpent and chief adversary of Israel's founding father Jacob. In the words of RaDaK on v 1 of our present chapter: "The prophecy of the fall of Mount Seir follows immediately after the prophecy of the salvation of Israel because the downfall of Edom will come about at the time of the redemption, 'and saviors will ascend Mt Zion to judge the mountain of Esau' (Obadiah 1:21)". "Son of man: set your face against Mount Seir …" (v 2). "For as an inheritance to Esau have I given Mount Seir" (Deut. 2:5). Mount Seir is the rugged mountainous region south east of the Dead Sea in the south of present day Jordan, which was originally allotted to Esau and his descendants. RaDaK (on Obadiah 1:1) writes that "the land of Edom does not belong today to the descendants of Edom because the nations became mixed up and most of them are of either the Christian or Moslem faith and it is impossible to recognize which of them is from Edom, Moab, Ammon or any of the other nations because they were all exiled from their lands and became mixed among the nations. But Rome was initially mainly composed of the descendants of Edom, and where the prophets speak about the destruction of Edom they are speaking about the end of days – for when Rome is destroyed Israel will be redeemed". In the time when RaDaK – Rabbi David Kimche, 1160-1235 – was alive eight hundred years ago, the city of Rome was indeed the spiritual capital of European civilization. Since then the influence of Rome-Edom has spread all over the world, whether directly or indirectly through such later "garbs" as Britain , Spain , Germany , America etc. Given the prophecies of bloodshed and devastation contained in our present chapter, it is noteworthy that although the last half century was relatively peaceful in Europe, its history in general in the two thousand years since the destruction of the Second Temple has been one of repeated warfare, death and destruction. It may be added that even without the physical destruction of the great cities of western civilization, many of them are today "desolate" in the sense that extensive areas are effectively no-go areas for peaceable citizens (unless they speed through in fast cars) owing to the danger and violence, and wide sections of their populations have lapsed into ever deeper moral depravity. The prophet explains the underlying reason for the destruction of Edom's cities and their devastation: "Because you have had a perpetual hatred and have hurled the children of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity" (v 5). Again and again this prophecy emphasizes that God's retribution against Edom is strictly "measure for measure". The first expression of this comes in verse 6: "Surely you have hated blood – and blood shall pursue you" (v 6). If Edom unleashed the sword against Israel (v 5), in what sense can it be said that they "hated blood"? Rashi (on v 6) gives three explanations: "(1) You despised the right of the firstborn, to whom My service was entrusted, but you did not want to dirty yourself with the blood of the sacrifices of which My service consists – therefore the blood of the slain shall pursue you. (2) Like all men, you fear killers, but killers will pursue you. (3) You hated blood – you hated your brother, who is your own flesh and blood".

A second expression of the principle of "measure for measure" is in vv 9-10, which explain that the reason for the devastation of Edom is "because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine and we shall possess it" (v 10). In explaining this verse, Rashi (ad loc.) says that the simple meaning is that Esau wanted to inherit both Israel (the Ten Tribes) and Judah. However, Rashi also brings an interesting midrash of R. Tanchuma explaining that Esau went to marry Ishmael's daughter (Gen. 28:9) in order to rouse him to challenge Isaac over the inheritance of Abraham so that Ishmael would kill Isaac, leaving Esau as the "redeemer" of his father's blood so that he would have the right to kill Ishmael, and this way Esau would inherit both Isaac and Ishmael. This midrash is of particular interest given the present war of the "West" (Esau) against Ishmael (Islam). A third expression of the principle of "measure for measure" in the punishment of Edom comes in verse 11: "Therefore I shall do according to your anger and according to your envy…" Yet another expression of the same principle comes in verse 15: "Just as you rejoiced at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom, all of it, and they shall know that I am HaShem."

Chapter 36 "And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel …" (v 1). "After speaking of the retribution against Mount Seir, he now speaks consolation to the mountains of Israel " (RaDaK ad loc.). Today's Edomites, scattered across the whole earth, show not the least interest in their ancestral territories in the rocky mountains of Seir in S. Jordan. But for two thousand years Jews have thought about their land and mentioned it in their prayers many times every day, and not one of them has the least doubt that their country is the same mountainous strip of land that everyone in the world knows as Israel. The other nations have always wanted unjustly to take the promised inheritance of Israel, children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for themselves. "Because the enemy has said against you, Ahah, the eternal high places are an inheritance FOR US!!!" (v 2). The mountains of Israel are called BAMOS OLAM, 'the high places of the world', because the Land of Israel is higher than all the other lands" (RaDaK ad loc.). These "high places" are "on the lips of talkers and the gossip of the people" (v 3). Never has this been more apparent than today, when Israel is the talk of the entire world – in the United Nations etc. and the world media. Every day the "Palestinians" and their backers, most notably President Ahmadinejad of Iran, declare that Israel must be "wiped off the map" and the land snatched from its rightful owners. "Measure for measure" God swears that he will judge all the residue of the nations and Edom with the fire of His jealousy "because they have appointed My land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with disdainful minds, to cast it out for a prey" (v 5). Things will turn out the very opposite of what Israel's enemies imagine. "Surely the nations that are about you shall bear their own shame" (v 7) – as when the Arab armies that vowed the destruction of Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973 were roundly defeated. On the contrary, "You O mountains of Israel shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people of Israel, for they will soon be coming" (v 8). "When the land of Israel will give forth its fruits generously, that is when the end will be close – for throughout the Bible you have no more clearly revealed end than in this verse" (Sanhedrin 98a). The last century has witnessed the miraculous revival of agriculture in Israel after two thousand years of desolation! "And I will multiply ADAM upon you, all the House of Israel …" (v 10). Once again in this

verse and the two verses that follow it, Ezekiel – who is himself repeatedly called BEN ADAM, "the son of ADAM" – refers to Israel as ADAM, as he did in Chapter 34, when he said, "And you, My flock… are ADAM". Israel have the form of ADAM (the Tzelem Elokim) when they follow the Torah of ADAM (Numbers 19:14). "Because they say to you, You are a land that devours men" (v 13). This was the complaint of the Ten Spies, who gave a false report about the Land as "a land that eats up its inhabitants" (Numbers 13:32). Likewise Israel's enemies say that "this land is accustomed to destroy her inhabitants: the Emorites were consumed there and the Jews were consumed their" (Rashi on Ezekiel 13). But God promises that the Land of Israel "shall not devour men any more nor any more bereave your nations" (v 14). Surely this can be taken as a promise that contrary to the hopes of Israel 's enemies, THERE WILL NOT BE ANOTHER EXILE. Introducing the theme that at the end of days Israel will be purified of their sins, in verses 16-21 the prophet recounts the history of Israel after they first took possession of the land, when "they defiled it through their way and their deeds – like the impurity of the menstruous woman (NIDDAH) was their way before Me" (v 17). "Because the Assembly of Israel is metaphorically called God's 'wife' while He is her 'husband', when she sins she is compared to a NIDDAH whose husband distances himself from her throughout the time of her period but draws near to her after her purification. Likewise God 'distanced' Israel and exiled them to the lands of the nations because of their sins, but He will restore them after they return to Him and become purified of their sins" (RaDaK on v 17). Israel's ignominious exile and degradation in the lands of the nations is CHILUL HASHEM, a desecration of God's name (v 20). Conversely, the ingathering of Israel before the very eyes of their enemies is the sanctification of His name, for they will know that God rules (v 23). "And I shall take you from the nations and gather you in from all the lands and I will bring you to your land. And I shall sprinkle upon you pure waters and you shall be purified from all your impurities, and I shall purify you from all your idols" (vv 24-25). "Just as a defiled person is purified through the water in which he immerses and through the sprinkling of the ashes of the Red Heifer, so he who is defiled with sins is purified through atonement" (Metzudas David on v 25). The ORDER of the promises in the above-quoted two verses is surely significant: the ingathering of the exiles takes place BEFORE their purification. This should give us hope that even though many of the ingathered Jewish inhabitants of the land are still far from the Torah, if God has fulfilled His promise to bring them back physically, He will in the end surely fulfill His promise to bring them back spiritually. "And I shall sprinkle upon you pure waters" (v 25) – "Rabbi Akiva said, Happy are you O Israel: Before Whom are you purified? Who purifies you? Your Father in heaven!" (Yoma 86a). "And I shall give you a new heart and I shall put a new spirit within you and I shall remove the heart of stone from your flesh and I shall give you a heart of flesh" (v 26). The "heart of stone" refers to man's evil inclination. The Talmud teaches: "The evil inclination is called by seven names. God calls it 'evil' (Gen. 8:21). Moses called it 'uncircumcised' (Deut. 10:16). David called it 'impure', asking for a pure heart (Psalms 51:12). Solomon called it an 'enemy' (Proverbs 25:21). Isaiah called it a 'stumbling block' (Isaiah 57:14). Ezekiel called it 'stone' (as in our verse, Ez. 36:26), while Joel called it the 'northern' (or 'hidden') one (Joel 2:20)" (Succah 52a). A "heart of flesh" is "a heart that heeds and a spirit that is ready to receive the words of

God with love" (RaDaK on Ez. 36:26). Rabbi Nachman pointed out that the letters of the name of his chosen city of residence, BReSLoV, are the same as in the phrase LeV BaSaR, "a heart of flesh", saying that his followers would always be called the Breslov Chassidim – because his pathways have the power to turn our hearts into hearts of flesh! After the restoration at the end of days, Israel will not sit in the land arrogantly eating their reward. Rather, they will be full of contrition and remorse, having learned and internalized the harsh lessons of their history (v 31). Then the desolate land will be like the very Garden of Eden and its cities will be inhabited again (v 35) – a promise that in the last hundred years has begun to be realized before the eyes of the whole world. Israel will be "like the flock of sacrifices, like the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed times" (v 38) – "That is to say, their sins will no longer be remembered against them" (Rashi ad loc.) * * * Verses 16-38 of this chapter speaking of the sprinkling of the waters of purification upon Israel to purify them of their sins make up the Haftara read on Shabbos Parshas Parah (after Purim) when in preparation for the coming festival of Pesach, the weekly Torah portion is followed by an additional Torah reading about the purification from defilement from the dead through the ashes of the Red Heifer (Numbers 19:1-22). * * *

Chapter 37 VISION OF THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES "…And He set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of dry bones" (v 1). Commenting on this vision, RaDaK writes that "the Holy One blessed be He showed Ezekiel this valley as a metaphor showing that the Children of Israel would leave their exile, in which they were living in a state comparable to that of 'dry bones'. Alternatively, He showed him this to show him that in time to come He will resurrect the dead of Israel at the time of the redemption so that they too should witness the redemption" (RaDaK on verse 1). WHOSE BONES? The Talmud (Sanhedrin 92b) brings a variety of opinions among our sages as to whose bones these were. The different opinions are by no means mutually exclusive, since certain souls may be re-incarnated in different bodies time after time. Rabbi Yehudah considered that the vision was "in truth a metaphor" (BE-EMES MASHAL), while Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Eliezer (ben Hurknos) both considered that Ezekiel literally revived the dead. R. Eliezer son of R. Yose HaGlili stated that the dead that Ezekiel revived came up to the land of Israel, married and had children, and R. Yehudah Ben Beseira declared that he was one of their descendants, exhibiting a pair of Tefilin which he inherited from his paternal grandfather that had been handed down from them. The opinion of Rav is that the dead bones were those of the members of the tribe of Ephraim who left Egypt before the appointed time and were killed by the native inhabitants of Gath (I Chronicles 7:21, see Targum Yonasan and RaDaK ad loc. and Rashi on our verse in Ezekiel.). Shmuel's opinion is that these were the bones of people who had denied the tenet of resurrection, while Rabbi Yonasan said they were dry because they were the bones of people who "did not have in them the moisture of a mitzvah", i.e. they did not observe any of the commandments of the Torah. Rabbi Yochanan stated that the bones were those of the people who were killed in the Valley of Dura . This was where Nebuchadnezzar set up his sixty-cubit high idol, to which

all the peoples bowed down, including all the Judean exiles except for Chananya, Mishael and Azariah (Daniel ch 3). When Nebuchadnezzar saw this, he was enraged, asking them if just as they had worshipped idols in their own land causing its destruction they intended to worship them in Babylon in order to destroy it, and he massacred them (Yalkut Shimoni). Another reason why Nebuchadnezzar carried out a mass slaughter of young Jewish men at that time was because "among them were youths who put the sun to shame with their beauty and when the Chaldean woman saw them they started running with blood (ZIVA) and told their husbands, who told the king, who had them trampled down. It was at the moment when the wicked Nebuchadnezzar cast Chananya, Mishael and Azariah into the fiery furnace that God told Ezekiel to go and revive the dead in the Valley of Dura " (Sanhedrin 92b). Unraveling the exact identify of these bones is of less importance than grasping the essential point of Ezekiel's vision, which attests to our perfect faith and belief "that the Resurrection of the Dead will take place at the time when it will be the will of the Creator, blessed be His Name" (last of the Thirteen Principles of Faith as formulated by Rambam). God has the power to take even dry bones (such as the tiny, indestructible LUZ bone from the top of the spine) and clothe them with sinews, flesh and skin to breathe into them the spirit of life (v 6). "Come from the four winds (directions), O breath, and breathe upon these slain" (v 9) – "From every place where their souls went to wander in all four directions of the world they will be gathered in" (Rashi ad loc.). "Behold, O My people, I shall open your graves…" (v 12). In the words of RaDaK (ad loc.): "If this vision is a metaphor, the lands of the nations where Israel is in exile are the graves. If it is to be taken literally, the meaning is plain. There is a division of opinion among our sages about the dead outside of Israel. Some held that they will arise from their graves in the Diaspora itself, while others said that they will come up to the Land of Israel by rolling (GILGUL) through underground passages (Kesuvos 111a). The present verse supports the view that they will come back to life in the Diaspora… for it says 'I will open up your graves and bring you up from your graves' and afterwards 'I will bring you to the Land of Israel '". "Three keys are in the hand of the Holy One blessed be He and have not been entrusted to any agent: the key to the rains, the key to giving birth and the key to the revival of the dead" (Ta'anis 2b). * * * Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of the Dry Bones is read as the Haftara on Shabbos Chol HaMo'ed Pesach, the intermediate Shabbos of the festival of Passover. * * * TWO STICKS JOINED INTO ONE In a further inspiring prophecy of consolation in vv 15-28, God instructs the prophet to take two sticks and write on one "for Judah and the children of Israel his companions" – i.e. the tribe of Benjamin, which remained attached to Judah even after the split of the kingdom – and to write on the other "for Joseph the stick of Ephraim and all the House of Israel, his companions". The latter are the Ten Tribes, because when the kingdom was divided, Jeraboam, who was from the tribe of Ephraim, became king, and accordingly the Ten Tribes were called by the name of Ephraim (verse 16 as explained by RaDaK). The prophet was to join the two sticks together to make one stick (v 17) to symbolize that in the end of days the great fissure that has divided the Children of Israel since the death of King Solomon will be healed, and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who are called the

"Jews" (cf. Esther 2:5), will be reconciled with the lost Ten Tribes and become "one in My hand" (v 19) – "they shall become ONE NATION before Me" (Targum ad loc.). Verses 21ff prophesy the restoration of the scattered exiles of Israel to their land to become one people under one king. "And My servant David will be king over them" (v 24) –"Melech HaMashiach, who comes from the seed of David, will be king over them" (Metzudas David). This will inaugurate an eternal covenant of peace between God and Israel with the return of the Shechinah to Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple, showing all the nations that HaShem rules (v 28). * * * Ezekiel's vision of joining the two sticks of Joseph and Judah (Ez. 37:15-28) is read as the Haftara of Parshas Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27) describing the reconciliation of Joseph and his brothers. * * *

Chapter 38 THE WAR OF GOG AND MAGOG Many people mistakenly believe that the war of Gog and Magog is a war of Gog AGAINST Magog, and the two have been represented in many weird and monstrous ways in popular folklore. But the truth is plainly visible in the opening verse of our present chapter. Gog is the name of the king or leader of an unholy alliance of nations, while Magog is the name of his people, whose founder was Japheth's second son (Gen:10:2, see Rashi on the opening verse of our present chapter). It is clear from verses 8 and 12 of the present chapter that their war is against the people of Israel in the land of Israel. The onslaught of Gog and his allies against Israel at the end of days was foreordained from the beginning of time and already spoken of "in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them" (verse 17). Thus the war of Gog and Magog is prophesied in Zechariah ch 14 and alluded to in many different passages in Isaiah and the other prophets. According to tradition, this war was also the subject of the prophecy of Eldad and Meidad in the wilderness in the time of Moses (Numbers 11:26, see Targum Yonasan ad loc. and Sanhedrin 17b). There is an historical inevitability about this war that will cause it to come about whether the nations want it or not. Thus God says to Gog: "I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you and all your army…" (v 4). PRINCIPAL MEMBERS OF THE ALLIANCE The peoples of Magog, Meshech and Tuval mentioned in verse 2 were all descendants of the sons of Japheth and are considered to have spread out from where Noah's ark came to rest on Mt Ararat to the regions that became their original habitations in the northeast of Turkey, immediately south of the Black Sea, in Armenia, southern Georgia and the regions west of the Caspian Sea. It is highly likely that in the course of time these peoples wandered far and wide from there. (It is noteworthy that Meshech – Muscovy, Russia – has traditionally been one of the leading persecutors of Israel and Judaism, and its one-time dictator, Joseph Stalin, was from Georgia , embedded in the name of whose capital city of Tbilisi is the name TUVAL.) Verse 5 mentions Paras or Persia, Kush (descended from the firstborn son of Ham, Gen. 10:6), identified either with Sudan or with the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, and Phut, which is identified by some with Libya and by others with Somalia.

Verse 6 mentions Gomer, which the rabbis identified with GERMAMIA (= Germany, see Targum Yonasan on our verse and Yoma 10b) and Togarma, which was the traditional Hebrew name for Turkey. Verse 6 also mentions "many nations" as well as "the far sides of the north", which might indicate anywhere across the northern hemisphere from North America to Northern Europe, Russia, China and Japan! Verse 13 mentions Sheba, identified variously with east Africa (Ethiopia?) and Arabia (Yemen?), Dedan (=northeast Arabia, the Arab Emirates?) and Tarshish, which has different connotations in different Biblical texts and may indicate Tarsus in Asia Minor, North Africa ( Tunisia ) or Spain . WHEN DOES THE WAR OCCUR? Our text explicitly states that the war of Gog and Magog will occur "at the end of days", when the nations will come "against the land that is brought back from the sword and is gathered out of many peoples…" (v 8; cf. verse 16). As a follow-on from Ezekiel's prophecy in Chapter 36 about the return of Israel to their land at the end of days, our present text teaches that the assault of the nations occurs AFTER the ingathering of Israel, or the greater part of them, from exile, when they have come back to their land in the hope of dwelling there prosperously and securely, spread out unfortified habitations (vv 8, 11-12 & 14). It is plain that this refers to our present era, when for the first time in two thousand years a majority of the world's population of Jews lives in Israel. Our texts state explicitly that the intention of Gog and his allies is to despoil Israel of their wealth (vv 12-13 of our present chapter) and appropriate their land (as stated in Ezekiel 36: 2 & 5). THE JUDGMENT AGAINST GOG AND MAGOG Verses 18-23 depict the divine wrath that will be unleashed against Gog and his armies (which is also the subject of the following chapter). Verse 19 speaks of a great "shaking" (RA'ASH) in the Land of Israel, which indicates a literal earthquake, as prophesied in Zechariah 14:4-5). Verse 20 says that the very fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field and all creeping beings as well as all mankind will shake at God's presence. RaDaK (ad loc.) states that this verse may be taken both metaphorically and literally. (It is well-known that many animals are intuitively aware of earthquakes etc. even before they occur.) Verse 21 teaches that the downfall of the nations will come about when tumult breaks out among the forces of Gog and Magog, who will fight "each against his brother". Then God will judge them with "plague, blood and driving rain and stones of algavish (hail shining like the gavish jewel), fire and sulfur" (verse 22). The name of God will then be magnified and sanctified in the eyes of many nations and they will know that HaShem rules (v 23). * * * Verses 18-23 of the present chapter together with chapter 39 vv 1-15 are read as the Haftara on Shabbos Chol HaMo'ed Succos – the intermediate Sabbath of the festival of Succos. * * *

Chapter 39 The present chapter continues Ezekiel's prophecy of the war of Gog and Magog, depicting the miraculous overthrow of their invading hordes on the hills and mountains of Israel, where they will be prey for the wild birds and beasts of the field. "And I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel and I will not allow My holy name to be profaned any more" (verse 7). "For if Israel are lowly, this is causes

desecration of His name because people say that these are the people of HaShem yet He does not have the power to save them" (Rashi ad loc.). "And I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who travel to the east of the sea…" (v 11). Although this verse does not explicitly spell out whether the sea in question is Israel 's "western" sea, i.e. the Mediterranean, or her "eastern" sea, i.e. the Sea (or "Lake") of Tiberius, our commentators agree that it is referring to the latter (Targum, Rashi and RaDaK ad loc.). It would thus appear that the great bulk of the armies of Gog and Magog will fall in a mountain pass to the east of the Kinneret ("Lake Tiberius"), which suggests that they will seek to mount a land invasion of Israel from Jordan and Syria via the Golan Heights, a scenario that in the present age becomes more and more plausible with every passing day. Our rabbis taught that the unique privilege of the armies of Gog and Gog in being brought to burial (COVERED under the earth) rather than being ignominiously left out in the open to eternity is a reward "measure for measure" for their ancestor Japheth, who with his brother Shem averted his eyes from the nakedness of their father Noah after he became drunk and COVERED it over (Genesis 9:23; Bereishis Rabbah #36). "And all the people of the land shall bury them and it shall be for them for a name" (v 13) – "All the nations will tell their praises and kindness, saying 'There is no other people who are as compassionate as this – can you find anyone who buries the very enemy that stood up against him to kill him?" (Rashi ad loc.). Those who have not been deceived by the contemporary world media campaign to demonize Israel and its people know that until today this outstanding compassion even for their enemies is one of the distinguishing traits of the chosen people. God's overthrow of the armies of Gog and Magog and His restoration of Israel to dwell at peace in their land will be the vindication of His glory in the eyes of both Israel and all the nations, who will thereby know that HaShem rules (vv 21-29).

Chapter 40 After the completion of Ezekiel's prophecy of the war of Gog and Magog, we now come to the triumphant closing section of his book in chapters 40-48 prophesying the final order that will prevail in the world at the end of days with the restoration of the Holy Temple and the coming of Melech HaMashiach, when the twelve tribes of Israel will dwell securely and at peace in their land. This will be the Final Settlement, when the world will attain a state of complete rectification (TIKKUN). "In the twenty-fifth year after our exile, at the beginning of the year (ROSH HASHANAH) on the tenth of the month…" (v 1). Since Rosh HaShanah is normally celebrated on the FIRST of the month of Tishri, the dating of this prophecy to Rosh HaShanah AND the tenth of the month (Yom Kippur) is a seeming self-contradiction. This is resolved through the teaching of our rabbis that Ezekiel received this prophecy in the Jubilee year, which is inaugurated with the sounding of the shofar throughout the land of Israel on Yom Kippur, which is thus the "Rosh HaShanah" of the Jubilee year (Leviticus 25:9; see Rashi on verse 1 of our present chapter). Since all slaves are freed in the Jubilee year and all lands that have been sold return to their original owners, it was appropriate that this prophecy of complete redemption and restoration should have been received on this auspicious day of liberation. "In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel" (v 2) – "He did not actually take me there but showed it to me as if I was there" (Rashi ad loc.).

"…and set me upon a very high mountain" (v 2) – "This is the Temple Mount. God showed it to him as being very high indeed, for it will be on a very high and exalted level, as it is written, 'Established shall be the mountain of the House of HaShem at the head of the mountains and exalted above the hills" (Isaiah 2:2, RaDaK on verse 2 of our present chapter). "…And behold there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze" (v 3) – "This was the same color as the radiance of the Chayos, who were 'flashing like the color of burnished bronze'" (Ezekiel 1:7; Rashi on verse 3 of our present chapter). The linen cord in the angel's hand was to measure the dimensions of the various Temple courtyards, while his measuring rod was to measure the thickness of the walls and the height and breadth of the gates. "And the man said to me, Son of man, see with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to all that I will show you… tell all that you see to the House of Israel" (v 4). The angel stood ready to take Ezekiel on a complete "virtual tour" of the Future Temple, explaining the detailed measurements of every wall, courtyard, gate and chamber, in order that he should go back to the people and teach them the form of the Temple. Despite the fact that Ezekiel's prophecy was received well in advance of the building of the Second Temple, it should be emphasized that what Ezekiel saw was not the exact form in which the Second Temple was actually built. In the words of Rambam (Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 1:4): "The building that Solomon built (the First Temple ) had already been clearly explained in the book of Kings. Now the form of the Temple that is destined to be built in the future is written in the book of Ezekiel but it is not clearly explained, and when the men of the Second Temple built it in the time of Ezra, they built it like Solomon's Temple with certain details as explained in Ezekiel." It would appear that the builders of the Second Temple did not believe that the world had yet reached the level of perfection which Ezekiel's Temple expressed. We may infer from Rambam's words that until now the Temple prophesied by Ezekiel has never been built and that this is therefore the form of the Future Temple for which we are praying and waiting every day. Ezekiel's vision of the Future Temple and its meaning is the subject of the kabbalistic classic MISHKNEY ELYON ("Dwelling places of the Supreme") by Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto ("Ramchal", 1707-47), which the present author had the privilege of translating into English under the title of "Secrets of the Future Temple " with full introduction, maps and diagrams. This work is available for free download at http://www.azamra.org/secrets.shtml . Ramchal explains that the Temple is the center point where all the different branches of the Tree of Life connect with their roots, channeling a flow of sustenance and blessing to the entire world. The different areas of the Temple radiating outwards from the EVVEN SHESIYAH ("Foundation Stone") in the Holy of Holies to the surrounding courtyards on the Temple Mount correspond to the four kabbalistic "worlds". The detailed dimensions of the various Temple chambers, walls and gates correspond to various divine names and attributes, because the Hebrew letters that make them up all have mathematical values. These names and attributes interact with one another to create a three-dimensional "hologram" expressing through a unique form of sacred geometry the spiritual kingdom through which this world is governed. Through the study of the form of the Future Temple and its meaning, "You will know how the King of the kings of kings watches over His creatures and conducts His universe in an ordered manner… You will be able to understand the way the world is run and how God gives each day's portion of food and sustenance to all His creatures, each in its own time." (Ramchal, Mishkney Elyon).

The route by which the angel took Ezekiel on his "virtual" tour of the Future Temple began at the outer wall of the Temple Mount. From here the angel took him through the Eastern Gate, showing him the "cells" flanking it on both sides on the outside of the wall, and the "vestibule" that stood before it inside the great Outer Courtyard (vv 5-16). Those familiar with the ground plan of the First and Second Temples should note that a fundamental difference in the design of the Future Temple is that the "Outer Courtyard" (corresponding to the Ezras Nashim, Women's Courtyard) will entirely surround the Temple Sanctuary and Inner Courtyard (Azarah) on all sides, whereas in the First and Second Temples the Ezras Nashim adjoined the Inner Courtyard on one side only but did not surround it on all sides. Vv 17-27 describe the three gates of the outer courtyard situated respectively on the north, south and east sides (the west side has no gate) and an elevated gallery with chambers running around the inside of the courtyard wall. Vv 28-37 describe the plan of the Inner Courtyard (Ezras Yisrael, Azarah) with its three gates facing those of the outer courtyard. Verses 38-43 describe the Washers' Chamber where the sacrificial portions will be washed and prepared for offering on the Altar. Verses 44-7 describe other special chambers in the Inner Courtyard for the instruments of the Levites and the garments of the Priests. Verses 48-9 describe the measurements of the OOLAM or "Vestibule" leading into the main Temple Sanctuary building.

Chapter 41 The Hebrew text of Ezekiel's account of the Future Temple – which will be the earthly representation of the Heavenly Temple – is necessarily opaque because is simultaneously a detailed description of a highly complex physical structure and a garb clothing the deepest secrets of God's names and attributes and His government of the world. The classical Biblical commentators on our text (Rashi, Metzudas David and RaDaK) discuss at length the literal meaning of the words and phrases making up Ezekiel's description of the physical structure of the Future Temple but hardly enter into Midrash and do not touch at all (at least openly) upon its deeper meaning. The only comprehensive discussion of the latter with which this author is familiar is that of the kabbalistic genius Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto 1707-47), who side by side with his MISHKNEY ELYON on the kabbalistic meaning of the Temple also provided "Five Chapters" in the style of the Mishneh clarifying its dimensions and physical form on the basis of Ezekiel's text. My dear friend Rabbi Abraham Rokeach, who is a Talmid Chacham, an authority on the forms of the First, Second and Future Temples and also a building engineer by profession, has told me that from the engineering point of view, it is Ramchal's explanation of the physical structure of the Future Temple that makes the most sense. Within the scope of the present Study Notes it is impossible to do more than briefly categorize the main areas of the Temple precincts as described by Ezekiel in these chapters and to offer a tiny sample of comments by Ramchal about the significance of the areas in question. Those interested in studying Ezekiel's text in conjunction with Ramchal's commentary in SECRETS OF THE FUTURE TEMPLE should note that Ramchal in his work takes a different route around the Temple from that taken by Ezekiel. For Ezekiel started at the outer wall of the Temple Mount, entering by the eastern gate into the Outer Courtyard and then going INWARDS first to the Inner Courtyard and then to the actual Temple building itself. Ramchal on the other hand chose to discuss first the Holy of Holies and the Sanctuary, and then move OUTWARDS from the Temple to the Inner Courtyard and from there to the Outer Courtyard and then to the Temple Mount.

"And he brought me to the Sanctuary…" (v 1). The "Sanctuary" is the HEICHAL, the main Temple building – the House itself (containing the Menorah, Showbread Table and Incense Altar) as opposed to its surrounding courtyards. Verses 1-2 provide the dimensions of the Sanctuary and its entrance. "This is the place from which the souls of Israel receive their sustenance, and this is where the inner Incense Altar is located. This is the Altar where the sacrifice of the souls is offered when they bring their gift before the King" (Ramchal). Verses 3-4 provide the dimensions of the Holy of Holies – the innermost chamber of the House. "The first place that emanated from the Foundation Stone is a place of intense light and abundant blessing. For as she [i.e. Malchut] goes forth from before the King, there she stands at first in all her beauty and glory. Who can describe her power and brilliance? This power is given only to Israel. A great screen separates the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies. This hall is thus for the King alone and none other. Only once each year [on Yom Kippur] when the High Priest in the lower world enters the Holy of Holies with the incense, is permission to enter granted to the one who is permitted to enter. This is because of God's great love for His people, who are more precious to Him than the ministering angels" (Ramchal). Verses 5-11 describe the walls of the House and the dimensions of the "side chambers" that were built in banks around them – three on the west side and fifteen each on the north and south sides. "Surrounding the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies are structures in the form of rooms or cells built one on top of the other. Everything that comes forth from the Holy of Holies divides into three columns. Thus there are three rows of five cells along the south wall, three rows of five along the north wall, and three cells on top of one another along the west wall. Thus the Sanctuary is surrounded by cells on three sides… Let me explain the purpose of these cells. Besides the sustenance that the armies of angels receive from the gates of the Inner Courtyard and beyond, they also receive a share from behind the walls of the Sanctuary itself. This is extra sustenance. Even though it comes to them from outside [the Sanctuary], it is on the highest level, as opposed to the sustenance they receive from the gates, which is already on a lower level even though it comes from inside" (Ramchal). Verses 12-15 explain the dimensions of the outer walls of the House on the west, north, east and south sides. Verses 16-21 describe the windows and paneling of the House and the ornamental cherubs and palm trees on the walls. "Inside the Sanctuary, the most beautiful lights appear on all the walls. They all receive from one another as they spread out from amidst the radiance caused by the perfect union all around. These lights shine in the form of cherubs and palm trees. Understand the greatness and importance of these lights. There are male and female palms. Of this it is said: "The Tzaddik will flourish like the palm" (Psalms 92:13), referring to Tzaddik (Yesod) and his mate (Malchut). The cherubs have two faces: that of a man on one side and that of a lion on the other. Know that the building of this Temple is accomplished through the power of the right side (Chesed, the face of the lion) in mercy (Tiferet, the face of man). It is from the light of these two that the holy union symbolized by the palm tree derives. For this reason the faces of the cherubs are turned towards the palm tree, for the lion is on one side, the face of the man on the other, and the palm tree stands between the two" (Ramchal). THIS IS THE TABLE THAT IS BEFORE HASHEM

Verse 22 apparently speaks about "the altar of wood" but our sages explained that this cannot refer to the altar on which the animal sacrifices are offered (since this is located in the Inner Courtyard in front of the House). It could possibly refer to the Incense Altar in the Sanctuary which is made of wood plated with gold (RaDaK ad loc.) but Targum (ad loc.) explains that the "altar" mentioned here is in fact a TABLE adjacent to the Incense Altar, in accordance with the words of the angel to Ezekiel at the end of the verse: "This is the table that is before HaShem". Thus our sages commented: "The verse opens with the 'altar' and ends up with the 'table'. This comes to teach that as long as the Temple is standing, the altar atones for Israel, but now it is a person's table (the way he eats in purity and holiness) that atones for him" (Berachos 54b, Chagigah 27a). Some customarily recite the verse "This is the table that is before HaShem" as they begin their meal, and take care to say words of Torah at the table in order to elevate their eating. Verses 23-26 describe the Sanctuary gates, their number and form and the windows of the Vestibule that stood in front of the Sanctuary. "The root of all things is found in the Supreme Wisdom that stands at the peak of all levels and gives power to all the hosts of heaven and the heavens of the heavens. This Wisdom possesses mighty 'gates' from which its radiance and glory shine to all the creatures in the lower worlds that crave to delight in its great pleasantness. This wall has gates, for without gates how would blessing and sustenance go forth to the lower realms?" (Ramchal).

Chapter 42 "And he took me out to the Outer Courtyard… and he brought me to into the chamber that was over against the main wing…" (verse 1). Verses 1-12 of the present chapter describe the dimensions of three-storey buildings or "chambers" that stood parallel to the main Temple building on its north and south sides. Verses 13-14 then explain the function of these chambers, which was to serve as a place where the Cohanim can eat their portions of the holy of holy sacrificial offerings. "Understand that these chambers are where the angels actually receive the sustenance given to them from around the outside of the Sanctuary building. The sustenance flows out from the recess into the cells adjoining the Sanctuary walls. As it leaves the cells it merges into a single flow in the Winding Staircase. Then at a distance of twenty cubits it reaches these chambers, where the angels receive it. These chambers are designated for eating the holy sacrificial portions, for this is the sustenance that comes down to the branches after they rejoin their root and after the beautiful unification that is brought about through the sacrifice. But note how far away the angels are when they receive their share of the holy offering as compared to the souls of Israel, who receive their share from inside the Sanctuary, since their sustenance comes from the incense, which is burned inside. This is why the sages said: "Israel's appointed place is further within than that of the ministering angels" ( Yerushalmi Shabbat 2; Ramchal) . Verses 15-20 measure the outer perimeter of the Temple Mount on the east, north, south and west sides. Since each side was 500 rods, and the angel's measuring rod was six cubits long (Ezekiel 40:5), the future Temple Mount will be 3000 x 3000 cubits. Thus the future Temple Mount will be THIRTY-SIX TIMES bigger than the Temple Mount in the time of the Second Temple, which was 500 x 500 cubits!!! "The Temple Mount is the place from which the officers of the World of Asiyah receive, and thus its walls, which set bounds for all the light contained within it, total five hundred rods by five hundred rods. The rationale of these dimensions is bound up with the fact

that all the lights that govern the running of the world work together in complete accord and perfect unison. They all join and become interconnected with each other instead of going each in its own direction. Therefore nothing is ever executed through Kingly Power [Malchut] that was not commanded by the King [ Zeir Anpin ], Who is the Tree of Life. This is a journey of five hundred years. That is why the measure of the Temple Mount is the greatest of all: five hundred. But it did not spread out any further, for as she [Malchut] receives, so she gives. This future Temple will be superior to the earlier Temples. In the First Temple, each of the four sides of the Temple Mount was five hundred cubits in length, while in the Third Temple each side will be five hundred rods. The use of the rod as the unit of measurement in the Third Temple is bound up with fact that it will be built through the revelation of the hidden "Beginning", Keter, the Crown…

Chapter 43 "Then he brought me to the gate… and behold, the Glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east…" (v 1). At the conclusion of Ezekiel's "virtual tour" around the Future Temple in order to learn its form and measurements, after completing measuring the Temple Mount, the angel who was his guide brought him back to the east gate of the Mount, where the prophet saw the Glory of God approaching in order to enter the completed Temple. With this Ezekiel's prophecy has come full circle, because at the beginning of his ministry, he witnessed the Glory (chapter 1) only to see it depart from its place above the Ark in the First Temple and leave stage by stage until it ascended to Heaven for the duration of the exile (chapter 9 v 3ff). That was when Ezekiel prophesied the coming destruction of Jerusalem in the time of Tzedekiah (ibid. vv 1f). Now, following all his intervening prophecies and after having seen the perfect form of the Future Temple in all its details, a spirit comes and lifts Ezekiel to the Inner Courtyard, where he sees that the Glory of HaShem fills the House again (v 5). God promises that this will be His dwelling place among the Children of Israel forever – for they will be fully rectified and will no longer engage in the abominations practiced in the time of the First Temple, when kings (Menasheh and Amon) were buried in the gardens of their palaces adjacent to the Temple, and idolatry was practiced at their tombs (vv 7-8, see Rashi, Metzudas David & RaDaK ad loc.). God promises that from now on they will reject their old pathways so that God will dwell among them forever (v 9). TEACH THEM THE FORM OF THE HOUSE "You, son of man, describe the House to the House of Israel that they may be ashamed of their iniquities… And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the House…" (v 10). It is through Teshuvah – repentance – that Israel is worthy of seeing this Temple. Shame over one's improper behavior before God is the very root of true repentance. Thus the Hebrew letters of the first word of the Torah, BEREISHIS make up the words YOREI BOSHES, Awe and Shame (Tikuney Zohar). When Israel begin to glimpse the form of the Future Temple they will become ashamed of their deeds, and as their shame matures into ever deeper Teshuvah, they will be able to learn the form of the House in order to build it. The Midrash tells: Ezekiel said to the Holy One blessed-be-He: "Master of the World: We are now in exile, and You tell me to go and inform the Jewish People about the plan of the Temple? 'Write it before their eyes, and they will guard all its forms and all its laws and do them.' How can they 'do them'? Leave them until they go out of exile, and then I will tell them." The Holy One blessed-be-He said to Ezekiel: "Just because My children are in exile,

does that mean the building of My House should be halted? Studying the plan of the Temple in the Torah is as great as actually building it. Go and tell them to make it their business to study the form of the Temple as explained in the Torah. As their reward for this study, I will give them credit as if they are actually building the Temple" (Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav #14). THE ALTAR Only after the completion of his main tour of the House and after witnessing the return of God's glory did Ezekiel see the form of the Altar. This is because the Altar is itself a manifestation of the Glory. "The place of the Altar is most precisely aligned and its place may not be changed forever…. It was in this place in the Temple that Isaac our father was bound… It is a tradition in everyone's hand that the place where David and Solomon built the Altar in the threshing floor of Arava was the place where Abraham built the Altar and bound Isaac, and that is the place where Noah sacrificed when he came out of the Ark and this is the Altar upon which Cain and Abel offered and there Adam sacrificed after he was created and from there he was created. Our sages said that Adam was created at the place where he gains atonement. The dimensions of the Altar are very precisely aligned and its form is known by tradition from one man to another. The Altar that the returning Babylonian exiles built was in the form in which the Future Altar will be built, and it is not permitted to add to or subtract from its measurements" (Rambam, Laws of the Temple 2:1-3). The form of the Altar is explained by Rambam (loc. cit.) on the basis of Mishneh Middos 3:1, and is discussed in relation to our present text in Talmud Eiruvin 4a and Menachos 97a. In the words of Ramchal: "The Altar provides a place for all who need to ascend on it. The total height of the Altar is ten cubits built on three distinct levels. The height of the top level is four cubits as is that of the second [or middle] level, while the third [or bottom] level is two cubits high. This is because there is a place here for all the Palaces of the World of Beriyah according to their order of ascent. The top four cubits correspond to Keter , Chochmah and Binah in the Palace known as Holy of Holies, together with Desire [= Tiferet ], which ascends higher than all the others. The middle four cubits correspond to Chesed , Gevurah , Netzach and Hod . The bottom two cubits correspond to Yesod and Malchut , which join together in the Palace of Sapphire Stone . Know that the Supreme Wisdom [ Chochmah ] contains thirty-two pathways under which all things are subsumed: these are the ten Sefirot together with the twenty-two letters of the Aleph-Beit from top to bottom. Correspondingly the Lower Wisdom – Shechinah – is called "Glory" [ KaVoD = 32], because like the Upper Wisdom she too contains thirty-two pathways, only in this case they are ordered from the bottom upwards. Four lights descended from the Shechinah into the World of Beriyah . They are called Glory. When these lights reached their bottom level [i.e. the base ( Yesod ) of the Altar, which is thirty-two cubits square] all thirty-two appeared merged together in one place… (Ramchal). In verses 15f the Altar hearth is called the HAR-EL (="Mount of God") and the ARI-EL (="Lion of God"), alluding to the shape of the crouching lion taken by the consuming Altar fire and to the likeness of the face of the lion (CHESSED) on the Chayos. In verses 18-27 Ezekiel is instructed to consecrate the Altar in order to inaugurate it for daily service. RaDaK commenting on the word "and YOU shall put it" in verse 19, writes: "He is speaking to Ezekiel, who was a Cohen, saying that he should hand the offering to

the priests to offer and he should sprinkle the blood and make atonement on the Altar. For in the future he will be the High Priest, even though Aaron will be there, or he will be his deputy, and this verse also teaches about the revival of the dead in the future." The future Temple service is to be conducted by the line of Cohanim descended from Tzaddok (v 19). This is because he was the first High Priest in Solomon's Temple and he was descended from the sons of Elazar the Priest, because the covenant of the priesthood was given to Elazar's son Pinchas and his seed, while the sons of Ithamar went down on the scale of the priesthood on account of the curse of Eli (RaDaK on Ezekiel 40:48). The ox to be offered as the inaugural sin offering (vv 19-21) parallels the sin offering of the ox at the original inauguration of Aaron and his sons (Menachos 45a) but the sin offering of goats from the second to the seventh day of the future inauguration services (vv 22-26) does not parallel anything at the time of the inauguration of the Sanctuary in the wilderness (Rashi on v 22) but is a new innovation. * * * Ezekiel 43:10-27 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10), which tells how Aaron the High Priest and his sons were to be inaugurated into the priesthood. * * *

Chapter 44 After teaching about the form of the Future Temple and its inauguration services, Ezekiel's prophecy now turns to detailing the regular functioning of the Temple and its ministering priests, the Cohanim. Ezekiel's prophecies were arranged by the Men of the Great Assembly, but some of what he says, particularly in certain places later in the present chapter and in those that follow, raised concern among the sages because he appears to contradict what is written in the Five Books of Moses. They sought to hide away his prophesies – until a certain sage by the name of Hananyah ben Hizkiah hid himself away in an attic with three hundred barrels of oil for light by which to study, until he succeeded in understanding what Ezekiel was saying and how it fitted with what is written in the Torah (Hagigah 13a). In verses 1-2 Ezekiel is set down by the east gate of the Temple building, adjacent to which he is shown the southern side-entrance by the main gate (Middos 4:2) where no man may enter – for the Glory of HaShem passes there – and which is to remain closed except when the NASI sits there to "eat bread", i.e. sacrificial portions. This NASI is "the Cohen Gadol, who because of his importance is permitted to eat the bread and meat of holy offerings in that gateway, which is opened for him when he eats" (Rashi on v 3). Metzudas David (on v 3) states that this NASI is Melech HaMashiach. Ezekiel is then taken to the northern side-entrance, and he sees how the House is filled with the Glory of HaShem (v 4). In the ensuing prophecy in verses 5-8 God tells Ezekiel to take careful note of all the details of the Temple that he has been shown and to warn Israel against the rebellion and abominations that led to the destruction of the First Temple. The "strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh" who had entered there and ministered had not been non-Israelites but rather, those who "made their deeds strange to their Father in Heaven" to the point that not only were they uncircumcised in heart but they did not even circumcise their flesh (see Rashi on v 7, Zevachim 22b). Verses 10ff teach that "the Levites that went far away from Me when Israel went astray after what they went astray" – i.e. Cohanim who had practiced some kind of idolatry, the

descendants of lines other than that of Tzaddok – will have only limited functions in the Future Temple. While they will be permitted to slaughter the sacrificial animals (v 11), this is because a ZAR (non-Cohen) is in any case permitted to carry out the SHECHITAH. However all the ensuing acts of priestly service following the SHECHITAH – receiving the blood, taking it to the Altar and sprinkling it in its proper place – will be barred to these "Levites" and permitted only to the descendants of Tzaddok (vv 15-16). One of the apparent contradictions between Ezekiel and Exodus is that Ezekiel seems to say in verse 17 that "when they come within the gates of the Inner Courtyard, they shall wear garments of linen and no wool shall come upon them" whereas the garments of the High Priest and the ordinary priests as described in Exodus ch 28 specifically include certain mixtures of wool with linen that are otherwise forbidden to be worn (SHA'ATNEZ). The apparent contradiction is resolved the moment we realize that here in Ezekiel the "Inner Courtyard" alludes to the Holy of Holies, and that he is referring to the High Priest on Yom Kippur, who enters there dressed in garments of pure linen (Leviticus 16:4; see Rashi on Ezekiel v 17). Verses 20ff teach special rules that apply to the Cohanim when they serve in the Temple, such as the way they are to cut their hair, the prohibition of consuming wine at the time of their service, and limitations on who they are permitted to marry. These compare with laws given in Parshas Emor (Leviticus 21:1ff etc.). A seeming inconsistency between verse 22 of our present chapter and Leviticus 21:7 & 14 as to whether a Cohen may marry a widow and whether she needs to be that of a Cohen is resolved through careful textual analysis (see Rashi on v 22). Verses 28ff teach that the Cohanim will have no tribal portion in the Land of Israel among the other tribes. Instead they will receive their priestly gifts as taught in the Torah: the priests' share of the meal, sin and guilt offerings, the first fruits, Terumah (the first tithe), Challah (the first portion of the dough) and dedications (CHEREM). Verse 31 stating that the priests may not eat any part of "that which dies of itself (NEVEILAH) or is torn (TEREIFAH), whether it is a bird or beast" could be taken to imply that Israelites who are not priests WILL be permitted to eat NEVEILAH and TEREIFAH – which would contradict the Torah. However, the true intent of the verse is to give a specific warning about this to the priests since in the Temple their way of slaughtering bird sacrifices is not with a knife (SHECHITAH) but with their thumb nail (MELIKAH), which is TREIF to a non-Cohen, and they might wrongly infer that this entitles the Cohanim to eat other kinds of TREIF as well (Menachos 45a). Let us not imagine we can understand everything. "Rabbi Yochanan said: This parshah will be explained by Elijah the Prophet" (ibid.). * * * Ezekiel 44:15-31 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23), which begins with the laws that apply uniquely to the priests. * * *

Chapter 45 "And when you divide the land by lot for inheritance…" (v 1). As Ezekiel's vision of the "Final Settlement" moves towards its conclusion in these final chapters of his book, he now begins to set forth the way in which the Land of Israel will be apportioned between the Temple, the Priests, the Levites, the Nasi and the Twelve Tribes of Israelites at the end of days. The opening section in our present chapter (verses 1-7) deals with the Temple compound, the territories of the Priests and Levites and those of the Nasi. Following this section, the

prophecy digresses to subjects mostly relating to the Temple services before returning to the subject of the boundaries of the Land and its apportionment among the Twelve Tribes from ch 47 v 13 to the end of the book. In order to understand the situation of the territories of the Temple, Priests, Levites and Nasi as described in our present chapter in relation to those of the other tribes, it is necessary to grasp that the future boundaries of the Land of Israel will stretch "from the river to the river", i.e. from the Nile to the Euphrates, as promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18). This is clear from the section on the future boundaries of the Land in Ezekiel 47:13-20. Thus the northern boundary of the Land is on the Mediterranean coast way north of the State of Israel's present-day northern border up in Turkey at HOR HAHAR by the city of Antakya (=ancient Antioch) approximately 38 degrees N of the Equator. The southern boundary of the Land will be at the western arm of the Nile near Port Said. In Ezekiel Chapter 48 we will learn that this entire stretch of land is destined to be divided into a series of thirteen equal strips running from east to west, one under the other from north to south. Each strip will be 25,000 poles (= approximately 80 kilometers) "wide" (i.e. from north to south), while its length (west-east) will be all the way from the western boundary of the Land, i.e. the Mediterranean Sea, to the eastern boundary of the Land. Out of these thirteen strips, the center strip just over midway from north to south – which is the subject of verses 1-7 of our present chapter – will be for the Temple, the Priests and Levites, the City of Jerusalem and the Nasi. Seven of the Twelve Tribes will take their territories in the seven strips to the north of this central strip, while the other five Tribes will take theirs in the five strips to the south, as will be set forth in Chapter 48 (see Rashi on verse 1 of our present chapter). "And when you divide the Land… you shall designate a portion (TERUMAH) to HaShem, a holy area of the land: the length (i.e. east-west) shall be twenty-five thousand poles and the breadth (north-south) shall be ten thousand" (verse 1). This TERUMAH of approximately 80 x 30 kilometers is the choicest (holiest) part of the central strip and will house the Temple itself in an area of 500 x 500 poles (=3000 x 3000 cubits), as set forth in verses 2-3, while the remainder will provide areas for housing for the priests who will minister in the Temple (v 4). South of this TERUMAH strip will be another strip of 25,000 x 10,000 poles providing areas for housing for the Levites (verse 5), and south of the Levites' strip will be a third, narrower strip of 25,000 x 5,000 poles for the City of Jerusalem, where Israelites will be able to have houses (verse 6, see Rashi). Thus the TERUMAH strip of the Temple and priests together with the strips of the Levites and the City of Jerusalem will make up a square of territory 25,000 x 25,000 poles in the center of Israel (Rashi on v 6). The remaining territories of the central strip from the western border of this square to the Mediterranean and from its eastern border to the eastern border of the Land of Israel will be given to the Nasi, the king or leader of the entire people (verse 7). His position will evidently be hereditary (see Rambam, Laws of Kings 1:7) and his lands will be inherited by his descendants (see Metzudas David on Ezekiel ch 46 v 16). By having his own lands in perpetuity, there will be no need for the Nasi to exploit others or expropriate their lands, and this will enable the corruption that characterized the kings of Israel and many of the later kings of Judah (not to speak of Israel's present-day "leaders") to be eradicated forever (verse 9). Verses 10-12 lay down the future units of measurement of solids (the EIPHAH v 10) and liquids (the BATH v 11) and of currency (v 12). For the eradication of corruption and injustice also depends upon fair business dealings, whereas "double standards" bring on Amalek. This is why the Torah commandment about fair weights and measures (Deut.

25:13-16) is followed immediately by the commandment to erase the memory of Amalek forever (ibid. vv 17-19). Verses 13-15 describe the tithes of wheat, barley, oil and lambs which the people will offer in the Temple or for the consumption of the priests. The Nasi will have the responsibility of providing the Temple animal, meal, oil and wine offerings on the festivals, Sabbaths and new moons (v 17). Rashi comments on verse 17: "I say that NASI here refers to the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) and that the same applies wherever the word NASI appears in this subject, but I have heard in the name of Rabbi Menachem that it refers to the king." "Thus says HaShem: In the first month on the first day of the month you shall take a young bullock…" (v 18). Rashi (ad loc.) states that this refers to the ox mentioned earlier (Ez. 43:19) as the inaugural sin-offering in the Temple, and that we thus learn that the inauguration of the Future Temple will take place on the first of the month of Nissan. This supports the opinion of Rabbi Yehoshua that the future redemption will take place in Nissan (see RaDaK on verse 18 of our present chapter). Verses 21-25 deal with the festival sacrifices in the Temple. The resolution of certain apparent discrepancies between our present text and the festival sacrifices as laid down in Leviticus and Deuteronomy is discussed by Rashi on v 22-4.

Chapter 46 "The gate of the Inner Courtyard that looks eastwards shall be shut for the six working days but on the Sabbath it shall be opened…" (v 1). This is the gate of the center courtyard of the Temple. It will be closed during the week because neither the people nor the Nasi will normally come to the Temple on weekdays but only on the Sabbaths and New Moons (cf. Isaiah 66:23). For this reason the east gate will then be opened to enable them to prostrate towards the opening of the Temple and the Holy of Holies (see Metzudas David on v 1). In the words of Ramchal: "The East Gate is a place of the most intense light and power, and cannot be opened for the creatures of the lower worlds except on the Sabbath and the New Moon. This is because it is in direct alignment with the Great Gate, the center column, and must therefore be kept closed. It can only be opened for the Prince, namely the Messianic King. Because of his great strength and paramount importance, this gate will be open for him, but no-one else will be able to enter except on those two days… On these days the Shechinah receives a very great light indeed from Tiferet . For this reason this gate will be opened on these two days and the people will come to prostrate themselves and share its great light" (Ramchal, Mishkney Elyon). Verses 4-8 describe the offerings that the Nasi will bring on behalf of the people on the Sabbaths, New Moons and festivals (see Rashi on vv 4 and 6). Verses 9-10 describe how the people will enter and pass through the Temple precincts when fulfilling the commandment to appear there on the festivals (Ex. 23:17). Normally it is not permitted to take a "short cut" directly through the Temple or through a synagogue, entering on one side and going out on the other (Berachos 62b). But here the text explicitly instructs the people and the Nasi to enter from the north and exit from the south, or vice versa, on the festivals. In the words of Ramchal: "The obligation to appear in the Temple on festivals… has the purpose of reconnecting the branches with their roots three times a year. The roots are

divided into two, one to the right and one to the left. The pilgrims [branches] must enter by one gate, proceed across the Temple and leave by the opposite gate in order for all the roots to be joined to one another and thus become interconnected and unified. When this happens, it is said, 'And who is like your People Israel, one nation in the earth!' (II Samuel 7:23; Ramchal Mishkney Elyon). Verses 11-12 describe the festival and free-will offerings of the Nasi, while verses 13-15 give the details of the daily continual offering in the Temple. Verses 16-18 revert to the subject of the rights of the Nasi over his designated territories, which were described in the previous chapter (Ez. 45:7). The perpetual ownership of these territories by the Nasi and his heirs will obviate the need for them to expropriate the lands of the people and oppress them. Verses 19ff seemingly somewhat abruptly revert to the subject of the form of the Future Temple in a further continuation of Ezekiel's "virtual tour" around its precincts, except that here, the focus is not so much on the structure of the buildings in question as on their function in the Temple rituals. In verse 19 the prophet is again shown the three storey chambers running parallel with the Temple building on its north (and south) sides which he described in ch 14 vv 1-14. Here he is informed that the purpose of these chambers is to provide a place for the priests to prepare (and eat) their holy of holies (KODSHEI KODSHIM) sacrificial portions (v 20). In the final stage of his "virtual tour" of the Temple before its astounding climax in the next chapter, Ezekiel is shown four chambers in the four corners of the Outer Courtyard corresponding to the four unroofed "chambers" in the four corners of the Ezras Nashim in the First and Second Temples. The purpose of those in the Future Temple is somewhat different: they will provide places for the priests and the people to consume their portions of "light holy" sacrifices (KODSHIM KALIM), which have a lesser stringency than the KODSHEI KODSHIM of the priests (see RaDaK on v 24). * * * The passage in Ezekiel 45:16-46:18 is read as the Haftara on Shabbos Parshas HaChodesh prior to or on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, when in addition to the weekly parshah the section in Exodus 12:1-19 is also read * * *

Chapter 47 "AND A FOUNTAIN SHALL GO FORTH FROM THE HOUSE OF HASHEM" Just like Ezekiel in our present chapter, the prophet Joel had already prophesied that at the end of days, "a fountain shall go forth from the House of HaShem" (Joel 4:18). Likewise the prophet Zechariah, a younger contemporary of Ezekiel's who according to one opinion was his student, also prophesied in his vision of the war of Gog and Magog that when the Mount of Olives splits, "it shall be on that day that living waters will go forth from Jerusalem, half of them towards the eastern sea (Yam HaMelach, the "Dead" Sea) and half of them towards the western sea (the Mediterranean)" (Zechariah 14:8; see RaDaK ad loc.). At the climactic conclusion of Ezekiel's "virtual tour" of the Future Temple, he is now shown these living waters emerging from the under the threshold of the Temple. "First he saw the water emerging from under the threshold of the House, which is in the middle of the east side of the House, and afterwards the water turned southwards and went down from the southern shoulder of the gate of the Sanctuary. It is possible that it was coming out of the southern side-door of the gate, by which no man ever entered the House. The

water went down south of the Altar and flowed out of the Inner Courtyard and from there out of the city" (RaDaK on v 1). The Talmudic rabbis taught that "this stream originated in the Holy of Holies. At first it was as thin as the antenna of a locus. When it came to the entrance of the Sanctuary it was the thickness of a weft thread. When it reached the gate of the Vestibule it was as thick as a warp thread. When it came to the gate of the Inner Courtyard it became as wide as the mouth of a small bottle…" (Yoma 77a). The angel guiding Ezekiel takes him out of the north gate of the Inner Courtyard into the Outer Courtyard, bringing him around to the outer gate of the east side to watch the waters flowing out of the Temple precincts (v 2). By the time the angel went out and measured a thousand cubits from the Temple wall (even the flow of the waters of CHESSED is precisely measured with GEVURAH) the waters were already ankle-deep (v 3). By the time he measured another thousand cubits they were knee-deep (v 4), and after measuring another thousand, they were up to his loins. Soon the waters became a river so deep that it was dangerous to wade through and even to swim across would be impossible (v 5). In the short time between the angel's having brought Ezekiel out and his taking him back, many trees had sprung up on both banks of the river. "And he said to me, these waters are going out towards the eastern region and go down into the Aravah, and on their entering the sea, the sea of issuing waters, the waters shall be healed" (v 8). Our sages taught: "Where were the waters going? To the sea of Tiberius (=the Aravah) and the sea of Sodom (Yam Hamelach, the first 'sea' in the verse) and to the Great Sea (=the Mediterranean, the 'sea of issuing waters, from where they will go out to the oceans of the world) to heal their salty waters and sweeten them" (Tosefta of Succah 3:3). Whereas previously these seas could not support many life forms because of their saltiness, they will in future support an abundant diversity of fish because "when these waters come there they will be healed and everything shall live wherever the river comes" (v 9). According to tradition, the souls of Tzaddikim are incarnated in fish, who will doubtless rejoice in swimming in the great sea of wisdom! "But its miry places and its marshes shall not be healed…" – and why? Because "…they shall be given for salt" (v 11; Rashi ad loc. See Ramchal quoted below). The many wonderful fruit trees on the banks of this amazing river are reminiscent of all the kinds of trees that were "pleasant to behold and good for food" which God caused to sprout in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). Every month these trees will produce a new harvest of ripe fruits (Rashi on v 12 of our present chapter). "The fruits will be for food and the leaves for medicine (LI-TERUPHAH)" (v 12) – a medicine "to release the mouth (LE-HATIR PEH) of the dumb, and to release the mouth of the barren women" (Sanhedrin 100a. LE-HATIR PEH, "to release the mouth", is a rearrangement of the letters of LI-TERUPHAH in our verse. See Likutey Moharan I, 60). In the words of the concluding passage of Ramchal's MISHKNEY ELYON on the form of the Future Temple: By the entrance to the Inner House is a small path where the sweetest waters flow. These waters come from the innermost place of delight, a place of the most powerful Mercy [ Rachamim ]. For that reason, as these waters come out, their direction of flow is to the south [ Chesed ]. They then flow out of the Temple. Where to? This is explained in the verse: "… And they will come into the sea, into the sea of the putrid waters, and the

waters shall be healed" (Ezekiel 47:8). For their mission is to heal all gatherings of water from their saltiness by means of the tremendous mercy they contain. These waters are not the same as the basic sustenance given to enable all things to subsist, but rather a most precious light that shines from the Holy of Holies in order to temper the severity of Gevurah in any place where it is strong. Even so, it says: "But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will serve to supply salt" (ibid. v. 11) . For some Gevurah is needed in the world, and this is the significance of the salt required with all sacrifices. For this reason "they will serve to supply salt", and this is why some was left. If it were not so, Mercy would spread out on every side and all the powers of Gevurah would disappear. In the time of the Mashiach mercy will spread throughout the world, and all things will be rectified and brought to perfection. All the lights will shine with a radiance unlike anything ever known. Holiness will spread without bounds, and all the worlds will be filled with serenity, bliss and joy, as it says: "This is the day that God made, we will rejoice and be glad on it" (Psalms 118:24). THE FUTURE BOUNDARIES OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL Verses 13-20 trace the boundaries of the Land of Israel in the Final Settlement and parallel and complement the description of the boundaries of the Land in Numbers 34:1-12. It should be noted that the boundaries of the Land of Israel given in both of these texts are those of the Land of Canaan – the land of the seven Canaanite nations west of the River Jordan that God gave to Israel – but do not include the territories of Sichon king of the Emorites and Og king of Bashan east of the Jordan (the Gilead, the Golan etc.), which already came into the possession of Israel in the time of Moses. Nor do they include the territories of Moab, Ammon and Edom (all in the present-day state of Jordan ), which are destined to come into Israel 's possession at the end of days in accordance with God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:19 see Rashi ad loc. and Rashi on verse 18 of our present chapter). There are varying opinions about the identity of some of the locations marking the boundaries as mentioned in our text. These opinions are set forth together with a supporting map in the Talmudic Encyclopedia Vol 2 s.v. Eretz Israel. As discussed in the KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on Ezekiel chapter 45, the western boundary of Israel is the Mediterranean Sea, and the northwest boundary of the Land is marked by the great mountain spur that comes down into the Mediterranean near the town of Antakya in what is presently Turkey. From there the northern border runs eastwards until it turns south to encompass large parts of present-day Syria , the whole of present-day Lebanon and all of Israel west of the River Jordan. The southern end of the eastern boundary of the land is marked by Tamar way south in Israel's Negev, from where the border turns westwards to meet the Mediterranean at the western arm of Egypt's Nile River, or at the very least at Wadi El Arish. This is the land that is to be divided among the Twelve Tribes of Israel, as set forth in the next chapter. Verses 22-23 state clearly that the righteous proselytes (GERIM) who have entered the community of Israel will also receive their share of the Land for themselves and their offspring in the territory of the tribe among whom they live.

Chapter 48 The section contained in verses 1-29 of the present chapter sets forth the location of the tribal inheritances of the Twelve Tribes in the Final Settlement in relation to the TERUMAH "tithe" of land in the center of the country that will be for the Temple, the Cohen-priests and Levites, the City of Jerusalem and the Nasi.

As discussed in the KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on Ezekiel chapter 45, the entire Land of Israel will be divided into a series of thirteen strips of territory each running from the eastern boundary of the land to the west western boundary and each 25,000 poles (appx. 80 kilometers) "wide" (i.e. from north to south). These strips will be arranged one below the other from the northern border of the Land all the way down to its southern border (see Rashi on verse 1 of our present chapter). In verses 1-8 we learn that seven tribes will have their territories north of the TERUMAH area of the Temple, Priests, Levites. City of Jerusalem and Nasi, which is the subject of verses 9-22. Then in verses 23-28 we learn that the other five tribes will have their territories to the south of this area. This division of the Land among the tribes in equal strips is radically different from its division in the days of Joshua, when the size of each tribe's inheritance was related to the size of its population, and in several cases a number of tribes took their inheritances side by side in a row running from east to west, which meant that some tribes were in mountainous territories with no access to the sea, while others were in valleys or lowlands by the coast etc. In the words of the Talmudic sages: "Not like its division in this world will be the division of the Land in the world to come. In this world a man who possesses a field for land crops may not possess a fruit orchard while one who has a fruit orchard may not have a field for land crops. But in the world to come there will be nobody who does not have a share in the mountains, the lowlands and the valley, as it is written, 'the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levy, one…' (Ez. 48:31). And the Holy One blessed be He himself will give them their portions, as it says, 'and these are their portions says HaShem'" (Ez. 48:29; Bava Basra 122a). There are also some noteworthy differences between the locations of some of the tribes in the north (GEVURAH) and south (CHESSED) of the country in the division of the land under Joshua and their locations in the Final Settlement. The first three tribes mentioned in our text, who will take their portions in the three northernmost strips of the Land, are Dan, Asher and Naphtali, all three of whom did indeed take their portions in the northernmost part of the territories conquered in the days of Joshua. But whereas Zevulun and Issachar took territories immediately to their south in the time of Joshua, in the Future Settlement they will no longer be north of Jerusalem but south: they will take the two strips immediately adjacent to that of the southernmost of all the tribes – Gad. In place of Issachar and Zevulun in the north will be Menasheh and Ephraim. South of Ephraim will be Reuben, who in the time of Joshua did not have any portion in the Land of Israel west of the Jordan as the tribe of Reuben, together with Gad and half the tribe of Menasheh, took their portion in the territories east of the Jordan conquered in the days of Moses. An interesting switch is that Judah, who originally took virtually the entire country SOUTH of Jerusalem will in the future be immediately NORTH of the TERUMAH strip of the Temple, Priests and Levites etc. while Benjamin, who was originally in the territories NORTH of Jerusalem, will in the future be to its SOUTH. South of Benjamin will be the tribe of Shimon, who did not even have their own territory in the time of Joshua but were absorbed in the territory of Judah. This was because the tribe of Shimon had been under a cloud since the time when Jacob cursed Shimon after he and Levy slew the men of Shechem, and especially since the time of Moses, who did not even bless Shimon on account of the prince of that tribe having flouted his authority by taking a Midianite woman. The restoration of the tribe of Shimon in the Final Settlement signifies the complete rectification of Israel in time to come. Verses 9-14 demarcate the exact measurements of the TERUMAH of 25,000 x 25,000 poles of land and those of its constituent areas: (1) That of the priests – a strip of 25,000 x 10,000 poles running east-west with the Temple in the middle, vv 10-12. (2) That of the

Levites immediately to its south – likewise in a strip of 25,000 x 10,000 poles running east-west, vv 13-14. (3) That of the City of Jerusalem, which was for Israelites from all the tribes – a narrower strip of 25,000 x 5,000 poles containing the city itself, which will be 4,500 x 4,500 poles surrounded on all four sides by open land 250 poles wide, i.e. a square of 5,000 x 5,000 poles touching the boundaries of its strip on the north and south sides, with two strips of 10,000 x 5,000 to its east and west providing lands for farming and support for the people in the city, vv 15-19. As stated above, these three areas make up a square of 25,000 x 25,000 poles, while the areas from the eastern side of this square to the eastern boundary of Israel and from its western side to the sea will be for the Nasi, v 21. "AND THESE ARE THE EXITS OF THE CITY…" The closing section of Ezekiel's prophecy (vv 30-35) describes the Twelve Gates of the City corresponding to the Twelve Sons of Jacob. The tribe of Levites (of which the Cohen-priests are a part) are not included in the apportionment of the Land of Israel among the Twelve Tribes as they will have their own areas in the TERUMAH territory. In the absence of the tribe of Levy from the apportionment of the Land, Joseph's sons Menasheh and Ephraim both attained the status of full tribes, as indicated in Ezekiel 47:13, in order to make up the tally of twelve. But in taking their places at the twelve gates of the Holy City, three on each of its four sides, the twelve sons of Jacob are all equal. The "bed" and resting place of Jacob, perfect of the fathers – the Holy Temple – is at last complete, and each of his twelve sons has his own unique gate of ascent, prayer and devotion as part of the overall unity. Everything is peace and perfection – complete TIKKUN, repair and rectification. "And the name of the city from that day shall be: HaShem is there" (v 35). And may it be the will of our Father in Heaven to quickly bring about His redemption in kindness and mercy, "And the city will be built on its hill and the palace will sit in its appointed place" (Jeremiah 30:18) speedily in our days. Amen!

Book of Daniel Chapter 1 There could be few better introductions to the book of Daniel than the opening words of R. Avraham Ibn Ezra's commentary thereon: "This is the book of the man greatly beloved, in which the most glorious of things are spoken, with prophecies some of which have already come about and others that are still destined to come about. Each thing is expressed with brevity in mysteries and riddles, while its secrets reside with the angels above – secrets that stand upon all the foundational elements – and its commentators have not succeeded in penetrating its secret. Each one explains as far as his hand reaches, but the feet of all of them are unsteady when it comes to the time of the destined end…" The rabbis said: "If all the wise men of the nations of the world were on one side of the scale and Daniel on the other, he would outweigh them all" (Yoma 77a). Daniel himself was considered not a PROPHET (NAVEE) but a wise and saintly SAGE (HACHAM), yet he saw what even the prophets did not see" (Sanhedrin 93b; see Daniel 10:7). From the point of view of historical narrative, the book of Daniel takes up the story of the exile of Judah in Babylon from time of the first phase of the exile, which took place under King Yeho-yakim, as told in II Kings ch 24. This was eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple and, together with the exile of Yeho-yakim's son Yeho-yachin a year later, brought to Babylon the very flower of the Judean population, including all those righteous Judeans who heeded the message of the prophets of the time and accepted the decree of exile with resignation instead of trying to fight it. Nebuchadnezzar was a ruthless but highly complex and very deep world ruler who was determined to use the minds and intellects of the very cream of the captive Judeans to serve his needs in governing and expanding his empire. "Because you did not serve HaShem your God… you shall serve your enemies" (Deut. 28:47). "If you had been worthy, you would have been called My servants, but now that you have not been worthy, you are servants of Nebuchadnezzar and his companions" (Yalkut Shimoni). Nebuchadnezzar ordered his chief minister to choose an elite of good-looking, super-intelligent and wise Judean children who would be well fed and specially educated for service in his court. One of the requirements was that "they must have the ability to stand in the palace of the king" (v 4). The Talmud picturesquely explains this to mean that they would have to be able to control themselves so as not to laugh, chat or fall asleep during lengthy court sessions as well as holding themselves in if they felt the need to relieve themselves (Rashi ad loc., Sanhedrin 93b). Daniel was determined not to defile and sully himself with the royal food that was provided for these privileged Judean captive children, exemplifying the very first rule of Jewish spiritual survival in exile: METICULOUS OBSERVANCE OF THE LAWS

OF KASHRUS (spiritual purity of food). Daniel and his companions understood that the food we ingest nourishes not only our physical bodies but fuels and influences our very minds and souls. They knew that ingesting the royal food, whose ingredients and methods of preparation went contrary to Torah law, would corrupt their subtlest spiritual sensitivities and indeed their entire outlook on everything, destroying their Jewish purity. With a courage comparable to that of Joseph in his years of captivity in Egypt, they secured the agreement of the king's catering officer to test them out on a diet of vegetables and water for ten days in what must have been one of the first macrobiotic experiments in history. They had astounding success, proving healthier than all the other children who did eat the king's food. When Daniel and his companions were finally taken before Nebuchadnezzar, they brought about a great sanctification of the Name of God even in exile, showing that it was precisely the Torah-observant Jewish captives who outweighed all the sages, wizards and diviners of the Babylonian empire. The closing verse of our present chapter (v 21) which tells us that Daniel remained in a position of influence until "the first year of King Koresh (=Cyrus)", is open to a variety of interpretations (see Rashi ad loc.) Some rabbis held that Daniel retained his influence only until the reign of Koresh I, who ruled before Ahashverosh, while others held that he remained until the reign of Koresh II (=Darius II) who ruled after Ahashverosh (Megillah 15a). The chronology of the empires that succeeded that of Babylon will be discussed in later commentaries.

Chapter 2 Although the dream of Nebuchadnezzar is dated in our text as having taken place in "the second year of the reign (MALCHUS, kingship) of Nebuchadnezzar…" (v 1), Rashi (ad loc.) points out that this cannot be taken literally since Daniel was not yet in Bablyon. What the text means is that this was in the second year after the destruction of the Temple, for then Nebuchadnezzar attained the height of temporal, unholy MALCHUS when he displayed his brazen arrogance in entering into the Sanctuary of the King of the Universe. After his dream, "his spirit was troubled", VATITH-PA'EM RUHO. Nebuchadnezzar's dream is compared to Pharaoh's dream of the seven cows and seven ears of corn, except that in Pharaoh's case, it says VATI-PA'EM RUHO (Gen. 41:8), whereas in the case of Nebuchadnezzar the grammatical form of the Hebrew verb is the "doubled" HITPA'EL – VATI TH -PA'EM implying double trouble, because on waking up, Pharaoh forgot the interpretation but did remember the dream, whereas Nebuchadnezzar forgot both the interpretation AND THE DREAM ITSELF. Metzudas David on verse 2 explains that the HARTOUMIM that Nebuchadnezzar summoned to tell him what he had dreamed and what it meant were experts in natural sciences and psychological explanations of dreams while the ASHAPHIM were medical doctors who understood how bodily changes are reflected in the pulse, urine etc. The MECHASHPHIM were astrologers who used the positions of planets etc. in interpreting various phenomena including dreams, while the KASDIM were experts in the constellations and could understand a person's destiny by knowing the hour at which he was born. Rashi (on Daniel 1:20) says the HARTOUMIM used to use human bones for divination. In response to Nebuchadnezzar's outlandish demand to be told the very dream that he himself had forgotten, the KASDIM, who had the reputation for being the most deeply immersed in the occult arts as well as the cruellest, switched into speaking Aramaic – the lingua franca of Mesopotamia and Syria – so that everyone present

should be able to understand and see how ridiculous the king's demand was in order to shame him into backtracking. Much of the rest of the book of Daniel is written in the same courtly Aramaic, with its very stately cadences and a style somewhat more ornate than the classic chiseled simplicity of biblical Hebrew. The KASDIM explained to the king that he was asking for something far too weighty "and there is no one else (AHARAN) who can tell the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh" (v 11). The Midrash states that (by reading the letter HET of AHARAN as a HEH) the KASDIM were saying that "there is no AHARON" – i.e. the only person who could have told the king his dream would have been AHARON the High Priest – i.e. the High Priest of the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem, who could have consulted the URIM VE-THUMIM. Nebuchadnezzar was enraged because those same KASDIM had advised him to destroy the Temple, and this is why he now ordered them all to be killed (Rashi on v 11). The decree extended to all the wise men in Babylon, including Daniel and his companions Hananiyah, Misha'el and Azariah, but through the power of their sanctity and prayer and Daniel's exalted holiness, God revealed the secret of the dream to him. Like Joseph when he explained to Pharaoh the meaning of his dream, Daniel emphasized to Nebuchadnezzar that God alone had the power to reveal the dream and its meaning to him – as if Daniel himself were a mere channel (v 27): Daniel's whole purpose was to SANCTIFY THE NAME OF GOD. With the collapse of the Davidic kingdom of holiness as a temporal world power, the MALCHUS had fallen to the KELIPOS ("husks"), of which – after Pharaoh king of Egypt – Nebuchadnezzar was the golden HEAD. Thus in the second year after the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar in his dream envisaged HIMSELF and all that would come after him until the end of time as the unholy MALCHUS worked its way through to the end of its internal logic, leading eventually to its own destruction by the MALCHUS of MASHIACH (the stone that smashes the statue). We are blessed to have very great rabbinic commentators on the book of Daniel. Besides Rashi and Metzudas David, the standard classical commentators, we also have the outstanding commentary of RABENU SA'ADIA GAON (892-942, Egypt and Israel) and that of R. Avraham IBN EZRA, both of which provide crucial insights into the meaning of the imagery in Daniel's visions. All the commentators are agreed that the golden head of the statue is Nebuchadnezzar while the silver chest and arms are the empires of Medea and Persia that followed (as we will read later on in Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah and also in Esther). All are agreed that the bronze belly and thighs allude to the Greek empire that started with the conquests of Alexander of Macedon. R. Sa'adia Gaon states that some commentators identified the iron legs exclusively with Aram (= Edom , Rome ), but he takes issue with this as it leaves no room for the empire of Ishmael. He himself endorses the view that the fourth kingdom is divided between Aram (iron) and Ishmael (clay). As to their being "iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men": this signifies that Jewish seed will be mixed in with these peoples as will the seed of many other peoples living with them – except that they will not be truly attached to one another just as iron and clay don't hold together. [We can see aspects of this end-of-time prediction in today's kind-of alliance between Britain-U.S.A. and Saudi Arabia etc. The degree of intermingling of Jewish seed in many nations can be gauged from today's rates of intermarriage and assimilation.]

All the commentators are agreed that the stone that smashes the statue (v 34-5) – which Daniel explains as the MALCHUS that will never ever be destroyed – is the MALCHUS of Melech HaMashiach that we are awaiting soon in our times. On hearing Daniel tell him his dream and its meaning, both of which Nebuchadnezzar knew but had forgotten, the king fell down to worship him like a god – but Daniel refused to be treated as a god and did not accept the king's gifts, because Daniel knew that God exacts retribution not only from idol worshippers but also from the gods they worship (Bereishis Rabbah 96).

Chapter 3 Having heard Daniel's interpretation of his dream – that the empires of the nations would be destroyed while the kingdom of Israel would endure – Nebuchadnezzar was determined to make Israel stumble and find a way to destroy them, and this was why he immediately built his golden idol (R. Sa'adiah Gaon). ARI explains that the idol was SIXTY CUBITS HIGH corresponding to the six main Sefiros of ChessedGevurah-Tiferes-Netzach-Hod-Yesod, each of which is composed of all ten Sefiros (6 x 10=60). Nebuchadnezzar sought to turn the Kindness of Zeir Anpin into severe Judgment (Sefer HaLikutim, Daniel). It is said that he chose to erect his idol in the Valley of Doura (v 1) because this was where Adam's buttocks were formed. R. Saadia Gaon states that the Valley was full of the bones of Israelite exiles from the tribe of Ephraim who had been slain by the KASDIM, and the king wanted to frighten all his subjects into submission. In revenge for Nebuchadnezzar's brazen arrogance, God commanded Ezekiel to bring the dry bones back to life in this same Valley of Doura (Sanhedrin 92b). It seems as if Nebuchadnezzar wanted to establish a new world religion, which would explain why he brought together such an huge array of officials and representatives of so many different lands (v 2). For the jubilant inauguration of his idol he assembled an enormous symphony orchestra: the list of the many different kinds of instruments includes many that had formerly been played in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Chaldean slanderers who denounced Daniel's three companions, Hananiya (Shadrakh), Misha'el (Meishakh) and Azaria (Abad-nego), to Nebuchadnezzar were jealous of the fact that at Daniel's request they had been appointed to supervise all the royal ministers (Daniel 2:49). When Nebuchadnezzar threatened the three with burning in his furnace and arrogantly asked them, "Which god will save you from my hands?" (v 15), they replied without hesitation that the God they served had the power to save them, and that even if He did not – for they did not rely on their own merits or on miracles – they would still not worship Nebuchadnezzar's idol. In other words they were ready to sacrifice themselves even without being saved. In the words of the Midrash, the three companions told Nebuchadnezzar: "When it comes to all the various taxes you impose on us you are king, but if you are telling us to worship idols, you and a dog are just the same and you are no king" (Yalkut Shimoni). It was this that enraged the king (v 19) causing him to have the furnace stoked sevenfold… The fourth figure that Nebuchadnezzar saw walking unscathed through the fire was the angel Gabriel, "who was following after the three companions like a student after his teacher, to teach you that the Tzaddikim are

greater than the ministering angels! When Nebuchadnezzar saw the angel Gabriel, he immediately recognized him and all his limbs quaked and trembled. He said, This is the angel I saw in Sennacherib's war, and he appeared like a river of fire that burned up his entire camp" (Yalkut Shimoni). Nebuchadnezzar's recognition of the saving power of HaShem was a great SANCTIFICATION OF HIS NAME during the very exile of Israel – and as we see from vv 31ff, Nebuchadnezzar wrote a letter to all the people's of his empire praising the supreme God. A number of the beautiful Aramaic phrases from this letter are woven into the Shabbos table song KAH RIBON found in most Siddurs and collections of Shabbos Zemiros.

Chapter 4 In order to interpret yet another of his mysterious and terrifying dreams, Nebuchadnezzar felt obliged to turn again to Daniel, "…because I know that the spirit of the Holy God is with you and no secret is withheld from you" (v 6). The essential moral of the dream is that man's pride – a trait associated with human MALCHUS, kingship, government, power – is an affront to God, Who brings down and humbles the mighty in order to teach them that everything they have is only His gift. Nebuchadnezzar had ascended to the greatest heights as a conqueror and ruler of a world empire. He had built up Babylon as an enormous metropolis whose magnificent buildings were the very wonder of the world. But he said in his heart, "My power and the strength of my hand has made for me all this might" (Deut. 8:17). He had to learn the same lesson that we all have to learn: that no matter what we may have achieved, whether materially or spiritually, there is no place for vanity and arrogance because everything we have has been given to us by God not because of our own intrinsic worth or merit but only through His kindness and compassion. The great tree in Nebuchadnezzar's dream with its beautiful branches and abundant fruit providing food for all, shade for all the animals and branches for all the birds, was none other than the king himself, who is the PARNASS – provider of livelihood and sustenance for all. Thus MALCHUS is called the PARNASS, source of PARNASSAH. It was Rabbi Nachman of Breslov who revealed that the angel that came to cut down Nebuchadnezzar's mighty MALCHUS and teach him the lesson of his life was a manifestation of the soul and spirit of RASHBI – Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the outstanding kabbalistic treasure, the holy Zohar. In verse 10, "a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven", the initial letters of the Hebrew words, E-ER VKADEESH M-IN SH-EMAYA NA-HEES, are an anagram of the name Shim'on (Preface to Likutey Moharan Part I). To teach Nebuchadnezzar his lesson and humble his arrogant heart, he was to be literally cast down from his kingship and transformed into a beast living wild with the animals eating grass and moistened with dew. Stripped of his human intellect and sensibilities, he would have the heart of a beast for seven years. The decree against Nebuchadnezzar is reminiscent of the similar decree against his counterpart on the side of holiness, King Solomon, who was tricked by Ashmodai ("Asmodeus") king of the demons into giving him his protective ring, after which

the demon king banished Solomon from his kingdom forcing him to wander for years until he was restored (Targum and Rashi on Ecclesiastes 1:12; Sanhedrin 20b). King Solomon recorded the moral of what he learned about the world during his period of humiliating banishment in the last work of his life, Ecclesiastes. Daniel spelled out the essential lesson that Nebuchadnezzar was to learn from his banishment here in our chapter, v 22: "You will be driven from men and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field… until you know that the Supreme God rules over the kingdom of men and that He gives it to whoever He pleases". Ordinary citizens like ourselves should also learn from this that it is God who has appointed all of the world leaders of today, and He alone decides whom to raise up and whom to bring down. Instead of complaining about our "leaders" we should ask what we can do to improve things in the realm where we have influence: the spiritual realm. Each one should also take to heart the existential message of this chapter to all men – for there comes a time when each one of us must meet our end, and the body goes back to the earth from which it came and the soul returns to her Maker. Having interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel advised him to redeem his sins with charity. The rabbis taught that Daniel was punished for advising the wicked Nebuchadnezzar how to save himself, because "Charity elevates a People (= Israel), but the kindness of the nations is a sin" (Proverbs 14:34). "All the kindness that the idolatrous nations perform is accounted to them as a sin because they do it only in order for their power to endure" (Bava Basra 10b). Some say Daniel's penalty was to be thrown into the lions den, while others say that Daniel is identical with Hathakh (Esther 4:6 & 9) who was killed by Haman (Bava Basra 4a). For a whole year Nebuchadnezzar gave charity to support the exiles from Judea, who had been reduced to begging (Rashi on v 24) but one time he heard the noise of the crowds of poor people he had agreed to support and he regretted not having used the money to embellish Babylon even more grandiosely. He decided to stop giving charity (Rashi on v 25), and: "At the end of twelve months he was walking in the palace… and said, Is this not great Babylon that I have built up by the might of my power…" (v 27). No sooner had the words left his mouth than the decree as foretold in his dream was fulfilled exactly as Daniel had interpreted it, and Nebuchadnezzar was banished from his kingdom until he learned the truth.

Chapter 5 According to the dating system of Midrash Seder Olam, Nebuchadnezzar had come to power in Babylon in 3319 (-441 B.C.E.) and ruled for 45 years until his death in 3364 (396 B.C.E.). He was succeeded by his son Eveel Merodakh, who ruled for 23 years, after which Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar's second son (Rashi on v 1), ruled for two years until 3389 (371 B.C.E.) It was in that year that Darius king of Medea fought against Belshazzar, killed him and captured Babylon, as recorded in the closing verse of our present chapter (v 30). Thus Babylon ruled for a total of 70 years. Rashi (on verse 1) says, "We find in Josephus that Belshazzar fought against Darius the Mede and Cyrus (Darius' son-in-law) by day and conquered them in battle, and in the evening he made his great feast, and it was during the meal that his enemies returned and fought against the city and conquered it."

Nebuchadnezzar may have learned God's lesson, but he failed to teach it to his son Belshazzar, who at the height of his drunken jubilation over his imagined victory ordered the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to be brought out for use in his idolatrous feast. THE ORIGINAL WRITING ON THE WALL The mysterious message of doom that appeared on the walls of Belshazzar's palace at the height of the banquet was inscribed by the fingers of a frightening humanlooking hologram of a hand. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b-22a) brings a variety of opinions about why neither the king nor any of the Chaldean sages, wizards, astrologers, necromancers or other diviners could decipher the writing. One is that the script in which the Torah scroll was written changed in the days of Ezra (which were now beginning with the demise of Babylon) and no-one knew the new script. Other opinions hold that in any case the message was written in the ATBASH cipher (where Aleph is replaced with Tav, Beit with Shin, etc.). It would appear that since the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel had been relegated to a position of lesser influence, but now while everybody panicked, the Queen (Mother?) suddenly remembered the divinely-gifted grace-crowned Daniel, who was summoned to foretell the imminent first stage in the collapse of Nebuchadnezzar's dream-image of gold, silver, copper, iron and clay as he had originally interpreted it (Chapter 2) – the fall of the golden head, Babylon. Daniel rejected the gifts of purple robes, gold chains and rule over one third of the empire that Belshazzar offered him in return for deciphering the message. Daniel did everything not for gain but only LI-SHMOH, in order to sanctify the Name of God. Despite the fact that in speaking to Belshazzar he knew he was addressing another world autocrat no less arrogant and ruthless than his father, Daniel did not shrink from delivering his message of reproof and doom. After reminding Belshazzar of the forgotten lesson learned by Nebuchadnezzar, he says, "You his son Belshazzar… have not humbled your heart…" (v 22). "You took the Temple vessels and used them to praise gods of silver and gold, copper, iron, wood and stone that do not see or hear or know anything, but you gave no honor to God, in Whose hands are your soul and all your ways" (v 23). Each generation has to learn the same lesson again. The days of Babylonian supremacy had been numbered and were now complete. Belshazzar had been weighed in the scales and found wanting, and the Babylonian empire therefore broke in pieces as the ascendant star of Medea rose over the world.

Chapter 6 Darius the Mede conquered Babylon in 3389 (371 B.C.E.) and thus the center of power moved northeast across from Babylon to the Medean capital of Ahmatha (present-day Hamadan in western Iran approximately midway between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf). Darius ruled for only one year before he was killed, after which the center of power moved again, this time to neighboring Persia, with its capital in Persopolis (near present-day Shiraz in south west Iran). Our text (v 1) notes that Darius was sixty-two when he took power, from which we may learn that he was born in the same year that Nebuchadnezzar took King Yehoyachin of Judah into exile in Babylon: thus at the very moment that Nebuchadnezzar was building his empire, God had already prepared its nemesis! (Rashi ad loc.)

Darius was another world emperor, although apparently somewhat mellower than the cruel, ruthless tyrants who preceded him. Our present chapter gives us something of a feel for the extensive governmental apparatus of satraps and presidents that was necessary to rule over this patchwork empire consisting of peoples of so many different cultures and languages. Daniel, who had foretold the downfall of Belshazzar's Babylon at the hands of Darius and who immediately became the latter's favorite advisor, was appointed to supervise the entire apparatus, being placed above all the satraps and their presidents – which caused intense jealousy on their part. It is a sign of the balance of power that prevailed in Darius' regime that the satraps and presidents were not only capable of getting their own legislation passed (vv 8-10) but could even force the king to keep to their laws against his will (v 16). Having failed to find anything incriminating in Daniel's personal conduct, these prototypical anti-Semites decided to catch him out on religious grounds by instituting a new personality-cult religion based on emperor worship that predated Roman emperor worship and Christianity by about four hundred years. The satraps and presidents of Medea legislated a new political correctness that forbade anybody to pray to any other god except the emperor. Quite unfazed, Daniel continued the life of prayer that he had always followed both in his childhood in Jerusalem and ever since he went into exile. Three times a day he would face in the direction of the place of the Temple in Jerusalem, kneeling down to bless, pray and give thanks to God through open windows (v 12). This text is one of the main biblical sources of the laws of prayer (Berachos 31a) including the law that a synagogue should have windows (preferably twelve). After Daniel was caught praying to the true God and thereby contravening the new law of Persia and Medea that gave the emperor a monopoly on receiving worship, even King Darius was unable to rescue his wise and beloved favorite from being thrown into the lions' den. Beside himself with worry, Darius could not bring himself to eat or sleep and rose with the first light of morning full of foreboding – only to find that Daniel was alive and well, sitting among the peaceful, entranced lions, whose mouths had been closed by God's angel (v 23). This miracle was another tremendous SANCTIFICATION OF GOD'S NAME that lives on in a story that has been told and retold from generation to generation. The righteous were redeemed while the wicked slanderers who tried to denounce Daniel got their just deserts and suffered the very penalty they tried to inflict on him, being torn to pieces by the lions. [Compare Rabbi Nachman's story of Kaptzin Pasha at http://www.azamra.org/Essential/kaptzin.htm ] It is a sign of the enlightened atmosphere that prevailed thereafter under Darius (as under Cyrus of Persia, who followed him) that Darius wrote to all the provinces of his empire telling everyone to revere the God of Daniel, Who "delivers and rescues and works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth…" (v 28).

Chapter 7 "There is no before and after in the Torah". The dreams of Daniel recounted in the present chapter are dated to "the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon" (v 1) which was prior to his overthrow by Darius the Mede who was the central character in the previous chapter.

Daniel is not considered as one of the prophets, yet his dreams and visions reach to the most sublime heights of the universe. The present vision beginning with the four winds churning up the great sea (=Binah, the Sea of Wisdom comprising the 50 – YaM – Gates of Understanding) encompasses the entire sweep of world history from the ascendancy of Babylon until the end of time and the rule of Melekh HaMashiah. A single stone lion is all that remains today in the ruins of ancient Babylon in Iraq to testify to the lost glory of that fallen empire. Many similar carved images of all kinds of fearsome beasts must have adorned the Babylonian capital in its heyday, and these would have helped make the imagery in Daniel's account of his dream of monsters even more real and graphic in the minds of those who heard them in his time and afterwards. Rashi on verse 4 brings proof texts from Jeremiah 4:7 and 48:40 associating the first monster – the lion with eagle's wings – with the empire of Babylon itself, which in the time of Belshazzar was just about to have its wings clipped and get cut down to size. The second monster, in the form of a bear, is associated with Persia – then in the ascendant – since "the Persians eat and drink like a bear and are wrapped in a thick coat of flesh like a bear" (Rashi on v 5). The three ribs in its mouth correspond to the three kings of Persia, Cyrus, Ahashverosh and Darius the Persian (Rashi). The leopard (v 6) is associated with Greece, and its four wings correspond to the four kingdoms into which the Greek empire split after the death of Alexander of Macedon. The Greeks were compared to a leopard because they imposed a succession of evil decrees against the Jews that were like a leopard's spots, each one strange and different from the others (Rashi). Daniel's vision of the fourth monster came in a separate dream on its own (v 7) because it was more powerful than the three that preceded it (Rashi ad loc.). Rashi and R. Saadia Gaon agree that the fourth monster alludes to Aram (=Edom, Rome) and that its ten horns correspond to the ten emperors up until Vespasian, in whose time the Second Temple was destroyed. Where these two commentators differ is on the identification of the little horn that came up among the others, which had "eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things" (v 8). Rashi identifies this with the ranting Titus, who entered the Temple Sanctuary in Jerusalem with a harlot before desecrating and destroying it. Rashi does not mention the empire of Ishmael (which is less than surprising when we consider that he was living in eleventh century France-Germany in what was part of the well-entrenched "Holy Roman Empire "). On the other hand, R. Saadiah Gaon – who lived a century earlier in Egypt and Israel and could witness the rise of Islam from close at hand – identifies the eleventh horn with Ishmael. In R. Saadiah's commentary on Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay (Daniel 2:40ff), he discusses in detail the complex interrelationship between Aram and Ishmael and their respective spheres of influence (see also Ibn Ezra on Daniel 2:39). Rambam (Letters) identifies the "mouth speaking great things" with the founder of Islam. "As I looked, thrones were placed and the Ancient of Days sat…" (v 9). The depiction of the heavenly court sitting in judgment over the world is the source of many kabbalistic teachings about God's providence, including the name given in the Zohar to the divine PARTZUF ("persona") of Arich Anpin, ATIK YOMIN ("the Ancient of Days"). His "garb like white snow" and "the hair of His head like clean wool"

(ibid.) allude to the attributes of loving kindness and compassion that characterize the Partzuf of Arich Anpin. One by one the successive monsters were cast aside, until the fourth was destroyed and burned up by fire. Their lives were prolonged only "for a season and a time" (v 12) until "one like a son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days…" (v13). All the commentators agree that the "son of man" is Mashiah (note that he is NOT called the "son of God"), who will receive "dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and tongues should serve him – an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and a kingdom that shall not be destroyed" (v 14). "I came to one of them that stood by" (v 16): it was to an "angel" (=intelligent celestial being) that Daniel turned for an explanation of the vision. The angel told Daniel that in the end the kingdom will be inherited by KADISHEY ELYON, the "holy ones of the Most High" (v 18) – these are the restored, rectified saints of Israel. As to when this will happen, our text is of course famously cryptic. Speaking to Daniel 2,300 years ago, the angel revealed that the eleventh horn would inflict many painful decrees and chastisements upon Israel "for a season and seasons and half a season" (v 25). Anyone who wants to speculate on how long this may be is welcome to do so, but those who believe with simple faith will take on trust the words of R. Saadia Gaon (ad loc.): "All the sages and commentators, including those with genuine Torah knowledge, have found no way to unlock and understand this calculation, and no one knows the secret except God, as it is written, 'For the day of vengeance is in my heart' (Isaiah 63:4). If the heart has not revealed it to the mouth, how would the mouth reveal it to a mere angel? We simply have to wait and hope until He will have mercy on his people and His city. Amen."

Chapter 8 The text now reverts from Aramaic to Hebrew for the remainder of the book of Daniel. Chapters 2-7, which were in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Babylonian and Persian Empires, speak of Daniel's interactions with their rulers and the profound universal lessons they had to learn about how God deals with man "measure for measure". In the coming chapters the lessons are directed more specifically to Israel yearning for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and they contain a deep PNIMIUS (interiority) that Hebrew is uniquely fit to express. Daniel records the graphic external images of his visions, and then tells how angels come to him to interpret and explain them, thereby bringing him to the level of BINAH. We in turn must rely on R. Saadia Gaon, Rashi and the other great commentators who have come down to us to explain Daniel's visions. The vision in our present chapter is dated to the third year of Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon. His empire was on the verge of collapse, and we find Daniel in Shushan, which is located in what is now western Iran between Hamadan and Shiraz: it had been the capital of Eilam and now became the main center of the Persian empire. This vision is the second in a series (v 1) the first of which was in the previous chapter (7). The imagery of these visions is in each case different, but the NIMSHAL – the object of the comparison – is the ultimately one: the great sweep of history until the "end of days".

In his vision, Daniel saw himself standing by OOVAL OOLOI, which some render as the River OOLOI, although R. Saadia says there is no river in Shushan and that this was the mighty gate of the city. OOLOI would then be related to the word EIL, "mighty one" – and this in turn is related to the word AYIL, a "ram", one of the creatures Daniel saw, representing the rising star of Persia. [One might add that the Hebrew word OOLAY means "perhaps" – i.e. PERHAPS our interpretations are hopefully not too wide of the mark.] The classical commentators agree that the larger and smaller horns of the ram (v 3) allude respectively to Persia, the greater power, and Medea, the lesser power. Thus under Queen Esther's Ahashverosh, Persia extended "from India to Africa ", while Darius the Mede ruled for only one year before giving over the kingship to his son-in-law, Cyrus of Persia (father of Esther's Ahashverosh). The goat alludes to Greece. The horn signifies Alexander of Macedon, who defeated Darius of Persia, who was Esther's son. Yet Alexander died at the very height of his power, and his kingdom split into four (v 8). "And out of one of them came a little horn that became exceedingly great" (v 9). Rashi interprets this horn as alluding to Titus, and he takes the phrase in verse 10 – "And it grew great, even to the host of heaven…" – to refer to his destruction of the Second Temple. On the other hand, R. Saadia Gaon sees this horn as an allusion to the empire of Ishmael (Islam) which took the land of beauty (v 9, =Israel) from the Romans. "And for an appointed time it was flagrantly set against the daily sacrifice, and it cast down the truth to the ground…" (v 12). Rashi (ad loc.) says this means that idolatry would be established in Jerusalem instead of the daily Temple offerings. It is when the focus of the vision moves to Jerusalem, the heart of the world (BINAH), that Daniel hears a celestial conversation between the angels asking "How long shall be the vision… to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot" (v 13). As to the calculation of how long this will be as given in verse 14, Rashi (ad loc.) comments: "The seer was commanded to close up and seal the matter, and even to him it was revealed in a language that is closed up and sealed, and we shall wait in hope for the fulfillment of the promise of our King, even if one 'end' after another passes by…" The angel Gabriel is sent to explain the vision to Daniel – yet the explanation itself is so beyond him that he falls into a slumber until the angel touches him and brings him to his feet (v 18). Gabriel teaches "what will be in the latter end of the indignation, for it is at the end of a long time" (v 19). Rashi explains the "king of fierce countenance" mentioned in v 23 as referring to Titus, who destroyed the Second Temple, but R. Saadia Gaon explains this as a reference to the kingship of Ishmael. (R. Saadia also gives an alternative explanation relating the entire vision primarily to the struggle between Persia and Greece.) We should remember that at the time of Daniel's vision the destruction of the Second Temple was over 450 years in the future and it was no mean feat to foretell how it would come about. At the same time, the vision is multi-layered, and just as history goes around in cycles, so the imagery can allude to multiple levels all at once.

Chapter 9 Very soon after his vision in the previous chapter, Daniel "pondered in the books the number of the years…" (v 2). This was in the first (and only) year of the reign of Darius son of Ahashverosh the Mede. (This was NOT the Ahashverosh of Megillas Esther.). Little more than a year after conquering Babylon, Darius the Mede gave over the kingship to his son-in-law Cyrus of Persia, who was the father of Esther's Ahashverosh. Daniel had watched the fall of Babylon knowing that it had been prophesied by Jeremiah (29:10), who had foretold that at the completion of seventy years of Babylonian power, God would redeem Israel. At first Daniel thought that the building of the (second) Temple and complete redemption would come about seventy years from the time that Babylon had first subjected Israel to her dominion, which was when Nebuchadnezzar conquered King Yehoyakim eighteen years prior to destruction of the First Temple. It was only from the words of the angel at the end of this chapter that Daniel understood that the new Temple would not be built until seventy years after the actual destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in the reign of King Tzidkiyahu. Daniel's response to the seemingly interminable exile was to PRAY. The Tzaddik repents for all Israel , and in his most eloquent prayer for redemption Daniel speaks in the first person plural, putting fitting words of repentance and supplication into the mouths of all of us. Many phrases and indeed entire passages (vv 15-20) are incorporated into the TAHANUN supplication as recited on Mondays and Thursdays as well as into many other penitential SELICHOS. Daniel begins his prayer with the confession of sin (vv 5ff) expressing our deep shame and contrition over the misdemeanors that have led to our national exile. The prayer is designed to guide us to internalize the bitter lesson and moral of the destruction of the Temple and the exile, which came about exactly as the Torah had warned (v 13). Daniel appeals to God's compassion, arousing the memory of the redemption from Egypt (v 15) as he begs God to turn His anger from Jerusalem. With hindsight we know that the Second Temple was built in due course, but Daniel was praying eighteen years beforehand at a time when the satraps and governors of Babylon and Persia were no doubt gloating over the exile of the troublesome Jews and drumming in the message that they would never be restored. Through Daniel's profound faith and earnest prayer he was "greatly beloved" (v 23) in God's eyes, and was worthy of ascending to the level of BINAH (v 22), for the angel Gabriel came swooping down from the heavens to further elucidate the meaning of the visions in the previous chapters and enlighten him as to when the Temple would be rebuilt. Rashi (vv 25ff) explains that the cryptic message of the angel alludes to the building of the Second Temple and its subsequent destruction by Titus, and how in the end he will be accursed and lost when the power of his empire is swept away by Mashiah in the war of Gog and Magog. Although the place of the Temple is occupied by a center of idolatry, this will endure only until the decreed day of its destruction with the coming of Mashiah.

Chapter 10 The vision in our present chapter is dated to the third year of Koresh (Cyrus) king of Persia (v 1). Cyrus was given the kingship by his father-in-law Darius the Mede in the year 3390 (-370 B.C.E.) and ruled for only three years. Initially he permitted the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, but soon afterwards the work was suspended owing to the denunciations against the Jews by their enemies, as we will read in detail in the book of Ezra, which we shall God willing be studying after Daniel. Rashi (on verse 2) explains that Daniel's period of mourning and abstention lasted for THREE SABBATICAL CYCLES, i.e. 21 years, from the time Darius the Mede conquered Babylon (which was when Daniel tried to calculate when the restoration would take place, see ch 9 v 2) until the second year of the reign of Darius the Persian, the son of Esther, under whom the Second Temple was completed. To abstain from fine bread, meat, wine and anointment for all this time in mourning over the desolation of Jerusalem was an extraordinary feat, and in the merit of his undertaking to do so Daniel was granted the extraordinary vision of the end of time in this and the ensuing chapters. Just as his vision in ch 8 v 2 was by the River OOLOI, so the present vision was at the River Tigris, and similarly Ezekiel's vision of the Chariot was at the River Kvar – these are spiritual rivers flowing with the light of divine revelation. Daniel now saw "the man dressed in linen", whom he describes in truly spectacular terms (vv 5-6). Only Daniel saw this apparition, but "the men who were with me did not see the vision, but great trembling fell upon them" (v 7). According to our sages, Daniel's companions were the prophets Haggai, Zecharia and Malachi (Megillah 3a; Rashi on v 7). Prophets had their own methods of rising to the level where they were worthy to have the voice of God speak through them (see Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, "Meditation & the Bible"), but even these prophets were unable to see what Daniel, the righteous sage, now saw. Ibn Ezra on v 5 points out that Daniel's ability to stand in the face of the revelation of an angel exceeded that of Gideon and Samson's parents, Manoah and his wife (Judges 6:22-3 and 13:22). This indicates that YERIDAS HADOROS (the spiritual decline that occurs from generation to generation) is not necessarily irreversible by Tzaddikim on the highest of levels. Similarly, in recent generations Rabbi Nachman mentioned his having received visits from the guardian angels of nations like Greece (= Russia ?) and France (see Tzaddik -- Chayey Moharan -- #489). The "man dressed in linen" whom Daniel saw had also been seen by the prophet Ezekiel prior to the destruction of the First Temple (Ezekiel 9:2; 10:11). The sages identified him with the angel Gabriel (see Yoma 77a) as does Rashi (on ch 11 v 1). Eichah Rabbasi states that the "man dressed in linen" serves three functions: (1) Executioner of HARUGEY MALCHUS, those to be killed on the decree of the King; (2) High Priest – for he wears linen, like the High Priest on Yom Kippur; (3) Heavenly scribe. As the "man dressed in linen" tells Daniel (v 12), it was in the merit of his having undertaken to fast on behalf of Israel and Jerusalem that his prayers were heard and Gabriel was turned into the defender of Israel. The "man dressed in linen" opens a chink in the heavy veil that covers over the proceedings before the Heavenly Court, where the guardian angels of the various

nations advance their pleas and counter-pleas. The "man dressed in linen" tells Daniel that "the guardian angel of Persia has been standing against me for 21 days [of heavenly time]" (v 13). Rashi explains (ad loc.): "He has been fighting with me in heaven asking for an extension for the empire of Persia in order to keep Israel subject". The "man dressed in linen" has been resisting this, and has now come to enable to Daniel to understand what will happen to his people "in the end of days" (v 14). This vision of the future, which begins in the next chapter, covers the entire period of the Second Temple including its destruction and thereafter up until the final redemption.

Chapter 11 "As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen HIM" (v 1). It is the "man dressed in linen", the angel Gabriel, who is speaking in this entire chapter, and as explained by Rashi (ad loc.) he stood up to strengthen the angel Michael – Israel's guardian angel – against the pleas by the guardian angel of Persia before the Heavenly Court to intensify Israel's burden of exile. "And now I will tell you the truth" (v 2): this is the beginning of a very long, involved and detailed prophecy which according to Ibn Ezra (on v 3) covers the entire history of the world from the time of Daniel until the destruction of the Second Temple (vv 5-31) and from then on until the final redemption (vv 32-40). Verse 2 speaks about the empire of Persia. The "fourth king" mentioned here is Darius the Persian, son of Ahashverosh and Esther, who mobilized his entire empire to fight against Greece and was defeated. Verse 3 refers to Alexander of Macedon, and verse 4 speaks of how his empire spit into four kingdoms. From that time on the two dominant players on the world scene were the kings of the south and the north. Metzudas David on v 5 identifies the king of the south with Egypt and the king of the north with Greece/Rome. Students of world history may see certain parallels between the back-and-forth conflicts between these two as foretold in this chapter and world conflicts in more recent times. In some respects the wars between the colonialist empires and their subject nations (the " Third World ") and between the West vs. Islam are conflicts between the kings of the north and the south! Caught somewhere in the middle of the conflicts described in this chapter are Israel, who by the time of the Second Temple period were split into the righteous faithful and the wicked sinners. Rashi and R. Saadia Gaon both interpret v 14 as a reference to the way the "renegades of your people" – the sinners – repeatedly conspired and intrigued with Rome and Egypt, trying to play off the one against the other. The phrase BNAY PORITZAY AMECHA ("renegades of your people") is often cited as an allusion to THAT MAN (Yimach SHemo OOzichro). Verse 20 is explained by Rashi as an allusion to the Hasmoneans (the heroes of Chanukah), who overthrew the Greek oppressors. Thereafter, however, the Hasmonean king Hyrkanus conspired with Rome to overthrow his brother Aristobulus, which led to the downfall of the Hasmonean dynasty and everincreasing intervention by Rome until eventually they became the occupying power and destroyed the Temple. Rome is specifically alluded to in v 21 (see Rashi and Metzudas David).

Verse 31 alludes to the destruction of the Second Temple. Verse 32 speaks of the collaboration between the Jewish renegades and the Romans while the righteous Jews continued in the path of the Torah. Despite the efforts of the latter to teach the people God's ways, verse 33 speaks about their terrible suffering in the tribulations of the long exile after the destruction of the Temple. Verses 36ff allude to the spectacular successes of Rome and the kings who inherited her mantle, whose policy was to show outward respect to the religious traditions of the people they governed in order to keep control of them (see Rashi on v 39). The closing verses of the chapter allude to the bitter wars prior to the final redemption of Israel, may it come speedily in our times!

Chapter 12 Our present chapter, which concludes the book of Daniel, completes the prophecy that he received from "the man dressed in linen" about the future history of the world until the end of days. This prophecy was granted to Daniel in the merit of his mourning and self-affliction over the desolation of Jerusalem. The prophecy began in the previous chapter with the foretelling of the tangled history of the period of the Second Temple up until its destruction (Daniel 11:2-31), after which it continues with its highly allusive foretelling of the end of days (Daniel 11:32-45; 12:1-13). "And at that time Michael shall stand" (v 1). Rashi (ad loc.) says that Israel's guardian angel will "stand" in the sense of being stopped in his tracks and silent like one struck dumb when he will see how the Holy One blessed be He will ponder how He can destroy the great armies of Gog and Magog for the sake of small Israel. It will be "a time of trouble such as there never was…" (v 1). The rabbis said there will be trouble for the Torah scholars because of their enemies and accusers, and trouble for the whole people because of decree after decree and waves of robbers one after the other (Kesubos 112b). The good news is that "your people shall be delivered" (v 1) – "the kingdom of Gog will be destroyed and Israel shall be saved" (Rashi ibid.). [Instead of worrying of present-day Persia will harm Israel, we should repent with all our hearts and trust in God.] "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake…" (v 2). This refers to the resurrection of the dead (Rashi ad loc.) – as well, of course, to the tremendous spiritual awakening and the widespread return to the Torah that we witness in our time among Israelite souls that in some cases have been buried in exile and cultural alienation for centuries. This itself is the revival of the dead! "And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness (ZOHAR) of the firmament…" (v 3). This verse is darshened at length in the Zohar, which takes its name from here. The rabbis of the Talmud state that the category of "the wise" includes every DAYAN ("judge") who judges truthfully as well as those who go around collecting charity, while "they who turn many to righteousness" are those who teach Torah to little children (Bava Basra 8b). Just like the angels whom Daniel heard asking the "man dressed in linen" – "How long shall it be to the wondrous end?" (v 6) – we too are more than curious to know the answer. The "man dressed in linen" replied most cryptically, "It shall be

for a time, times and a half" (v 7). Daniel himself did not understand this answer (v 8), so we should not be surprised that we cannot either. As Rashi says on verse 10, "Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white" – many will try to give a clear explanation of these calculations; "and they will be tried" – it will be a trial to many to understand them; "and the wicked shall do wickedly" – the wicked will miscalculate, and having stumbled they will say there will be no further redemption, "and they will not understand". However, "the wise shall understand" – at the time when the end arrives. (Rashi on v 10). For "in the end they will be granted the wisdom to understand the allusions" (Metzudas David on v 9). In the words of R. Saadia Gaon (on v 7): "When the generations have descended very low, then all these troubles will come to an end, but we do not know until when they will go on since the angel himself told Daniel that the matters are sealed and closed up, and we certainly do not have the power to understand the secret of these calculations of days and years…" "Happy is the man who waits…" (v 12).

Book of Ezra Chapter 1 "And Moses ascended to God…" (Exodus 19:3). "This Ezra ascended from Babylon …" (Ezra 7:6). Citing these two verses and the word they have in common, "ascended", the rabbis compared the stature of Ezra to that of Moses, saying that Ezra too was fit to be the one through whom the Torah was given to Israel (Sanhedrin 21b). The achievements of Ezra will be discussed later on. His book is a direct continuation of the book of Daniel – the opening verse of Ezra begins with a VAV, "AND in the first year of Cyrus…" (v 1), connecting the narrative in Ezra with what went before in Daniel (Rashi on Ezra 1:1). The book of Ezra tells the story of the return of the exiles from Babylon to Judea and other parts of the Land of Israel and how the Second Temple was built. This book is therefore a most important paradigm for our time, since our task too is to return out of exile and to restore and rebuild our heritage and our Temple. The greatness of the achievement of Ezra and his generation is enhanced by the fact that so far they had experienced only destruction but as yet no redemption. Even so, they defied all of the many the accusers who sought to thwart and discourage them, and with great courage they went up to their land. For us their achievement should serve as a precedent that can guide us in the restoration that we must accomplish. The return from the exile in Babylon took place IN STAGES, the FIRST of which is recorded in our present chapter and those that follow it. Although this book was written by Ezra and is called by his name, Ezra himself does not enter the narrative until Chapter 7, which describes the SECOND stage of the return. We have already seen how with the fall of Babylon to Darius the Mede, Daniel "contemplated in books…" in order to calculate the number of years that had passed since God's word to Jeremiah "to accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem"(Daniel 9:2). As discussed in our commentary there, Darius' capture of Babylon took place exactly seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar had taken Yeho-yakim king of Judah into exile – that was EIGHTEEN years before the destruction of the First Temple in the reign of King Tzidkiyahu. The narrative in the book of Ezra begins "in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia" (v 1), whose reign began within a year of Darius the Mede's conquest of Babylon. With the fall of the Babylonian empire after seventy years, the FIRST WAVE of returnees now went back to Judea and they started laying the foundations of the Second Temple, but – as we will read in the ensuing chapters – their enemies denounced them to Cyrus and he ordered the work to be suspended. There were no further building activities during the whole of the remainder of the reign of Cyrus and throughout that of Ahashverosh, and the building of the Temple was resumed only in the reign of his son, Darius ("the Persian") son of Queen Esther. Thus from the time of the aliyah of the first wave of returnees under Cyrus as recounted in our present chapter, it took another EIGHTEEN YEARS until the Temple was finally rebuilt, exactly seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple.

The leadership of the first wave of returnees will be discussed in the next chapter (Ezra 2). Ezra himself did not go up to Jerusalem with the first wave of returnees because the teacher from whom he received the Torah tradition – Baruch ben Neriyah, who had received it from the prophet Jeremiah – was still alive in Babylon, and Ezra wanted to receive everything possible from his teacher. It was only after seven years, with the death of Baruch, that Ezra went up to Jerusalem with the SECOND WAVE of returnees. After all the years of exile under the weighty yoke of Babylon, its fall at the hands of Darius the Mede and the subsequent ascent of Cyrus to the throne of Persia were a great relief. "So says Cyrus king of Persia: all the kingdoms of the earth has HaShem the God of Heaven given to me, and He has commanded me to build Him a House in Jerusalem that is in Judah " (v 2). God's "command" to Cyrus is contained in the prophecy of Isaiah, who had lived generations earlier yet foretold that Cyrus would restore Israel to their land and have the Temple rebuilt (Isaiah 44:28; see 45:1). The campaign of Aliyah from Babylon and the other cities of exile to the Land of Israel is somewhat reminiscent of the magnificent enterprise of Aliyah of Jews to Israel over the past centuries rising exponentially since 1948. Like the Aliyah sanctioned by Cyrus, the modern Aliyah has also been supported by many contributions from those who for one reason or another have had to remain in the Diaspora, who have formed local support groups to sustain those going up to the land (see our chapter vv 4; 6). Cyrus' release of the Temple vessels looted by the Babylonians held forth the promise that redemption was near at hand. They were entrusted to "SHESHBATZAR the prince over Judah ", v 8; the rabbis identified him with Daniel, who stood firm six (SHESH) times when he was in trouble (BA-TZAR; see Rashi ad loc.). The thrill and excitement of the return of the exiles from Babylon is captured in the Song of Ascents (SHIR HA-MA'ALOS) that is traditionally recited on Shabbos and other festive occasions immediately prior to BIRKHAS HA-MAZON, Grace after eating bread. "When HaShem restored the captivity of Zion, we were like dreamers. Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with song… He who goes weeping in his way, bearing a bag of seed, shall come back with joy, carrying his sheaves" (Psalms 126:2 & 6).

Chapter 2 "And these are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity…" (v 1). Rashi paraphrases, "These are the children of Israel that were from the province of Israel [which was then a province of the Persian Empire] who went up now from the captivity in exile to Jerusalem." Verse 2 provides us with the names of the leadership of this first wave of Aliyah from Babylon, including some familiar names like Mordechai and Nehemiah. (This Aliyah took place BEFORE the Purim story, as will be discussed in a future commentary: it would appear that Mordechai must have gone back to Shushan at some point after his Aliyah.) ZERUBAVEL

The first name in the list of leaders is Zerubavel ben She'alti-el, who in Haggai 1:1 is called "governor" (PEHAS) of Judea. Zerubavel was heir to the kingship of David, which had very nearly been wiped out completely. Two out of the last three kings of Judah had left no heirs: these were Yeho-yakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled and tortured to death, and Tzidkiyahu, all of whose sons were slaughtered in front of his eyes. The last surviving member of the Davidic dynasty, Yeho-yakim's son, King Yechoniah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile in Babylon prior to the destruction of the Temple, also had no heir and was unlikely to have one since he was cruelly imprisoned in Nebuchadnezzar's jail in solitary confinement in a deep narrow pit. The Midrash tells that the exiled Sanhedrin in Babylon realized the peril hanging over the House of David and turned to the Queen's old nanny asking her to try to influence the Queen to influence Nebuchadnezzar to let Yechoniah be with his wife. Eventually he agreed that she could be lowered down by rope into Yechoniah's prison pit cell, where there was barely room to stand let alone to lie down. In any case, after having been lowered down for this chance-in-a lifetime, Yechoniah's wife suddenly discovered that she had a flow of blood, which meant that relations were forbidden. Yechoniah used to ignore the laws of NIDDAH and ZIVAH when free in Jerusalem prior to his captivity, but, chastened by his sufferings in exile, he had repented and heroically refused to have relations. His wife was hauled up again and mercifully was allowed to purify herself from her flow, after which she was once again lowered down… And through their coming together standing in this cramped dark pit, the House of David was saved from extinction (Vayikra Rabba 19:6). The child born of that union was She'alti-el, father of Zerubavel. The heirs to the Davidic throne were no longer called kings: in future the Davidic leadership was primarily spiritual. The mantle of leadership eventually came down to Hillel, whose school became the accepted legal authority by all Jews, and a few generations afterwards it passed down to Rabbi Yehudah, known as HA-NASI, "The Prince", author of the Mishneh, which is the very foundation of the Oral Torah. YESHUA THE HIGH PRIEST In Haggai 1 Yeshua ben Yotzadok is called YeHOshua ben YeHOtzadok. His name (like the name Zerubavel) is familiar to those who read the Haftaras because it appears in the prophecy of Zechariah (2:14-3:7) which is read in the synagogue as Haftara TWICE every year: on Shabbos Chanukah and also on Shabbos Parshas Beha'aloscha (third parshah in Numbers, read shortly after the festival of Shavuos.) Yehoshua was the High Priest and son of a High Priest, but some sources suggest that he might not have served as High Priest had not Ezra – who was greater in Torah and more saintly – remained initially in Babylon (Shir HaShirim Rabba 5:5). According to Rambam, Ezra did eventually serve as High Priest. In Ezra 10:18 we find that Yehoshua's sons had intermarried, which was a stain on the family. This may be why in these texts his name and the name of his father (Ezra 3:8) are spelled without the letter HEH. In its form of Yeshu'a it was a not uncommon name and, despite its having apparently been given to the founder of Christianity, there is no suggestion whatever in our biblical texts that it has any kind of specifically messianic connotation. THE RETURNEES Rashi on verse 3 states that in some cases in this chapter the text mentions the fathers or family of the people named, in other cases the Judean towns from which they had originated and to which they now returned (v 70). Even in exile they

evidently cherished their attachment to their old homes and never lost hope of returning: Diaspora Jews should take note!!! Those who returned were not only from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin although the latter were in the majority. The total number of those who returned in this first wave of Aliyah is given in v 64 as 42,360, but the total of all the population figures given in the earlier part of the chapter – which are for members of Judah and Benjamin – is only 30,000. Seder Olam states that the remainder were from other tribes who joined this Aliyah (Rashi on v 64). Although the returning population was initially mainly concentrated in the tribal territories of Judah and Benjamin, we know from many references in the Mishneh as well as from archeological relics that during the four centuries-long period of the Second Temple the YISHUV ("settlement") extended over most areas of Eretz Israel except for certain coastal areas and a strip around Shomron which was inhabited by the KOOTIM whom Sennacherib had settled in place of the Ten Tribes. YICHUS – "LINEAGE" We will see in the later portions of the book of Ezra that ethnic self-purification was a very important preoccupation for the leaders of the return, because even before the exile there had been a certain incidence of intermarriage between Israelites and the surrounding Canaanites, Ammonites and Moabites etc. and intermarriage increased when they went to Babylon. One of Ezra's major concerns was to clarify the personal status of the various different categories that made up the Jewish communities in Babylon that were now sending OLIM to Israel. The fourth chapter of the Talmudic tractate KIDDUSHIN begins by stating that Ten YICHUSIM ('categories of pedigree') went up from Babylon: Cohen-Priests, Levites, Israelites, Hallalim (disenfranchised priests), converts, freed slaves, Mamzerim ("bastards"), Nethinim (Gibeonites), Shesuki (child of unknown fatherhood) and Asufi (child of indeterminate parentage; Kiddushin 96a). The Talmud explains that Ezra realized that with the return of the people together with the Sanhedrin to Israel, Babylon would be left without a strong rabbinic leadership. He therefore endeavored to empty Babylon of all those whose personal status was questionable so that the purity of the Babylonian community could be maintained, sending them to Israel where the rabbis of the Sanhedrin would be able to adjudicate over their status. Thus the list of OLIM given in our present chapter specifies that some were Gibeonites (vv 43ff) or from among the (non-Israelite) servants of Solomon (vv 55f), while some were unable to tell their parentage or family (v 59). The status of certain priests was indeterminate and would not be able to be clarified "until a priest will stand with the URIM VE-THUMIM" (v 63), i.e. through the holy spirit that will return with the coming of Mashiah. All these OLIM did not travel to Israel by plane to Ben Gurion airport, and since the numbers of animals listed (v 66) are considerably smaller than those of the humans, we must infer that the great majority of the latter made the journey on foot. And what a journey it was!!! Traveling with them were TWO HUNDRED MUSICIANS (v 65): "Because they were going up joyously from Babylon to Eretz Israel, they NEEDED singers to help them turn their journey into an enjoyable walk through abundant SIMCHAH" (Rashi ad loc.)

Chapter 3 From the closing verses of the previous chapter (Ezra 2:68-70) we see that the primary goal of these OLIM was to return to the House of God in Jerusalem and

rebuild it. The present chapter traces the initial steps in the rebuilding of the Temple taken by this FIRST WAVE of returnees. The journey of the OLIM across land from Babylon to Israel and their settlement in their old towns and villages in Judea must have taken much of the summer. "And when the seventh month arrived… the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem" (v 1). The first day of the seventh month (=Tishri) was Rosh HaShanah. Likewise we will see in Nehemiah ch 8 that Rosh HaShanah was a highly propitious day in the calendar. "And they set the altar on its bases; for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands…" (v 3). The "peoples of the lands" were the jealous KOOTIM ("Samaritans") and other inhabitants of the surrounding areas of what was a province of the Persian Empire. As we shall see in the ensuing chapters, these assorted peoples were keeping their eyes skinned on the returning Jews waiting to pounce at any sign of rebellious activity in order to denounce them to the king. [Similarly today "Peace Now" and hosts of other official and unofficial monitors from all over the world keep their eyes constantly skinned on the Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria, ready to denounce them the moment they do anything that might suggest they are free people living in their own land.] Rashi on v 3 explains that the reason why Yeshu'a the High Priest and Zerubavel built and offered on the Altar was in order to make a public demonstration that they had authorization from the king of Persia in the hope of forestalling any efforts to denounce them. In the event they did not succeed, because the accusers were soon writing letters to the Persian king anyway, as we will see in the ensuing chapters. Nevertheless, all of the daily and seasonal public sacrifices as well as private dedications were now reinstituted (v 5). Seven months later the building work commenced, accompanied by the singing of the Levites (v 9) – what a spectacle that must have been – and the foundations of the new Temple were laid (v 10). Despite the jubilation of the younger generation over the rebuilding of the Temple, those present who were old enough to remember the Temple of Solomon, which had been destroyed 53 years earlier, cried and sobbed so loudly that they almost drowned out the joyous singing, for this was joy mingled with the sorrow of chastened hearts.

Chapter 4 "And the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the exiles were building the Temple" (v 1). These "adversaries" were the KOOTIM ("Samaritans") and other peoples that Sennacherib had settled in Shomron and the other cities of Israel in place of the Ten Tribes (II Kings 17:24). Their sensors were telling them that a rebuilt Jerusalem would be a serious threat to their comfort as it could herald an Israelite national revival that would bring back the Ten Tribes, who were all too likely to drive them out of the rich and pleasant land in which they had been squatting since the time of Sennacherib. [The present-day "Palestinian" Arab perception of any possibility of a Jewish revival in Israel is based on similar considerations.] The response of the adversaries to the efforts to rebuild the Temple is an example of the way the SITRA AHRA (the unholy side) is aroused as soon as there is an arousal on the side of the holy (Likutey Moharan I, 22:7). God sends obstacles in the way of those seeking to accomplish a holy goal in order to increase their yearning and longing to the point where they are able to do so. The time had not

yet come for the building of the Second Temple, for it had already been prophesied that it would only be built seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple. Zerubavel and Yeshu'a were obliged to TRY to accomplish the holy task, but as yet they could not succeed. The first ploy of the adversaries was to propose that they should join with the Jews in building the Temple – in order to be able to stall and sabotage the venture from within. The reply of Zerubavel and the other leaders that "You have nothing to do with us in building a House to our God" (v 3) is one of the main sources for the law forbidding receiving dedications and donations from non-Israelites for incorporation in the actual fabric of the Temple building (Rambam, Hilchos Shekalim 4:8; Erchin 1:11; Matonos Aniyim 8:8). After this rebuff, the adversaries turned to psychological warfare (v 4) in an attempt to discourage and demoralize the Jews. In addition they hired lobbyists in the Persian court in order to bring diplomatic pressure to bear on the king to undermine the project. We learn from verses 5-6 that this campaign was sustained for a period of more than sixteen years until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. Cyrus I of Persia, in whose reign this campaign started, is identical with Artahshasta in v. 7: this was the generic name of the Persian kings just as Pharoah was the generic name of the kings of Egypt. Cyrus reigned only two years (3390-2 = 370-368 B.C.E.) and was succeeded by Ahashverosh of Megillas Esther fame. The unnamed individuals who "wrote to him an accusation (SITNAH from the root satan) against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem " (v 6) are identified by Midrash Seder Olam as being none other than the sons of Haman that were eventually hanged. Aside from this reference, the Book of Ezra passes over the events in the reign of Ahashverosh, including Haman's plot against the Jews as foiled by Mordechai and Esther, in complete silence. Having typified this sixteen year campaign in general terms in vv 5-6, the text in verse 7 goes back to very beginning of the period – for as mentioned earlier, Artahshasta is identical with Cyrus, who reigned for only two years before Ahashverosh came to the throne. One of the great paradoxes of Cyrus is that after having grandiloquently sanctioned the building of the Temple (Ezra 1:1ff), he then made a complete about-turn as a result of the diplomatic machinations of the adversaries. From verse 7 onwards the text shifts into Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Persian empire, as it begins to report the correspondence passing to and fro between the adversaries of the Jews in the province of AVAR NAHARA ("West of the River Euphrates") and the imperial court. The text continues in Aramaic until Ezra 6:19. The letter from the adversaries to Cyrus is recorded in our present chapter vv 7-16. Having established their credentials as representatives of the peoples moved into Shomron and other locations west of the Euphrates by Assnapar (=Sennacherib, vv 9-10, Rashi ad loc.), they immediately warn the king of serious trouble if the "rebellious, bad city" of Jerusalem (v 12) is ever rebuilt. [Their insinuations bear comparison with the best of latter-day anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incitement.] They warn him that any rebellion by the Jews will hit him hard IN THE POCKET as they will cease paying the various poll-taxes and other kinds of tribute into the Persian treasury (v 13). They advise him to check out the imperial records to see if permission was ever granted to the Jews to rebuild their Temple. The bottom line of their message to the Persian emperor was that if the city of Jerusalem were to be rebuilt and fortified, "you won't have any portion west of the Euphrates" (v 16). If

anything was calculated to make the king of a new world empire jump it was this reminder of the likely effects of any re-arousal of Jewish imperial expansionism. In his reply to the adversaries' letter (vv 17-22), which expresses an historical awareness of the great power of Israel under its mighty kings of the past (v 20), Cyrus reversed his earlier endorsement of the project of building God's House in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1ff). [Similarly, not long after their "Balfour Declaration" of 1917, the British government hastily backtracked from giving genuine support to the building of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, since which time Israel has suffered repeated back-stabbings from this and other professed allies.] Cyrus gave the adversaries carte blanche to interrupt the building of the Temple, which they rushed to do with all haste (v 23), and the work was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia (v 24). (According to the opinion that Darius was the son of Queen Esther, he would have been no more than about six years old when he came to the throne as Esther became queen in the seventh year of the reign of Ahashverosh, who reigned thereafter for only seven more years until he was killed by one of his servants in 3406=354 B.C.E.)

Chapter 5 Our text now fast-forwards from the reign of Cyrus, ignoring that of Ahashverosh and jumping directly to the second year of the reign of Darius, when the building of the Temple was resumed. The prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah mentioned in verse 1 of the present chapter are found respectively in Haggai 1:1ff and Zechariah 1:1ff, both of which are date-stamped to the second year of Darius. The prophets knew through holy spirit that with the death of Ahashverosh and the ascent of Darius to the throne of Persia, the times had changed and now the moment had come to actually build and complete the Temple, work on which started in earnest. This holy arousal naturally elicited a counter-arousal on the part of the unholy forces and a new set of adversaries headed by Tatnai, the governor of the Persian provinces west of the Euphrates (v 3), now tried to interfere with the building project. After receiving no comfort from the Jews, they wrote to Darius drawing his attention to the unnatural speed with which the Temple was being built in Jerusalem and the unnatural success of the project (v 8). It is perhaps a sign of the changed times after the death of Ahashverosh and the ascent of Darius to the throne that the tone of their letter is more subdued than that of the adversaries as recorded in ch 4. Now they only enquired of the new king whether it was correct that the building work proceeding apace in Jerusalem had received the sanction of King Cyrus, and as we shall see in the next chapter, Darius reply was in the affirmative.

Chapter 6 A MIRACULOUS FIND The emperors of Assyria, Babylon and Persia were autocrats who were literally worshipped as Gods (Daniel 6:8). The legitimacy of the new Persian king Darius depended on that of his grandfather Cyrus, founder of the empire, and this was why the discovery of a scroll recording an imperial decree from the time of Cyrus was of great significance sixteen years later in the time of Darius, demonstrating to the Jews and gentiles alike that there was a solid imperial precedent for Persia –

which had swept away the Babylonian empire – to back the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Several millennia prior to the advent of electronic information storage, the rulers of Egypt , Assyria, Babylon and Persia etc. kept extensive archives of scrolls recording all kinds of governmental decisions and transactions. Some say that AHMETHA where Cyrus' decree about the Temple was discovered was the name of the Medean capital (=present-day Hamadan in W. Iran ), while others say that it refers to the protective pottery flask or leather pouch in which the document was stored (Rashi, Metzudas David). The scroll (vv 3-5) gave full confirmation of everything that the priests and leaders of Judea had been saying to their adversaries: they had indeed received royal endorsement from no less than the emperor Cyrus for the building of a splendid Temple in Jerusalem adorned with marble and wood and for the return of the Temple vessels. In a very pointed snub to the adversaries, Darius instructed them to keep well away and stop interfering with the building project (vv 4-7). More than that, they were to ensure that the returnees had everything they needed for all the Temple sacrifices, including oxen, rams, lambs, goats and salt as well as wheat, oil and wine for use in the libations (v 9). Darius wanted the returnees not only to offer the Temple sacrifices but also to "pray for the life of the king and his sons" (v 10). The rabbis commented that Darius' charity was not complete as it was motivated by self interest (Bava Basra 10a). The danger to his life must have seemed very real: his father Ahashverosh had been murdered only two years earlier (just two years after the Purim miracle, which took place in the twelfth year of Ahashverosh's fourteen-year reign). Given that Ahashverosh had initially given his full support to Haman's plot to exterminate all the Jews, his violent death so soon after Haman's downfall must have seemed like a warning from Heaven about the likely fate of those who make trouble for the Jews, giving Darius a strong motive to support the rebuilding of the Temple. We can only speculate what if any influence Queen Esther had over Darius, who was her son. The adversaries had been diplomatically routed, the prophets were prophesying that the time was ripe to build the Temple, and imperial patronage for the rebuilding had been publicly reaffirmed. Thus the project now went ahead at full speed. Work on the new Temple commenced in the second year of Darius' reign and continued for four years until its completion in Darius' sixth year. The inauguration of the Second Temple (v 16), seventy-four years after the destruction of the First Temple, is somewhat comparable to the giving of the second Tablets of Stone after the shattering of the first. It is noteworthy that the returnees did not see themselves as Judeans but as representatives of all of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (v 17). "And the children of the exile celebrated the Pesach…" (v 19). After several chapters in Aramaic tracing the diplomatic process between the imperial court and the governor of the provinces west of the Euphrates and his clique, our text here reverts to Hebrew since the Pesach celebration was a purely internal Israelite affair. "And the Children of Israel who had returned from the exile ate, as did all who were separated from the impurity of the nations of the earth to join them to search out HaShem the God of Israel" (v 21). Rashi explains that those who had "separated from the impurity of the nations" were GERIM, "proselytes" who had converted in

Babylon and elsewhere (see Kiddushin 70a; cf. Esther 8:17), for the main purpose of the Israelite descent into exile is to gather in the sparks of holiness that are scattered among the nations and bring them up to the Holy Land. Verse 22 states that God had made Israel rejoice, "and He turned the heart of the king of ASHUR in their favor to strengthen their hands…" This refers to Darius of Persia, whose empire extended over the territories once ruled by Assyria (Metzudas David).

Chapter 7 "Now after these things in the reign of ARTAHSHASTA king of Persia" (v 1). This is none other than Darius, for as previously mentioned, Artahshasta was the generic name of all the Persian kings just as Pharaoh was the generic name of the kings of Egypt. Since the events in the present chapter took place in the seventh year of Darius' reign, it could be that after the consolidation of his kingship following the assassination of his father Ahashverosh he now preferred to use the hereditary title of the Persian kings. ENTER EZRA The seventeen-generation genealogy of Ezra given in our text (which skips over some of the generations mentioned in the parallel genealogy in I Chronicles 5:30ff, Metzudas on v 1) traces his lineage to Aaron the High Priest through the line of Pinchas son of Elazar. According to some opinions, Ezra is identical with the prophet Malachi (Megillah 15a; Targum on Malachi 1:1). He is known as HA-SOPHER, "the scribe", because he was the towering Torah authority of his time and his influence is felt until today. Since the written scroll of the Torah is the very foundation of all of Judaism, those who were able to write the sacred scroll in accordance with all its conventions and secrets were the most honored of sages. The Hebrew word SOPHER also means to count and tell. The repetition of the word SOPHER in verse 11 is darshened in Shekalim 13b to indicate that just as Ezra was the scribe, counter and enumerator of the Written Torah, so he was the teller and enumerator of the Oral Torah. Indeed the enactments of the outstanding rabbis – some of the most important of which were instituted by Ezra – are known as DIVREY SOPHRIM, "the words of the scribes". Verses 7-10 recount the four-month cross-country journey of Ezra and those who joined him in the SECOND WAVE of returnees from Babylon to Jerusalem in the seventh year of the reign of Darius. Ezra came bearing certified documentation from the Persian king (with whose court Ezra obviously had the best of contacts) affirming that: All Israel were free to go up to Jerusalem (v 13); they were to be provided with MONEY – silver and gold – to finance the Temple project (v 15); financing for the Temple sacrifices, vessels and all other needs was to be provided through a grant from the royal treasury (v 20); and the Cohen-priests, Levites, the Temple SINGERS and gate-keepers and the Gibeonite hewers of stone and wood were to be exempt from imperial taxes (v 24). From this last enactment the Talmud learns that Torah scholars should exempt from taxation (Nedarim 62b). BARUCH HASHEM Building the Temple in Jerusalem under the patronage of the Persian king was not the same as building it as a free nation in the time of Solomon without being

subject to any foreign power. Nevertheless, after seventy years in ruins, the rise of the new Temple was a miracle that was all the greater when seen against the backdrop of the terrible exiles and persecutions that had taken place under Sennacherib king of Assyria and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This is why Ezra blessed God "who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart… and has given me grace before the king and his counselors and before all the king's mighty princes…" (vv 27-8).

Chapter 8 "Now these are the heads of their fathers' houses and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon" (v 1). When Israel had come up out of Egypt, "and also a mixed multitude went up with them" (Exodus 12:38). The admixture of non-Israelite stock had again and again brought disaster upon the nation. In order to avoid further disasters, Ezra made sure that only those who could establish their Israelite status and lineage would go up with him from Babylon. It is said that one of his main activities there in the years in which he stayed behind before going up to Jerusalem to join the returnees who went in the first wave was to investigate and clarify the status and lineage of all those who were still in exile. Ezra's journey from Babylon and his arrival in Jerusalem were briefly described in the previous chapter (Ezra 7:7-9). In the present chapter the text takes us back to the beginning of this journey just before Ezra set off (vv 15ff). The first step was to assemble all the new Olim who would be traveling together across the dangerous territory between Babylon and Israel. They came together at the River Ahavah (which in this case cannot be interpreted as having the connotation of "love" as AHAVAH here is spelled with a VAV and not a BEIS). "And we encamped there for three days" (v 15). An interesting law that the Talmud derives from this verse is that someone returning from a journey is exempt from the obligation of prayer for three days (Eiruvin 65a). In the days before jets and super-smooth cars, coaches and the like, travel could be extremely exhausting and debilitating, particularly for these Olim who had just come from the Babylonian villages of their exile together with their wives, children, livestock and possessions. As a general rule, in order to bring ourselves into the right frame of mind for prayer, it is necessary to "camp", unwind and meditate for a while before we open our mouths! "And I inspected the people and the priests but I found none of the sons of Levi" (v 15). Rashi on Kiddushin 69a, where this verse is darshened, brings down the tradition that Ezra searched for Levites who would be fit to serve in the Temple but could find only Levites who had bitten off their thumbs with their teeth in the time of Nebuchadnezzar so that when he demanded that they sing him the Temple music, they could honestly reply, "'How can we sing the song of God in a foreign land?' (Psalms 137:4) – we are unable to play our harps". Thus Ezra found no Levites fit for service – because those who were fit were sitting peacefully and comfortably in Babylon while the OLIM who went up to Jerusalem were impoverished and burdened with the rebuilding work and in fear of all those around them". Rashi's evocation of the sharp contrast between the peace and comfort of the exiles in Babylon as opposed to the trials of the OLIM in Jerusalem could apply equally well today, when the material lives of many Jews in the lusher areas of the presentday Diaspora are often very much more cushioned than those of many Israelis.

A halachic consequence of the absence of fit Levites from Ezra's ALIYAH was that he penalized the Levites for their failure to return to Israel by awarding the 10% MA'ASER tithe on produce that farmers were supposed to give them (Numbers 18:24) to the Cohanim (priests) instead (Yevamos 86b; Rambam Hilchos Ma'aser 1:4). The Talmud states that it would have been fit for the Israelites to return to their Land in the days of Ezra to the accompaniment of miracles and with the same "high hand" with which they entered under Joshua, except that sin had its effects and they now needed permission from Cyrus and Darius to do so (Berachos 4a). The route from Babylon to Israel passed through lands whose inhabitants had shown extreme cruelty to the Israelites when they went into exile in the days of Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar. Moreover, as we have seen from the previous chapters, the territories west of the Euphrates harbored all kinds of adversaries who were very anxious to thwart the returnees. Thus Ezra's large, straggling crosscountry caravan of men, women and children and livestock had the potential for being exposed to great danger. Yet Ezra confesses that he had been "ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king saying, The hand of our God is upon all those who seek Him for good, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him" (v 22). The same positive "spin" that Ezra had used in order to persuade the Persian ruler that God was with the Israelites actually put him in a corner, making it impossible for him to now ask for military protection. An armed escort would have been very reassuring, but the Israelites were forced to put their trust in God alone, and Ezra called for fasting and repentance before they set off (vv 21 & 23). Ezra entrusted the treasures sent by the Persian king and the Israelites who remained in Babylon into the hands of leading priests to carry during the journey (vv 24-29). "And I said to them, You are holy to HaShem; the vessels are holy also" (v 28). From the comparison in this verse between the holiness of the priests and that of the Temple vessels, which are not allowed to be used for personal benefit, the rabbis learned out that it is forbidden to "use" a Cohen-priest as a waiter or attendant or to perform mundane tasks for one's own benefit (Yerushalmi Nedarim). Verse 35 tells us that among the offerings offered by the returnees after their arrival in Jerusalem were "twelve he-goats for a sin offering (HATAS)" but goes on to say that "all this was a BURNT (OLAH) offering". Since the meat of sin offerings is normally consumed by the priests, why are these sin offerings specifically described as an OLAH, all of which is consumed on the Altar? The Talmud explains that the twelve goat sin offerings were brought on behalf of the Twelve Tribes in order to expiate the sin of idolatry in the days of King Tzidkiyahu – and the meat of the goat sin-offering for idolatry is NOT eaten by the priests but burned outside the camp (Temurah 15b; see Numbers 15:24 and Rambam Hilchos Shegagah 12:1). In offering sacrifices for all the Twelve Tribes, we see once again how Ezra and the returnees saw themselves as representatives of the entire people of Israel.

Chapter 9 The return to Jerusalem and the reinstitution of the Temple rites encouraged a great wave of repentance among the people. The leaders immediately approached Ezra and confessed that the entire nation – Israelites, priests and Levites – had been guilty in Babylon of the same sin of intermarriage that their fathers had committed before the exile with the Canaanite nations and the surrounding Ammonites, Moabites and Egyptians (vv 1-2). Moreover, they admitted that "the

hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this crime" (v 2) [just as it was in the great wave of Jewish assimilation in the last few centuries, which was led by the Rothschilds and similar leading families]. Ezra was surely not unaware of this national flaw, which undermines the very foundations of the people, but the mere mention of it was sufficient to drive him to tear his garments and pull out the hairs of his head and beard in anguish (v 3). "And at the time of the afternoon sacrifice [shortly after midday] I arose from my fasting" (v 5). From here the Talmud (Megillah 30b) learns that the proper procedure on a public fast day is for the leaders to spend the entire morning investigating the affairs of the community. [A lot could be accomplished if rabbis and community leaders would actually practice this today.] Ezra's prayer (vv 6ff) puts words of confession, contrition and repentance into the mouths of all Israel. He admits that "we are slaves" (v 9). [In Ezra's day it was to the Persians, while today it seems to be to the Americans, who appear to dictate most if not all of what Israel does.] "But He gave us grace in the eyes of the king of Persia " (ibid.) This is interpreted by the Talmud as a reference to the overthrow of Haman in the days of Ahashverosh (Megillah 10b). At the very outset of the new settlement, Ezra delivered a forthright lesson on the Torah condition for successful Israelite possession of the Holy Land: complete separation from the impurity of the idolatrous nations, which means NO INTERMARRIAGE (vv 11-14). In our times there is hardly a family in all Israel that has been unaffected by the enormous wave of intermarriage in recent centuries, and in many cases the bold steps taken by the returnees in the time of Ezra to cleanse the nation as described in the coming chapter are in practical terms all but impossible in most families. What we can do is to try to do everything possible to cleanse our minds of any foreign ideologies that have knowingly or unknowing allowed to intermarry into the native Torah way of thinking that is our national heritage.

Chapter 10 " Judah has dealt treacherously and a disgusting thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem ; for Judah has profaned the holiness of HaShem that He loved, and has married the daughter of a strange god…" (Malachi 2:11). In the Talmud, Rav Nahman brings this verse as support for the statement by R. Yehoshua ben Korhah that Malachi is identical with Ezra, one of whose greatest achievements was to eliminate the blight of intermarriage that cut at the very foundations of the people. It was the sight of this saintly priest and prophet in the newly built Temple, praying, weeping and confessing in the name of the entire nation, that brought all the assembled people to a great swell of Teshuvah, with all the men, women and children weeping (v 1). "And SHECHANIYAH the son of YEHIEL from the children of EILAM answered and said to Ezra, We have trespassed against our God and have taken alien women…" (v 2). It is interesting that in verse 26, where YEHIEL is listed among the children of Eilam who had taken foreign wives, his son Shechaniyah is NOT mentioned as one of those who had done so. Yet Shechaniyah still stepped forward to "confess". Why?

The Talmud explains by telling how one time while R Judah the Prince was teaching his disciples, he smelled a strong smell of garlic. He told whoever had eaten garlic to leave. His best student, R. Hiyya, immediately got up and left, and then everyone else also got up and left. The following morning R. Judah's son Shimon found R. Hiyya and asked how he could dare offend his father – until R. Hiyya confessed that he had not eaten garlic at all. From whom did R. Hiyya learn this way of saving others from embarrassment? From R. Meir. For once a woman came into the Beis Midrash and said "One of you made me his wife by sleeping with me." On hearing this R. Meir immediately got up and wrote her a Get ("bill of divorce") and on seeing this, all the other students also wrote her a Get… And who did R. Meir learn it from? From Shmuel HaKatan. And Shmuel HaKatan learned it from Shechaniyah the son of Yehiel (Sanhedrin 11a). Getting up first in front of everyone to confess to having intermarried was a courageous act on the part of Shechaniyah that was intended to make it easier for all those who really were guilty to confess and begin to repair the damage. Shechaniyah asked Ezra to set the process in motion, and the latter – continuing his fasting and repentance – gave orders for all the returnees to assemble in Jerusalem, warning that anyone who failed to do so would be penalized by having all his property declared ownerless (v 8). This verse is the foundation for the law that Beis Din (a rabbinic court) is entitled to use the sanction of declaring the property of recalcitrant individuals HEFKER, ownerless and free for anyone to take (Shekalim 3b). This great national assembly was held on the 20 th of the month of Kislev (v 9) – which is in December at the height of Israel's rainy season, usually one of the coldest, windiest times in Jerusalem. We can imagine what a chilly, sorrowful occasion it was as the bedraggled crowd confronted the enormity of what they had allowed to happen during their exile. Everyone was willing to do what was necessary to purify the nation, but it was simply too cold to stand outside in the rain now and complete the very delicate and time-consuming work needed to rectify the flaw. Ezra laid down a timetable for the returnees from the various different cities of the exile to appear together with their elders and judges in order to check into what had happened in each family and separate Israelites from their foreign wives and children. We need only try to imagine what it would take today to separate homeborn Jews who have intermarried from their non-Jewish spouses and children in order to get a glimmer of understanding of the enormous, heart-rending enterprise Ezra carried out in his time with priests, Levites and Israelites alike.

Book of Nehemiah Chapter 1 The book of Nehemiah is a direct continuation of the book of Ezra. In Ezra 2:2 Nehemiah was numbered among the leaders of the FIRST WAVE of returnees who had gone up out of exile to Jerusalem together with Zerubavel and Yehoshua the High Priest while Ezra remained in Babylon. In Ezra 2:63 Nehemiah was mentioned under his name HATIRSHATHA (see Nehemiah 10:2) as having forbidden those priests who were unable to bring written proof of their priestly lineage from eating sacrificial meat. Nehemiah evidently returned to exile at some point thereafter to join and presumably lead the sizeable communities that remained in Babylon, Persia and other centers. We have evidence in our text of a certain two-way traffic between Israel and the Diaspora of those days, though it was probably less intense than the two-way jet air traffic that exists today between Tel Aviv, Paris, London, New York , Los Angeles and other Jewish centers worldwide. As we shall presently see, Nehemiah rose to a top position in the Persian royal court – in the same tradition of outstanding Tzaddikim like Daniel and Ezra who also had the ear of the emperor kings of their times. The first wave of returnees had come up to Jerusalem in the first year of the reign of Cyrus of Persia in 3390 (370 B.C.E.). They had laid the foundations of the Temple Altar, but owing to the opposition of the adversaries it was not until eighteen years later that they were able to build the Temple in the year 3408 (352 B.C.E.). Ezra came up from Babylon to Jerusalem seven years later in 3415 (345 B.C.E.), and it was then that he began his work of separating the people from their foreign wives as told in the closing chapters of the book of Ezra. The book of Nehemiah opens "in the twentieth year" (Nehemiah 1:1) but does not specify in the twentieth year of what! The rabbis learned from GEZEIRAH SHAVAH with the identical phrase in Nehemiah 2:1 that this was in the twentieth year of ARTAHSHASTA = Darius king of Persia (Rosh Hashanah 3a, see Rashi on Nehemiah 1:1). This was in the year 3426 (334 B.C.E.) – i.e. ELEVEN YEARS after Ezra's Aliyah to Jerusalem. In other words, with the opening of the book of Nehemiah we have one again fastforwarded, this time to eleven years after the events described at the end of the book of Ezra, passing over in silence the details of all that happened in the intervening years. We are not told until the closing words of our present chapter (Nehemiah 1:11) exactly who Nehemiah is. It turns out that he is no less than the personal winebutler of Darius king of Persia – a prestigious position of influence if ever there was one, since you get the king at his most mellow moments. Of course a king's butler has to taste the wine every time before he serves it to prove that it has not been poisoned, and since the Persian king's wine was YAYIN NESECH (idolatrous wine), the rabbis of the time gave a special license to Nehemiah to drink it even though

YAYIN NESECH is normally strictly forbidden for Jewish consumption. This is the reason why Nehemiah was given the name HATIRSHATHA: HATIR means "permitted", SHATHA means "he drank" (see Rashi on Ezra 2:63, Yerushalmi Kiddushin 41b). It was precisely because Nehemiah was not only a great, open-hearted Tzaddik but also one who had the ear of the king of Persia, head of the great superpower of the day, that it was so fortuitous that Hanani and his companions, visiting the Golus from Jerusalem, came to him and told him the latest news about his brothers in Jerusalem (Nehemiah v 2). The great jubilation at the time of the aliyah of Ezra eleven years earlier carrying a letter of authorization from that same king Darius had given way to a cry of pain from the harassed residents of Judah. The walls of Jerusalem were broken down and marauding adversaries were engaged in an intense intifada, burning down the houses without regard for the authority of the king of Persia, who was many, many hundreds of miles away and who in any case had little interest in backing up his letter of authorization by engaging his armies to deal with a local squabble in one of his many provinces. The news of the plight of the returnees threw Nehemiah into mourning, weeping and fasting, and he offered the eloquent prayer recorded in our chapter, phrases from which are included in some of the prayers and supplications in our Siddur (prayer book) and Selichos (penitential prayers). Nehemiah delicately alludes to God's promise that if the exiles of Israel would repent, He would gather them in to His chosen place (v 9) – as if to say, now that they have returned, please PROTECT THEM!!! Nehemiah continued – since he had some PROTEKTZIA with the king of Persia – asking for God to grant him favor with the king – showing that it is permissible for us to pray for success in our dealings with other people. In the ensuing chapters we will see how Nehemiah asked the king of Persia for a temporary leave of absence (which lasted twelve years) in order to go to Jerusalem, where he not only built the city walls to protect the population physically, but also built the spiritual walls of the nation by campaigning against the cruelty of creditors to defaulting debtors and against the desecration of the holy Shabbos.

Chapter 2 A unique feature of the book of Nehemiah is that unlike almost all the other narrative portions of the Bible, here the hero of the story writes about his own exploits in the first person singular. Throughout the Torah, Moses, who wrote at God's dictation, described his own deeds as if writing about someone else in the third person [except in certain of his discourses in Deuteronomy]. Samuel did the same when he wrote the book called by his name. While the prophets frequently describe their own spiritual experiences in the first person, Nehemiah alone gives a long, detailed first-person account of his own endeavors in the world of practical action. In this book we thus have an intimate picture of how a Tzaddik and a man of ACTION and ACCOMPLISHMENT turned to prayer, faith and trust in God at every step in his activities. Writing about oneself carries some risks: thus Nehemiah's repeated prayer to God to remember him for good in the merit of his various exploits (Nehemiah 5:19, 13:14 etc.) did not escape the censure of some of the rabbis, who said that as a result his book, although called by his name, was merely appended to the Book of Ezra instead of standing as a complete work in its own right (Sanhedrin 93b).

The conversation between ARTAHSHASTA (= Darius) king of Persia and his wine butler Nehemiah took place a few months after the latter had received a report of the great plight of the residents of Jerusalem as described in Chapter 1. As Nehemiah was serving the king wine, the latter observed a serious change for the worse in his butler's facial expression. In a verse cited as illumining the effect of the emotions upon the physical body (Likutey Moharan I, 60:6), the king declared that the bad look on Nehemiah's face proved that he harbored bad thoughts in his heart (v 2). The king feared that his butler was trying to get him to drink poisoned wine (Rashi ad loc.). After Nehemiah had explained that the cause of his anguish was the plight of Jerusalem, when the king asked him what he wanted, Nehemiah first prayed to God in Heaven (v 4, cf. Nehemiah 1:11). He then asked leave of absence from the royal court in order to travel to Jerusalem to take matters into his own hands and rebuild the city. He requested a written guarantee of safe passage through the dangerous western imperial provinces through which he had to pass on his way to Judea as well as for access to the royal forests there for timber for his building project. "And when Sanbalat the Horonite and Toviah the Ammonite slave heard, it displeased them greatly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel " (v 10). In the eleven years since Ezra's danger-ridden aliyah to Jerusalem, a new set of adversaries had grown up, for "in each and every generation they have stood up against us to destroy us" (Pesach Haggadah). Sanvalat would appear to have been one of the leaders of the Samaritans (cf. Nehemiah 3:34) while the Ammonites had always been implacable enemies of Israel. DEMOLITION FOR THE PURPOSE OF BUILDING Only three days after his arrival in Jerusalem, Nehemiah jumped into action. "And I arose in the night… and I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem …" (v 12). Ibn Ezra followed by modern Bible translators interpret the verb SOVEIR in vv 13 and 15 as meaning that Nehemiah merely INSPECTED the city walls, but Rashi (on v 12) and Metzudas David (on v 13) interpret it has having the sense of SHOVEIR, "I BROKE the walls", explaining that Nehemiah's intention was to make the breaches in the walls even bigger and more extensive than they already were in order to shock the inhabitants of Jerusalem when they would wake up the following morning so as to spur them into agreeing to join Nehemiah in the urgent rebuilding of the city walls. Living in the vast urban agglomerations in which over half the world's population resides today, it is harder to appreciate the reason why all ancient cities that were worthy of the name were almost invariably walled for defensive purposes. Indeed in the times of Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar the fortified walls of Jerusalem enabled its inhabitants to survive years of sieges before the city finally succumbed. With the destruction of Jerusalem, the massive wooden gates of the various entrances to the city had been burned, and the charred stones of the walls were weak and crumbling. The ruined walls symbolized the weakness of the Jews and their subject status. The returnees from Babylon who lived in the unfortified city were exposed to constant marauding incursions from their adversaries, and were evidently too weak, demoralized and preoccupied with their day-to-day activities to be able to take decisive action to defend themselves. By further breaking down the remains of the old walls, Nehemiah did indeed succeed in arousing the inhabitants of Jerusalem to take urgent action to rebuild them (v 17), much to the anger of their adversaries, who immediately accused

them of treason against the Persian king. Nehemiah's response was to strengthen himself in his faith in God. His statement to the adversaries that "you have no portion or charity or memorial in Jerusalem (v 20) is one of the main proof texts for the law that no contributions to the walls and towers of Jerusalem are accepted from non-Israelites (Shekalim 4b). The walls of Jerusalem are also of great halachic significance, as they define the boundaries of the city for the purpose of eating KODOSHIM KALIM ("light holy offerings" that could be consumed outside the Temple but only within the city walls), MA'ASER SHENI (the "second tithe" eaten by its owners in Jerusalem, usually during their visits for the pilgrim festivals) and BIKURIM ("first fruits", eaten by the priests) etc.

Chapter 3 Despite the opposition of their adversaries, Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem succeeded in building up the walls of the city. The present chapter is of very great interest in providing us with a detailed topography of the walls of Jerusalem at the start of the Second Temple period including references to gates, springs, pools and strategic strongholds many of which are known until today. While the city was expanded later on in this period, many of the locations mentioned must have been familiar to the Tannaim and other Tzaddikim of the late Second Temple period about whom we read constantly in the Mishneh and Talmud, such as Hillel and Shamai, Raban Yohanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva etc. Part of the beauty of the project of rebuilding the fortifications of Jerusalem about which we read in the present chapter was that it was not an impersonal, monolithic government enterprise using imported foreign laborers having no connection with the city. It was a cooperative venture carried out with their bare hands by the very citizens themselves. Virtually every family took responsibility for a designated section of the city walls and gates. Almost everyone took part – Cohanim, Levites, Israelites and Gibeonites – with very few exceptions (v 5). The gates of Jerusalem as recorded in this chapter have very evocative names, such as the Gate of the Flocks (v 1) – many animals were brought up to the Temple – the Gate of the Fish (v 2, for Shabbos?!?) – the "Old Gate" (v 6), the Dung Gate (v 14) – known until today as the gate near the Western Wall – the Gate of the Spring (v 15), the Water Gate (v 26), the Gate of the Horses (v 18) which dated from the period of the Kings (II Kings 11:16), the Eastern Gate (v 29) and the Gate of the Guard (v 31). The adversaries responded to this building project with scorn, derision and vilification of the "wretched Jews" (v 34) echoes of which can be heard until today in the Arab response to the rebuilding of modern Israel. Swollen with arrogance, Sanvalat asked rhetorically, "Will they [the nations] allow them? Will they [the Jews] sacrifice? Will they complete the work in one day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of dust seeing as they are burned?" (v 34). Tovia the Ammonite slave further refined the mockery, saying that even a fox would be able to break through their stone wall (v 35). Nehemiah showed the right way for a Jew to respond to such anti-Semitic abuse, refusing to engage the adversaries but rather turning to God and asking Him to hear their insolence and bring it down on their own heads. Nehemiah and the

inhabitants of Jerusalem meanwhile pressed on unperturbed with the work of rebuilding.

Chapter 4 Our chapter relates the thickening trouble that now struck the builders of Jerusalem from their adversaries. The opening verse gives us an indication of who these adversaries were. As mentioned in the commentary on Nehemiah ch 2, Sanvalat appears to have been one of the leaders of the inhabitants of Shomron (see Nehemiah 3:34). Tuviah was apparently a renegade Israelite who was intermarried with some of the leading Judeans, with whom he had excellent connections (see Nehemiah 6:18). The AREVIM are likely to have been Ishmaelite tribes who had spread into Eretz Israel from east of the River Jordan, where the Ammonites were also based. The ASHDODIM were Philistines living in the Mediterranean coastal areas of Israel. All of these elements now gathered together to make war on the Judeans who by rebuilding Jerusalem were threatening the comfortable status quo the adversaries had been enjoying since the exile of the Ten Tribes under Sennacherib and of Judah and Benjamin under Nebuchadnezzar. Nehemiah's building of the walls of Jerusalem "under fire" or, at the very least, under the constant threat of attack from enemies all around has its parallel in the building of the modern Jewish Yishuv in Eretz Israel, which since its inception has been attended by unremitting belligerence and aggression from Arab and other enemies on every border of the tiny country. The greater the influx of Jews into Israel and the greater their success in building up the country, the greater their enemies' hostility has become, making a mockery of every peace plan that has been devised to try to diffuse it. The previous chapter gave a general account of the rebuilding of the walls and various gates of Jerusalem. This enterprise, which was executed through each of the different families in the city building their own section of the wall, could not be accomplished in one day. It was a protracted project that left the Jews highly vulnerable to attack in what turned into an enervating war of attrition to the point that " Judah said, the strength of the bearers of the burdens is failing…" (v 4). The repeated helpless sighs heaved daily by the pressured citizens of contemporary Israel echo the same feeling. The adversaries' plan was to infiltrate Judea in order to spring a surprise attack (v 5). [This is reminiscent of the original Oslo strategy of the "Palestinians" to infiltrate Israel in order to strike with the sudden terror attacks that became the hallmark of the last decade. This is one of the reasons why the Palestinians have always advocated "open borders" into Israel (but not the other way round), opposing the Israeli separation fence that is a de facto admission of the complete failure of the "peace process".] In verse 6 we find that Nehemiah receives a warning of the hostile intentions of the adversaries from "the Jews dwelling with them". This is evidence that the returnees were not only concentrated in and around Jerusalem and Judea but were spreading considerably further afield. Indeed, by the time of the later Second Temple period, the Yishuv extended over most of the areas occupied by the earlier kingdoms of Judah and Israel, including the whole Galilee, Mt Ephraim, the Negev and east of the Jordan. The main exceptions were certain coastal areas and the strip of land around Shomron, which was occupied by the KOOTIM ("Samaritans"). The belligerence of modern Israel's enemies has forced her to become a militarized nation in which most members of the workforce, having already performed

compulsory full-time army service for a number of years, then have to serve every year in MILUIM, "reserve duty", sometimes for periods of up to several months. Somewhat similarly, Nehemiah was forced to build the walls of Jerusalem with a civilian workforce half of whom worked on the building while the other half had to carry out guard duty in order to defend them (v 10). Even those who were engaged in the actual labor had to do so while heavily armed. They were forced to do their work with one hand while holding a sword in the other! Nehemiah himself had to keep a shofar-blower at his side in case there was a need to summon everybody to one place to stave off a sudden attack (vv 11-12). "So we labored in the work, and half of them held the spears from the time of the breaking dawn until the stars appeared. Likewise at the same time I said to the people, Let everyone lodge with his attendant within Jerusalem so that in the night they may be a guard to us and labor in the day" (vv 15-16). These verses are likely to be familiar to anyone who has studied the Talmud where it begins in Tractate Berachos, because these are the very first verses quoted by the ShaS from the NaCh (though not from the Five Books of Moses, from which three verses are quoted earlier on the page). These verses from Nehemiah are introduced as proof texts in a discussion about the time when the obligation to recite the evening SHEMA begins – when the stars first appear (Berachos 2b). Despite the fact that the Jewish laborers were engaged in physically demanding and doubtless very sweaty work during the Israeli summer, they were so busy working and trying to defend themselves that they did not even have time to strip off their clothes and wash!!! (v 17).

Chapter 5 Nehemiah did not only have to deal with threats from Israel's external enemies. He was also faced with internal social friction and resentment caused by the great disparity between the "upper crust" of the returnees, who were or had become very wealthy, and the less successful ones, who were not. The latter were small farmers who were trying to scrape a living out of ancestral allotments that had been neglected for over seventy years. Not only did they have to produce sufficient to be able to subsist and cover their basic needs; they also had to pay heavy tributes to the Persian king. The opening of the present chapter paints a sorry picture of how the poor had fallen into debt and were reduced to selling not only their fields and vineyards but even their very sons and daughters as slaves to the rich just in order to survive (vv 1-5). The descent of the weaker classes into chronic debt is another feature of the time of Nehemiah that also characterizes modern Israel, where the huge gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen despite major economic growth. The country's enormous security budget sucks money out of the economy, necessitating heavy taxation of the working population and high import duties, pushing up the prices of homes, consumer goods, services and everything else, leaving most sections of the population mortgaged up to the hilt while financing car purchase and other projects with heavy-interest loans at the same time as living off credit cards and expensive bank overdrafts… Contemporary political leaders tend to be fully implicated in the ongoing exploitation of the weaker sections of the population and the attendant government corruption. Israel's last four prime ministers as well as countless other ministers and high officials have been subject to police investigations for serious wrongdoing.

Nehemiah, on the other hand, stood up as a true leader of the people, championing the poor and oppressed against the wealthy and powerful. "…And I rebuked the nobles and the rulers…" (v 7). Nehemiah asked them questions to which they could give no answer: "We have redeemed our brothers the Jews who were sold to the heathen; and will you nevertheless sell your brothers, or shall they be sold to us?" (v 8). Nehemiah initiated a collective remittance of debts, seeing that all the fields, vineyards, olive trees and houses that had been seized as collateral against bad debts were returned (v 11). Nehemiah was not merely acting as the champion of mundane social justice. At every step he made it clear that helping our brothers and sisters rather than exploiting and oppressing them is an integral part of FEAR OF GOD (vv 9, 13). The chapter ends with Nehemiah's testimony about his own integrity. We learn from v 14 that the Persian king Darius had appointed Nehemiah as GOVERNOR of Judah , yet he never used his position for personal gain. He did not even consume the food which the population were obliged to provide for the governor, let alone enjoy the expensive "perks" that previous governors had permitted themselves. On the contrary, Nehemiah supported a sizeable entourage – including many converts – at his own table at his own expense. "Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people" (v 19).

Chapter 6 Nehemiah's speedy rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem caused fury among the adversaries, who now plotted to kill him. To understand the complexity of Nehemiah's situation, we must read the present narrative in the light of information that is only given towards the end of the chapter. Nehemiah was the de facto leader in Jerusalem at this time – it was he who took the initiative to get the people to build the wall. The leadership of the nation was vested in the Sanhedrin, which included outstanding prophets and sages who had returned from exile in Babylon. Ezra was still alive and active, as we shall see in Chapter 8, where Nehemiah and Ezra work together as a "team" for the spiritual revival of the nation. But where the two are mentioned together, it is Nehemiah who is given precedence (Nehemiah 8:9). Not only was he an outstanding Tzaddik. He had also been appointed governor of Judea by Darius king of Persia, in whose court he enjoyed a position of the greatest influence. He was also very wealthy (see Nehemiah 5:17-18; 7:69, where Hatirshasah=Nehemiah). Sanvalat and Tuvia and their associates saw themselves as loyal subjects of Persia, which had taken over the Babylonian empire, and they evidently felt they had the right to dwell in the territories in which they lived in its western provinces maintaining the existing status quo without allowing the Jews – with their history of rebellion against imperial rulers like Babylon – to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It emerges from vv 17-18 that Tuvia enjoyed excellent connections with leading figures in Judea, and he and his son were actually married to prominent Judeans. Rashi (on v 17) states that Tuviah was a YISRAEL RASHA ("wicked Israelite"); however the Talmud in Kiddushin 70a – discussing aspects of the laws of YICHUS ("lineage") in the light of certain verses in our present chapter and the next – implies that he was a heathen.

To add further subtlety to the scene around Nehemiah, we find that already among the penitent returnees from Babylon there were various false prophets (v 10) and prophetesses (v 14) who were using the language of faith day by day to broadcast gloomy messages of doom to Nehemiah in order to discourage him. Moreover there were various agents and informers who were spreading disinformation about Tuvia and reporting back to him about Nehemiah's every word and movement (v 19). Keeping all this in mind we can better appreciate the wisdom with which this humble man of action pursued his mission. In vv 2-4 the adversaries try to lure Nehemiah to a location where they could kill him. Nehemiah replies that he is too busy to leave Jerusalem. In vv 5-7 Sanvalat sends an open letter accusing Nehemiah of high treason against the Persian king, planning to have himself declared king of Judah. In vv 8-9 Nehemiah absolutely denies the accusations, but is surrounded by people who are trying to demoralize him. In vv 10-13 Nehemiah comes to a "prophet" in Jerusalem who assures him that he knows prophetically that Nehemiah is in such mortal danger that he must take refuge in the Temple Sanctuary (the only place that had gates – the gates of Jerusalem were still not in place). But Nehemiah recognizes him to be a false prophet and refuses to sin by entering the Sanctuary, which is forbidden to a non-priest. Amidst all this Nehemiah persisted in building the walls of Jerusalem, which were completed – to the consternation of the adversaries – on 25 Elul (v 15), the anniversary of the first day of creation (for man was created on the sixth day, Rosh HaShanah). "For through our God was this labor accomplished" (v 16).

Chapter 7 With the completion of the walls of Jerusalem, the last step was to put the doors in position in the city gates, and to charge the gate-keepers of the city and the Temple together with the Temple singers and Levites with their duties. Nehemiah charged his "brother" (=friend) Hanani (see Nehemiah 1:2 and Rashi ad loc.) and Hananiah, governor of the city – "as a man of truth and a God-fearing man for many days" (present chapter v 2) – to open the gates only briefly at a specified time each day to allow people to pass in and out of the city, in order to prevent a surprise attack from the adversaries. YICHUS Having built the physical walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah (in conjunction with Ezra) set about the work of building the spiritual defenses of the nation through family purity. Prior to the exile, the people of Israel – as a nation of tribal, clan and family networks – carefully guarded their family records and registries of marriages, relationships and personal status. But ever since they had gone into exile intermarriage, immoral conduct and other factors affecting personal status had left considerable confusion. If all this had happened to Judah after only seventy years of exile, it is no wonder that today, two thousand years since the destruction of the Second Temple and two thousand five hundred years since the exile of the Ten Tribes, untold numbers of Jews and Israelites have completely lost track of their lineage. Only in the last couple of centuries, the mass migrations of Jews from Eastern Europe, attended by chronic persecution and culminating in the holocaust, have caused countless family records and community registers to become lost. It may be that the Mormons – who are assiduous collectors of records of lineage, especially Jewish lineage – know more than many about different people's family backgrounds, but the majority of present-day Jews know little if anything about

their great grandparents and even less about earlier generations and their "bloodlines". Today it is up to each individual who feels his or her Israelite soul stirring within to make a personal covenant of self-dedication to HaShem the God of Hosts, Who knows all the souls and all their incarnations. One who appreciates what it is to be from the seed of Israel will find it easier to project himself into the mindset of Nehemiah and the Tzaddikim of his time in seeking to establish clear records of the lineage of all the returnees from Babylon in order to lay the foundations of national purity and spiritual strength for the generations to come. The records of the families of the Israelites, Levites, Cohanim-priests, Gibeonites and Temple servants who came up from Babylon as given in the present chapter overlap with those given in Ezra ch 2. In both chapters the total number of returnees is given as 42,360 (Ezra 2:64, Nehemiah 7:66) but many of the names in our present chapter are different from those in found Ezra, and the individual population figures given for the various families are also not the same. Metzudas David (on Nehemiah 7:66) explains that the first wave of returnees had come up to Jerusalem with Zerubavel and Yehoshua the High Priest in the second year of Cyrus of Persia, while Nehemiah came up to Jerusalem OVER THIRTY-FIVE YEARS LATER in the twentieth year of Darius of Persia. In giving the names and numbers of the various families in accordance with their different statuses as based on the SCROLL OF LINEAGE Nehemiah found on the completion of the city walls (Nehemiah 7:5), he adjusted them to take account of people who had died and those who had been born since the time of the compilation of the original scroll. In some cases entire families had almost become extinct by the time of Nehemiah, with their surviving members attaching themselves to near relations in other families. In other cases individual branches of certain families had been so prolific that they could be counted as families in their own right (See Metzudas David on Nehemiah 7:66 at length). "And these are they who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Keruv Adon and Eemeir, and they could not tell the house of their fathers and their seed…" (v 61). The Talmud (Kiddushin 70a) darshens: Tel Melah (="the mound of salt") – these are people whose deeds are like the deeds of Sodom that was turned into a mound of salt. Tel Harsha (="the mound of dumbness"): this refers to a child who calls out "father" and his mother hushes him. "And they could not tell the house of their fathers and their seed if they were from Israel" – this refers to the ASUFI who was gathered in from the street. Keruv Adon and Eemeir: Rabbi Abahu said, "Said (AMAR) the Lord (=Adon), I said Israel should be before me like an angel (KERUV) but they made themselves like a leopard (that mates indiscriminately). Others said in the name of Rabbi Abahu: "Said the Lord, even though they made themselves like a leopard, they are considered before me like an angel." Rabba bar Hana said: Everyone who marries a woman that is not fit for him is considered as if he plowed the whole world and sowed it with salt…

Chapter 8 Now that the returnees from Babylon to Judea had settled again in their ancestral towns and villages, they were ready to return to the Torah path of life that is the purpose of Israel's existence.

With the arrival of the first day of the seventh month – Rosh HaShanah, the Head and beginning of the spiritual year – everyone, including both the men and the women, flocked to the Temple. The account of this unique national assembly – central to which was the public reading from the Torah scroll – is one of our main sources for the laws and customs of: (1) the public Torah reading in the synagogue (2) Rosh Hashanah (3) the Succah. THE READING OF THE LAW The central figure in this section is Ezra the Scribe and High Priest. While Moses had instituted the public reading of the Torah on Shabbos, Mondays and Thursdays (so that three days should never go by without the people hearing the Torah), it was Ezra who instituted other customs relating to the Torah reading that are observed until today. Among them are the reading of the Torah during the Shabbos afternoon Minchah service; the calling of THREE people for ALIYAH ("going up" to the reader's desk to bless and read from the Torah) at the Shabbos afternoon and weekday readings, and the reading of no less than ten verses from the Torah on those days (Rambam, Hilchos Tefilah 12:1). Ezra either instituted or renewed the custom of reading the Torah week by week from the beginning Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy in an annual cycle that starts and ends on Shemini Atzeres (oneday festival following Succos), reaching the reproof at the end of Leviticus just before Shavuos and the reproof towards the end of Deuteronomy just before Rosh Hashanah (Rambam, ibid. 13:2). Ezra's Torah reading took place "in front of the wide space that is before the Gate of the Water" (v 2). In Talmud Yoma 69b there are different opinions as to whether this was in the main Temple courtyard in front of the House (the Azara), the Ezras Nashim ("Women's Courtyard" before the Azara) or elsewhere on the Temple Mount. In any event, this assembly is emblematic of the assembly of all the people in the Synagogue, to which everyone must come to hear the Torah. In the light of the widespread feeling today that women have somehow been excluded from Jewish religious life, it is important to note that our text repeats that Ezra's gathering included men AND women (vv 2 & 3) and that EVERYONE was listening to the Torah and receiving a running translation into the vernacular explaining what it is saying (v 3 and see Rashi on v 7). Everyone had their ears tuned only to the Sefer Torah (v 3) – not to the kinds of frivolous conversations that go on during the Torah reading in certain synagogues that are frequented by irreverent ignoramuses who unfortunately have never been sufficiently inspired by their rabbis and teachers to make them want to wake up from their spiritual sleep and grasp that the words of the Torah are the words of the Living God, and that even if they are not fully understood they should still be treated with the utmost respect. When Ezra read the Torah, he was flanked by six men to his right and six to his left (v 4: Zechariah=Meshulam "because he was COMPLETE in his deeds" Megillah 23a). The Talmud finds an allusion in the six men flanking Ezra to the six men who go up to the Torah reading on Yom Kippur (Megillah ibid.) "And Ezra opened the scroll in the eyes of all the people…" (v 5). This alludes to the custom of HAGBAHAH, raising the scroll so that everyone can see the script, which according to the Sefardi and Chassidic NUSAH ("style", "custom") is performed prior to the actual reading, while many Ashkenazi communities perform it after the

reading. At the moment of the HAGBAHAH it is customary for people to stretch out their right hand pointing towards the Torah (cf. v 6). "And Ezra blessed…" (v 6). This alludes to the BLESSING made by the reader before he begins to read. (The present-day custom where the person called up to the Torah reading blesses but leaves it to the BAAL KOREI, to actually read stems from the fact that the level of education has fallen to the point where the great majority, even if they can read Hebrew, are still unable to read the Torah themselves directly from the scroll with the correct vocalization and cantillation / "trope" because only the letters are written in the scroll but not the vowels or musical notations. In earlier times, and in some Sefardic and Yemenite communities until today, each of the men called to the Torah actually reads his portion himself, as do many Barmitzvah boys.) It is the blessing over the reading of the Torah – when recited and listened to with the proper intentions – that transforms the occasion from being a prosaic reading of a text into a collective act of devotion in which both the reader and the listeners are attaching themselves to God through hearing His words. "And they read in the scroll, in the Torah of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading" (v 8). The Talmud (Megillah 3a) darshens from this verse that Ezra established the MIKRA (way of READING the words), the TARGUM (translation into the Aramaic vernacular of the people=MEFORASH), the divisions of the verses (P'SUKIM=VE-SOOM SECHEL), the cantillation/trope (=VAYOVEENU BA-MIKRA) and the MASORETH ("tradition" as to how the words in the Torah are to be spelled, whether MALEY, "in full", or HASEIR, "lacking" certain letters, with enlarged or diminished letters etc.) For all this had apparently been forgotten (by the majority, although presumably an inner circle of sages, prophets and priests always preserved and handed down the sacred tradition) and Ezra formally reinstituted and returned to the authentic tradition. ROSH HASHANAH From the response of Nehemiah and Ezra in v 9 we can infer that the Torah reading in the precincts of the Temple brought all the assembled people to a great wave of anguish, weeping and repentance for their deeds. Now these two leaders taught a lesson in the proper celebration of Rosh HaShanah that is expressed succinctly by Rabbi Nachman, who once said that God gave him a unique gift in being able to understand what Rosh HaShanah really is. "On Rosh HaShanah one must act wisely and only think good thoughts. One should only keep in mind that God will be good to us. One must be happy on Rosh HaShanah and yet one must cry…" (Sichos HaRan #21). The lesson of Ezra and Nehemiah, which is brought as Halachah in Shulchan Aruch, is that together with our tearful repentance on Rosh HaShanah, we must also celebrate the festival joyously with good food and drink in the confidence that God will be merciful with us and stretch out His "arm" to accept our repentance. "FOR THE JOY OF HASHEM IS YOUR STRENGTH" (v 8). The penitence aroused in the people on this Rosh Hashanah was greatly elevated through the joyous celebration of Succos, which started on the 15 th of the month and continued for seven days followed by the one day festival of SHEMINI ATZERES immediately afterwards. Dwelling in the Succah for seven days helps us internalize the lesson that God's encompassing presence protects us wherever we are in the wilderness of life. From verse 15 the sages learned that the branches and leaves used for S'CHACH, the "roof" of the temporary Succah dwelling, must grow from the ground and must be in their natural state so as not to be susceptible to the TUM'AH, "impurity", that attaches itself to man-crafted vessels (Succah 12a).

"And all the assembly of the returnees from the captivity made Succos and dwelled in Succos, for the Children of Israel had not done so since the days of Joshua binNun" (v 17). It was not that under King David etc. they had not celebrated Succos, but with the return under Ezra they now began counting the Sabbatical and Jubilee Year cycles again and observing the laws of walled cities and tithes etc. just as the people had started to do when they first entered the Land under Joshua (Erchin 32b).

Chapter 9 After the jubilant celebration of Succos followed by Shemini Atzeres (which is on the 22 nd Tishri), the people gave themselves only one day (="ISRU HAG", the day after a festival, invested with a festive character) before returning to the Temple fasting, in sackcloth and ashes, separating themselves from foreign wives and children (v 2), and presumably from foreign ways of thinking as well. Verse 3 is one of the sources for the laws of proper procedure on public fast-days (Taanis 12b). The Levites now stood on their platform in the Temple and opened up in a song that was a call to all the people to repent. The passage running from the last part of verse 5 until the end of verse 11 is familiar from the daily morning prayers, during which they are recited after Psalm 150, before SHIRAS HA-YAM, the "Song of the Sea". The entire "song" of the Levites, which continues until the end of the present chapter, praises God the Creator of heaven and earth and goes on to recount the history of Israel from the founding father Abraham, to whom God promised the Land of Canaan, through the redemption from Egypt and His providential care of Israel in the wilderness, leading them with pillars of fire and cloud, feeding them with Manna and water from the rocks, giving them the Torah, the Shabbos and other commandments, followed by Israel's rebellion with the sin of the golden calf, God's forgiveness and His giving them the lands of kings and nations filled with great goodness…. As the people stood now at the start of the new era of the Second Temple, the story of how Israel had become fat off God's bounty and rebelled, resulting in their exile, had to be sung to them afresh in order to remind them that their mission was to rectify the sins of the past. For each generation must hear again the saga of the nation and to relearn its forgotten lessons all over again.

Chapter 10 Stirred to repentance by the song of reproof sung by the Levites on the Temple platform as recorded in the previous chapter, the entire assembly renewed the ancestral Covenant of dedication to God, with the leaders of the Priests, the Levites and Israelites formally signing their names on a written affirmation of commitment. It may be difficult to assimilate the long lists of names given in these chapters, but they should be read with reverence as part of the fabric of the sacred text, which is the national archive and treasury of all the souls of Israel. With sensitivity to the allusions contained in the different Hebrew roots on which these names are built, careful study will reveal a wealth of insights into the mindset and outlook of the generations of pining exiles and grateful returnees who gave such names to their children.

It was not only the home-born Israelites who reaffirmed their commitment to the Covenant. Among the many unnamed people who followed their leaders in this collective act of repentance were not only many priests, Levites, gate-keepers, Temple singers and servants, but also "all those who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Torah of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, everyone having knowledge and understanding" (v 29). "These are the CONVERTS who separated themselves from the religions of the nations in order to become attached and joined to the Torah of the Holy One blessed be He and to keep his commandments" (Rashi ad loc.) This affirmation of commitment to the Covenant took the form of a solemn oath which carried the sanction of severe curses on those who would violate it (v 30). The people undertook to observe the commandments of the Torah, specifying those that most needed strengthening, including the maintenance of family purity and rejection of intermarriage (v 31) and the observance of the Shabbos (v 32). It is noteworthy that the specific aspect of Sabbath observance mentioned in the text is abstention from buying and selling, which are prohibited not because they necessarily and intrinsically involve carrying out any of the 39 MELACHOS ("labors") that are forbidden MID'ORAISO (explicitly in the written Torah). Rather they are forbidden MI-DE-RABBANAN (through enactments of the sages), whether as a "fence" to keep people well away from infringing MELACHAH (thus trading often leads to writing, which is a forbidden MELACHAH), or because such activities are inconsistent with the sanctity of the day. We thus see how the Written Torah (TaNaCh) goes hand in hand with the Oral Torah as taught by the sages. Observance of Shabbos is a central theme in Nehemiah 13. "We also laid ordinances (MITZVOS) upon ourselves to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel…" (v 33). This refers to an annual contribution to the Temple over and above the statutory annual contribution of a Half Shekel by every adult male. The Talmud explains that the extra contribution mentioned here represents TZEDAKAH, "charity", and learns out from this verse that the mitzvah of charity is counted as equivalent to all of the other mitzvos since the verse calls it not MITZVAH in the singular but MITZVOS in the plural (Bava Basra 9a). "And we have cast lots among the priests, the Levites and the people for the wood offering…" (v 35). The Talmud explains that the returnees did not find wood in the Temple for use on the Altar to burn the sacrifices, and a number of individuals volunteered to bring wood to the Temple at their own expense. They won this right not only for themselves but also for their descendants, who on specified dates during the year would bring their wood offerings together with sacrifices and festivities (Taanis 28a). A very important part of the Covenant was the reaffirmation of all of the commandments relating to the Land and its produce, including the Sabbatical year of rest from agriculture (see v 32, which specifically refers to the remittance of debts in that year), the first-fruits (v 37), sacrifice of first-born animals (v 37), Hallah, the gift of dough to the priests, Terumah, the priestly tithe, and Ma'aser, the 10% of produce given to the Levite out of which he in turn had to give 10% as Terumas Maaser to the Cohen-priest (v 38ff). From now on collection of these tithes was to be organized under formal supervision in order to ensure proper support for the priests and Levites who were responsible for all of the Temple activities.

Chapter 11 Nehemiah had already remarked that in his time, at the start of the Second Temple era, "The city was large and great, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not yet built" (Nehemiah 7:4). The great majority of the returnees from Babylon had gone back to their ancestral farms and rural settlements in what was primarily an agricultural society, and Jerusalem was far from being the kind of industrial or commercial center that could support a large population. Besides the tithes on agricultural produce, it was necessary to take a ten per cent "tithe" of the population in the form of volunteers who would reside in Jerusalem and strengthen the city. Our present chapter lists only the most important leaders among these volunteers (see Rashi on v 4), who included members of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin as well as priests and Levites. (By no means all the priests and Levites served in the Temple all the time: they were organized into MISHMAROT who served according to a rota, while the others spent most of their time living in their various towns and villages outside the city, see v 20.) Our chapter also lists key officers responsible for the maintenance of the Temple fabric (v 16) the prayer services and singing (v 17) and guarding the Temple gates. "For it was the king's commandment concerning them" (v 23). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that this refers to the Persian king Darius, who put his trust in certain officers to supervise the disbursement of funds from the royal treasury to pay for various Temple needs. Not mentioned in the text is that when the Temple was built, the Persian kings gave orders to place a decorative frieze representing the Persian capital city of Shushan above the eastern gate of the Temple in order to put fear of the governing power into the hearts of the people so that they would not rebel (see Bartenura on Middos 1:3). The chapter concludes with a list of the chief habitations in territories of Judah and Benjamin, many of which are settlements in Israel until today.

Chapter 12 Our present chapter continues listing the names of the leading Cohen-priests and Levites who returned to Judea from Babylon with Zerubavel – although the list does not include all of them (Rashi on v 12). Verses 27ff recount the ceremony of inauguration of the rebuilt city walls of Jerusalem by Ezra and Nehemiah. The purpose of this inauguration was to formally sanctify the area enclosed within the walls with the unique sanctity of Jerusalem. Only within the city walls is it permitted to eat KODOSHIM KALIM ("light" sacrifices, which did not have to be eaten within the Temple courtyard, such as the meat of peace and thanksgiving offerings, the Pesach lamb, animal tithes and firstborn animals), BIKURIM (the "first fruits" eaten by the priests), MAASER SHENI (the Second Tithe eaten in Jerusalem by its owners) etc. A variety of restrictions applied in the Holy City unlike other cities in Israel: among them are the prohibition against leaving a dead body to rest in Jerusalem overnight; no graves were permitted there except for those of the kings of the House of David and Hulda the Prophetess; areas within the city could not be plowed or used for agriculture, fruit orchards etc.; pottery furnaces were not permitted because of the smoke, and garbage tips were proscribed as they would have attracted unclean creatures that could have caused defilement to people and foods that had to be eaten in a state of ritual purity, etc. (see Rambam, Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 7:14).

The Sanhedrin were authorized to expand the city and the Temple courtyards as far as they wanted (Rambam, Beis HaBechirah 6:10). "And how would they add to the city? The rabbinic court would offer two Todah (thanksgiving) animal offerings and then take the mandatory leavened loaves included with the animal sacrifice, and the rabbis of the court would go in procession after the thanksgiving offerings… They would stand with harps and cymbals by every single corner and every single stone in Jerusalem chanting 'I will exalt you, HaShem, for You have lifted me up…' (Psalm 30:2) and continue until they reached the end of the area that they were sanctifying, where they stopped. There they would eat the bread of one of the thanksgiving offerings while the other was burned…" (Rambam ibid. 6:12; cf. Talmud Bavli, Shevuous 15b). Rambam maintains that the ceremony conducted by Ezra as recounted in our present chapter was largely symbolic as the area in question was not now actually sanctified anew since the original sanctification of the Temple precincts and the city of Jerusalem carried out by King Solomon was not only for his own time but for all time to come (ibid. 6:14). However, this opinion is disputed by others (see Raavad ad loc.). Rambam thus holds that it is permitted to offer sacrifices on the Temple Mount even when there is no Temple, but this opinion is not universally accepted. From the account of the ceremony of inauguration as described in our chapter, we see the great importance of MUSIC and SONG in the Temple rituals (v 28). The arrangements for the Levite singers and Temple musicians reinstituted by Ezra and Nehemiah dated back to King David, the "sweet singer of Israel" (vv 36 & 46). The restoration of the Temple was thus complete, and Nehemiah took steps to ensure the orderly collection of the Terumah-tithe for the priests and the Maaser-tithes for the Levites so that they would be freed from the burden of supporting themselves in order to devote themselves to their duties in the Temple.

Chapter 13 The work of separating the returnees from their foreign wives was complex and protracted. One of the sons of the High Priest himself was married into the family of Tuviah, one of the leading adversaries, and the High Priest even gave Tuviah an office in the Temple, where he was in an excellent position to spy on what was happening there. The exact chronology of the various events described in our present chapter is somewhat obscure. The walls of Jerusalem were built and dedicated by Nehemiah shortly after his arrival there in the twentieth year of the reign of Darius king of Persia, and Nehemiah stayed in the city for twelve years. Thereafter he returned to Babylon to continue serving the king as his wine butler/advisor. Our text seems to imply that it was during Nehemiah's absence that Tuviah gained his foothold in the Temple and that Nehemiah thereafter returned to Jerusalem, but it is not clear how long afterwards this was (v 6, see Rashi and Metzudas David ad loc.) Whenever it was, Nehemiah used his authority as governor of Judea to eject Tuviah from the Temple. He also had to struggle with the Temple officers, who had become negligent about providing the Levite Temple singers with their MA'ASER tithe, causing them to abandon their duties in Jerusalem in order to go around the farms of Judea to collect it for themselves (vv 10-13). Nehemiah saw as one of his greatest achievements the restoration of respect for and proper observance of the Shabbos in the Holy City (vv 14-22). He witnessed flagrant violation of the prohibition against MELACHAH on Shabbos in Judea: the treading of grapes in the winepress involves the MELACHAH of S'CHITAH, squeezing

and separating the juice from the flesh of the fruit, which is a derivative of the MELACHAH of DASH, separating the kernels of produce from the stalks. This is forbidden MI-D'ORAISO (by the law of the written Torah). Nehemiah also saw the shameless marketing of all kinds of produce on Shabbos by various traders and merchants. Commercial activity is not necessarily forbidden on Shabbos MID'ORAISO but is certainly forbidden MI-DERABBANAN (through the enactments of the sages, cf. Isaiah 58:13). In order to restore proper observance of the Shabbos, Nehemiah had to struggle with the leaders of Judea (v 17) – not unlike the HAREDIM in Israel today, who are locked in struggle with the secularized in an attempt to uphold the sanctity of Shabbos. "What evil thing is this that you do and profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do this, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? And yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath" (vv 17-18). If only we would imbibe this lesson today. The closing section of our chapter returns to the issue of intermarriage (vv 23-31). Thus Nehemiah's book ends with his strengthening of two of the most fundamental pillars of Judaism: family purity and observance of the Shabbos. With this we reach the end of all the narrative books of the TaNaCh with the exception of the Book of Chronicles, which retells the history of Israel until the destruction of the First Temple, concluding with a brief reference to the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem under Zerubavel. With the help of God we will study Chronicles later on in the year, after first delving into the prophetic and wisdom literature.

Book of Hosea Chapter 1 WHY START THE TWELVE "MINOR" PROPHETS NOW? According to an ancient tradition, the order of the NEVI'IM ("prophets") as written in the scroll of the TaNaCh was: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah and "the Twelve" (="minor" prophets). The Talmud asks why Isaiah is placed AFTER Jeremiah and Ezekiel, since he lived several generations earlier. It answers that since the book of Kings ends with the destruction of the Temple, it is fitting to read Jeremiah directly after it since his main theme is destruction. Ezekiel begins with destruction and ends with comfort, while Isaiah is all comfort, and thus destruction comes next to destruction and comfort next to comfort (Bava Basra 14b). The Twelve "minor" prophets are not minor in the sense that they were any less in spiritual stature than the "major" prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel but only because their surviving written prophecies are much shorter. These twelve short prophetic works are accounted as one book and written together in a single scroll so that they should not get lost, which would be easy if each was on a separate small scroll. The first of The Twelve is Hosea. The Talmud (ibid.) explains that the book of Hosea ought to have been written before that of his contemporary Isaiah because Hosea started prophesying first. However, since, for the reason given above, Hosea's prophecy was included in the same scroll as Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, who came well after Isaiah at the end of the period of the prophets at the time of the building of the Second Temple, the entire book of the twelve "minor" prophets is placed after Isaiah in the traditional order of the books of the Bible. [The Talmud states that it was Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and the Men of the Great Assembly who wrote the twelve "minor" prophets in one scroll when they saw that Holy Spirit was departing from the world: they wrote down their own prophecies and included with them those of the earlier "minor" prophets in order to ensure they would not get lost. Bava Basra 15a, Rashi ad loc.] Despite the fact that in the traditional order Ezekiel comes after Kings, we have followed a different order in our Bible study, because after completing Kings II we went directly to Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, which are contained in KESUVIM (=writings), the third component of TaNaKh. The reason for doing so was to study the HISTORY of Israel consecutively, since Daniel picks up the narrative of the exile to Babylon exactly where the last two chapters of Kings II leave off. (When people follow Kings II with Isaiah or Ezekiel etc. they normally reach Daniel etc. only very much later and easily become confused about the history and chronology.) Having completed our study of the biblical books that are mainly devoted to historical narrative (with the exception of II Chronicles, which retells for a somewhat different purpose the history of Israel until the exile in Babylon), we should now have an overall grasp of the historical framework within which to gain

deeper understanding of the prophets. They were addressing the people of their time in the historical conditions in which they were caught up – and thus make constant references to the national and international realities of their times. At the same time, their prophecies are the Word of God as addressed to all the generations to come, and they are as relevant today as they were when they were first spoken. Through clearer understanding of the historical context in which they prophesied, we can better know how their message applies to us in the world we live in today. Since history is cyclical, the spiritual roots of the situation we face today lie deeply embedded in the situation addressed by the prophets. The reason for studying The Twelve "minor" prophets before approaching the lengthy books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel is that the study of The Twelve serves as an excellent introduction to the language and methods of the prophets, which are very different from most of the historical narratives we have studied until now. WHO WAS HOSEA? Verse 1 of our present chapter tells us that Hosea ben Be'eri prophesied in the days of Uziah, Yotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and Yerav'am ben Yo'ash king of Israel (see Kings II chs 14-20). Uziah came to the throne 223 years before the destruction of the First Temple. It was in the time of Hezekiah, who died 110 years before the destruction, that the Ten Tribes were taken into exile in the year 3205 (555 B.C.E.). Hosea's father Be'eri is Be'erah mentioned in I Chronicles 5:6 as prince of the tribe of Reuven, and he was also a prophet (Isaiah 8:19-20). From verse 2 of our present chapter the rabbis learned that Hosea was the first of four great prophets who prophesied in the same period. The other three were Amos, Isaiah, and Michah. Hosea received Torah from Zechariah son of Yehoyada the High Priest, who received it from Elisha. Hosea was the greatest of the four prophets of his time, and he taught Amos, who in turn taught Isaiah, who taught Michah (Rambam, Introduction to Mishneh Torah). Hosea prophesied for ninety years (Pesachim 87a). "Said the Holy One blessed be He to Reuven: You were the first to repent. By your life, your son's son will stand up and be the first to open up with Teshuvah, as it is written, Return, Israel to the Lord your God" (Hosea 14:2, Bereishis Rabbah 84:18). Hosea's reproofs were primarily directed against the Ten Tribes under the leadership of Ephraim. The gravesite of Hosea is said to be in a burial cave in the old cemetery of Safed in the Galilee, which can be visited until today. However some authorities dispute this identification, stating that the grave in question is that of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiya. Some believe the grave of the prophet Hosea to be east of the River Jordan. "GO TAKE FOR YOURSELF A WIFE OF HARLOTRY AND CHILDREN OF HARLOTRY" (v 2) Z'NOOS (="harlotry"), a recurrent theme in Hosea, is a metaphor for faithlessness to God – forsaking one's true "husband" and going after other "lovers"=idols (cf. Numbers 15:39, recited twice daily in the third paragraph of Shema). In Hosea's time the Children of Israel reached the lowest level both in relation to God and in their behavior to one another. The rabbis stated that God hinted to Hosea that he should pray for the people, but he replied that God should change them for another people (an early example of "replacement theology"). "The Holy One blessed be He said, What can I do with this elder. I'll tell him to take a harlot who will bear children who may nor may not be his, and I'll tell him to send them away. If he agrees, I too will send Israel away. So it was: Hosea married Gomer bas Divlayim,

a known harlot, who bore him children who were given names alluding to their future fate, but when God asked Hosea to divorce and send them away, Hosea began asking for mercy so that they could stay with him. The Holy One blessed be He said to Hosea: This wife is not loyal to you and the children are not definitely yours but you still want them. How then can you tell me to send away Israel , the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, one of the possessions I have acquired in the world? Hosea immediately understood that he had erred in what he said and begged for mercy on Israel " (Pesachim 87a). Some of the rabbis took Hosea's marriage with this harlot as having happened literally (Pesachim 87a), while others saw it as essentially a prophetic allegory (see Targum Yonasan and RaDaK on v 2). The prophecy in the present chapter deals with: vv 1-3: Hosea's marriage with the harlot. vv 4-5: The birth of the son Yizra'el (="God will scatter") and the prophecy of the punishment that would be visited on the house of Yehu ben Nimshi, who had shed the blood of the house of Ahab (="the blood of Yizra'el", the location where they were killed, II Kings ch 9) but who later practiced idolatry himself. vv. 6-7: Birth of the daughter Lo-Ruhamah (="not shown love"), a prophecy of the punishment of Israel and comfort to Judah . vv. 8-9: Birth of the son Lo-Ami (="not My people"), a metaphor of God's abandonment of Israel .

Chapter 2 This chapter of consolation follows directly after the first chapter dealing with punishment as if to indicate that after God told him to marry a harlot etc. Hosea realized he had sinned in having earlier said that God should divorce the unfaithful nation (Pesachim 87b; Rashi on v 1). "What connection is there between chapters 1 and 2? It can be compared to a king who was angry with his wife and summoned the scribe to write her a GET (=bill of divorce), but by the time the scribe arrived, the king was reconciled with his wife. He said, How can I send this scribe away wondering why I summoned him? The king told the scribe to write a new KESUBAH (marriage contract) double the value of the first" (Sifrei quoted by Rashi on v 1). Vv. 1-3: Prophecy of consolation and redemption, opposite of the harsh prophecy of the previous chapter. Verse 2 prophecies the reunification of Judah and Israel, who will appoint over themselves "one head" (=Mashiach) and come up from "the land" (=exile). "…for great is the day of Yizre'el, i.e. the day of their ingathering from having been "sown" (ZARA) and "scattered" by God. Thus Hosea, who lived even before the exile of the Ten Tribes, was looking at the entire sweep of history that will culminate in the healing of the split between Judah and the Ten Tribes and their reconciliation under King Messiah. "Say to your brothers, My people and to your sisters, Shown love" (v 3). Metzudas David and RaDaK (in the name of Rav Sa'adia Gaon) interpret: "You, the children of Judah and Benjamin, say of your brothers, the children of the Ten Tribes, that they are My People just like you… and likewise say Shown-Love of the women of the Ten Tribes". In this verse Jews thus have a clear directive to reach out to the returning members of the Ten Tribes and help them return to their Israelite roots.

Vv. 4-7: God reproves Israel as a "harlot" for having replaced him with idols. He threatens that this will lead to her returning to her condition of nakedness as it was prior to the redemption from Egypt (v 5). "For their mother has played the harlot. She who conceived them has acted shamefully" (v 7): "Their very sages and teachers are ashamed before the people because they say to them 'Don't steal' while they themselves steal, and they preach, 'Don't lend upon interest' while they do precisely that" (Rashi ad loc. "For she said, I will go after those who love me"(v 7). RaDak (ad loc.) explains that on one level "those who love me" are Egypt and Ashur, with whom Israel tried to make a covenant [just as today Israel thinks U.S. and the European Union etc. are her "friends"], while on another level they refer to the sun, moon and constellations which they worshipped idolatrously. Vv. 8-15: Specifies the penalty for abandoning God. V 13 is explained by the rabbis as alluding to the destruction of the Temple, turning the month of Av into a time of mourning (Taanis 29b). Vv. 16-20: God's attempt to bring the Assembly of Israel back to him. "I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her" (v 16): Targum explains that in the future redemption God will do wonders and miracles just as He did in the wilderness. (Those of us who feel we are living in a kind of wilderness today can also constantly see and feel His miracles as He draws us to him!) Vv. 21-22: God strikes a renewed, eternal Covenant with Israel. When men wind the leather RETZUA-strap of the arm TEFILIN as a "wedding ring" around the fingers and hand to form the letters SHIN-DALET-YUD, it is customary to recite these verses. Vv. 23-25: Prophecy of consolation and restoration of the nation to its previous status. "And I shall sow her for me in the land…" (v 25). Just as one sows a small measure of seed and harvests a very great measure, so through God's "sowing" the Children of Israel in their lands of exile, they will bring back very many converts (Pesachim 87b). This whole chapter, which tells how Israel are numberless as the sand of the sea, is read as the Haftara to parshas Bamidbar, which is read in May-June just before the festival of Shavuos, and which speaks of the counting of the Children of Israel by Moses in the wilderness .

Chapter 3 "Having completed his words of comfort, he now returns to words of reproof to the people of his generation. This is the way of the prophets – to intermingle reproof and comfort" (RaDaK on v 1). V 1: Having previously commanded Hosea to marry an adulterous woman, God now commands Hosea to love such a woman in spite of her disloyalty. This adulterous woman is a prophetic metaphor for the people of Israel , whom God loves – albeit seemingly from afar – despite their disloyalty. How now is God to show His love to His people? In the coming verses the prophet takes a "long view" from the beginning of Israel's nationhood until the very "end of days" (v 5), revealing that God's love will take the form of the lengthy suffering of exile, which will eventually bring the people back in search of what they have lost.

V 2: The PSHAT (literal meaning) appears to be that the prophet acquired his wife as commanded through giving her KIDDUSHIN gifts of 15 silver coins and a sizeable quantity of barley. As explained by Rashi based on Midrash, all this alludes to God's acquisition of the people of Israel as His "wife" through the redemption from Egypt on the FIFTEENTH of Nissan, and through giving them the redemptive commandments of (1) each individual's silver half-shekel contribution to the Temple and (2) the barley Omer offering brought on 16 th Nissan. Rashi himself as well as numerous other midrashim also darshen this verse in many ways "…that the Torah be made great and glorious". V. 3: God's Covenant with His people was that the relationship should be "for many days" ON CONDITION that the "wife" is loyal, and then He will be loyal to her. This verse alludes to the first two of the Ten Commandments: "I am…" and "you shall have no other gods…" (Exodus 20:2-3). V 4: The people will remain in exile for "many days", waiting for redemption, and God too will wait to be able to take them back as His people, but even in their exile He will not chose another people. If there is no MELEKH (king) – if God appears not to be with them in exile – at least there will not be any SAR (angel), i.e. even in exile the will not worship an intermediary. If there is no ZEVAH (sacrifice in the Temple), at least there will be no MATZEVA (idolatrous pillar altar). If there will be no EPHOD (high priest's breastplate, URIM VE-THUMIM), at least there will be no TERAPHIM (astrological divining instruments) (Metzudas David ad loc.). V 5: After the days of exile, the Children of Israel will repent and seek out the three things that they despised in the days of Rehaboam and Jeraboam: the kingship of Heaven, the kingship of the House of David, and the Temple in Jerusalem. "And they will seek out the Lord their God…" = the kingship of Heaven."And David their king" = the kingship of the House of David. "And they will be filled with fear towards God and to his goodness…" This refers to the Temple (Rashi ad loc. In the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai).

Chapter 4 This chapter begins a new prophecy of reproof that specifies in more detail the component transgressions which together constitute Israel's infidelity to her "husband", God. V 1: God's "controversy" or argument against the inhabitants of the land is because all three columns are flawed. There is no TRUTH (=TIFERES, the center column). There is no KINDNESS (=CHESSED, the right arm of love) and there is no KNOWLEDGE OF ELOKIM (no awareness of God's power of DIN, Judgment and Strength=GEVURAH, the left arm of might). The three columns are supposed to be manifested in the LAND (=MALCHUS, the receiving "vessel"), and the land is flawed because they are not. V 2: The catalog of false oaths, deception, murder, theft, immorality and adultery until "blood leads to blood" and one terrible bloody strike follows another aptly typifies certain areas of present-day Israeli society just as it typified the society in the day of the prophet. V 3: Characterization of the mourning of the land under the devastations of exile, which affects the entire ecology of animals, birds and even the fish of the sea.

V 4: But the people do not want to hear the reproof, telling the true prophets not to argue with them, while the people themselves argue against their own priests, whose role is to teach them Torah. Vv 5-10: Running away from the reproof of the true prophets, the people will stumble together with their false prophets. The people have fallen to a state that is the opposite of DA'AS (=true knowledge of God), and just as they have forgotten the Torah, so God will "forget" their children (since at Sinai the people brought in their own children as guarantors of the Covenant) producing generations of assimilated Israelites. They will eat without being satisfied and fornicate but not increase their population. V 11: The root cause of the national malady lies in ZENOOS, "immorality"/disloyalty to God and the preoccupation with "wine" – immediate gratification and the flight into fantasy. Vv 12-13: "My people ask counsel of a piece of wood, and their staff declares to them" (v 12) – they seek out idols and follow what their false prophets say. Instead of going up to the Temple, which was intended to be the single focus of worship of the One God, the people are scattered, all in their own private cults. The fathers' disloyalty to God leads to immorality among their daughters and daughters-in-law. V 14 is darshened in Talmud Sotah as teaching that the plague of immorality will be so widespread that the Bitter Waters that came to test whether a man's wife had been disloyal would no longer be effective because the men folk themselves were also immoral. Vv 15-16: Admonition to Judah not to join with Israel or learn from their path. [It is very tempting for the Torah observant to want to imitate those who have thrown off the yoke when they see them living it up and apparently enjoying themselves hugely.] For Israel is like a headstrong cow that has been fattened up and now kicks, whereas God will in exile pasture them like a lamb, whose diet is more skimpy (Rashi). V 17: "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone". On PSHAT level the prophet is saying that the Ten Tribes are so given over to idolatry that further reproof is pointless. The Midrash learns from this verse: "Great is peace, because even if they worship idols, if there is peace among them He cannot (as if) do anything to them. But when they are divided among themselves, what does it say? 'Their heart is divided, now they shall be found guilty'" (Hosea 10:2; Bereishis Rabbah 38). V 18: The people's drunken mentality is far from God. It is their kings who initiated this path of sin. But just as a strong wind sweeps a weak bird far from where it wants to be, the wind of exile will sweep the people away until they become ashamed of their idolatrous sacrifices.

Chapter 5 In studying Hosea (and the whole Bible) it is valuable to pay attention to the original Hebrew parshahs (chapters or sections) as written in the parchment scroll as opposed to the sometimes arbitrary chapter breaks that are conventionally used in the majority of printed Bibles. In many printed Hebrew Bibles (but not in the written scroll), the parshah breaks are indicated by an enlarged Peh indicating PARSHAH PETHUHAH, an "open

parshah", or an enlarged Samach indicated PARSHAH SETHUMAH, a "closed parshah". A Parshah Pethuhah is a more decisive break from what went before than a Parshah Sethumah, as suggested by the manner in which they are respectively written in the scroll. In the case of the parshah Pethuhah, the space that separates it from the preceding section is wider and more obvious than in the case of a Parshah Sethumah. A Parshah Pethuhah is the equivalent of a chapter in itself – a section of the text that has own theme and purpose. A Parshah Sethumah is less separate from the Parshah that precedes it – it is more like a section break within a chapter. Today's text, Hosea Chapters 5-6, makes up one whole prophecy. Ch 5 v 1 marks the start of a new Parshah Pethuhah that runs until the end of Ch 5 v 7. Ch 5 Verse 8, "Blast the shofar…" begins a Parshah Sethumah which runs continuously in the parchment scroll until the end of Ch 6 v 11. Thus the chapter break after 5:15 is arbitrary, and while it highlights the call for repentance in 6:1, it actually disrupts the continuity of the prophecy as a whole and its meaning. The real break in the prophecy is where the Parshah Sethumah starts at 5:8: this creates a pause in the prophecy before it continues further amplifying on the theme with which it started. Verses 5:1-7 are Introductory; verse 5:8-6:11 are elaboration. V 1. This is a prophecy addressed to the heart of Judah no less than it is to the Ten Tribes, "Israel". RaDak explains (ad loc.) that the address to the Cohanim-priests and the House of Israel is directed in particular to Judah, who is here included in the generic Israel. The priests here are the true priests of God, who served in His Temple in Jerusalem in the territory of Judah. However the "house of the king" is understood as a specific reference to the kings of Israel, the northern kingdom, who after the split with Judah in the time of Rehav'am posted border police to forcibly prevent their people from going up to the Temple in Jerusalem – these are the "trap in Mitzpah, and a snare spread upon Tabor" (Rashi). Judah and Ephraim are involved together in the consequences of this. Vv 2ff: Ephraim's "original sin" of rebelling against the authority of the kingship of David is the harlotry that has defiled the whole of people of Israel, including Judah – but they find it impossible to abandon their ways and return to God – "and they do not know HaShem": the essential flaw is in DA'AS, mind, ideas, knowledge, consciousness. V 5: Israel, Ephraim and Judah are all named here together – being interconnected, the stumbling of one leads to the fall of the other. V 6: "With their flocks and their oxen they will go to search out HaShem but they will not find Him" – they have mistaken rote performance of ritual for true repentance: this is because of their flawed Da'as. They do not know God and therefore they do not know what He really wants. Verse 7 is a general summary of the introductory part of the prophecy (vv 1-7): "They have betrayed God…" Their intermarriage with the nations, literally and ideologically, has spawned the "strange children" as a result of which the month of Av – the destruction of the Temple – will consume their whole share. This is a prophecy analyzing and explaining why destruction is on the way.

Now comes a BREAK, indicated by an enlarged Samach in the Hebrew printed text, marking the start of a new Parshah Sethumah – in our case an amplification of the introductory section, running continuously until the end of Ch 6. Verse 8: The shofar blast is a warning of coming war and trouble, but all the locations mentioned in the verse are in the territory of Benjamin, except for BEITH AVEN (lit. "house of corruption"), which is in that of Ephraim. Targum allusively relates Giv'ah to the request of the people to have a king – Saul – and Ramah (the town of Samuel) to their rejection of Samuel's appeal to them not to take a king but to serve only God. The original taking on of a temporal king is thus traced as the root of the later rebellion against Judah by Ephraim and the Ten Tribes, leading to the establishment of the idolatrous cult in Beith Aven, which is now drawing even Benjamin – who remained loyal to Judah – after it, thus corrupting everything. Vv 9-10: If Ephraim is facing devastation as the punishment for this, Judah is chasing up behind. Hosea was foretelling the future that awaited both of them, with the exile of the Ten Tribes (Ephraim) and the destruction of the Temple (Judah). Vv 11-12: "Ephraim is oppressed… because he willingly went after the dictate", i.e. the "dictates" and new commandments of the prophets of Baal. This is the cause of the canker-worm eating away at Ephraim and the rot in the house of Judah. V 13: The closing eras of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were marked by the efforts of their kings to buy allies in the hope of saving themselves from their enemies. The temporary alliance of Hoshea ben Elah with Assyria and Ahaz king of Judah's bribery of Tiglath Pilesser to help him against Aram and Israel are said to be alluded to here (Rashi ad loc.). V 14: All their ploys will not succeed. V 15: "I will go and return to My place…" This is the exile of the Shechinah from the world (Talmud Rosh Hashanah 31a). This exile will continue "until they realize their guilt and search out My face [God's presence], in their trouble they will seek Me." The following verse, Chapter 6 v 1, is a direct continuation, telling us what they say when they seek out God:

Chapter 6 V 1: "Go and let us return to HaShem…" The prophet is placing words of repentance in the mouths of the people, encouraging them with the faith that just as God has the power to chastise, so He has the power to heal. V 2: Hosea takes a very long view of the history of Israel, encouraging the people with the prophecy that "after two days He will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up" – "He will strengthen us after the two punishments that have befallen us, the destruction of the First and Second Temples, and raise us up with the building of the Third Temple" (Rashi ad loc.). V 3: "And let us KNOW, let us PURSUE to KNOW (DA'AS) HaShem…" The remedy lies in DA'AS. But the heart of the penitent can be fickle – how the YETZER RA ("evil inclination") fights in the heart of one struggling to separate from a bad past and live a better

future. The people's kindness is "like a morning cloud and like dew that departs early" (v 4). V 5 "Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; words of my mouth". This refers both to the death of disasters and also to the slaying of true prophets, Yehoyada the High Priest, Uriah and Isaiah, because hear their message.

I have slain them with the many people in the coming such as Zechariah son of the people did not want to

V 6: This verse contains the essential message of Hosea and all the prophets: "I want your kindness and not your sacrifices; I want your KNOWLEDGE OF GOD rather than your burnt offerings". V 7: "And they, like ADAM, violated the Covenant". This verse is the source of the teaching that Adam "pulled back his foreskin" – denying the Covenant (Sanhedrin 38b). The nation thus repeats Adam's original sin. Vv 8-11 characterize the strongholds of sinners in Gil'ad (Menashe) and Shechem (Ephraim): These verses allude to the three cardinal sins of idolatry, murder and adultery. The plague afflicts not only Ephraim but also Judah, whose backslidings were to pull them into exile just as God was ready to restore the whole nation.

Chapter 7 As in the case of the two previous chapters, Hosea chapters 7-8 make up a single prophetic discourse made up of two parts: a Parshah Pethuhah ("open section") = Ch 7 vv 1-12, followed by a Parshah Sethumah ("closed section") = Ch 7 vv 13-16 with Ch 8 vv 1-14. The break between ch 7 v 16 and ch 8 v 1 is thus "artificial" and interrupts the continuity of the prophecy. The first part of the prophecy, Ch 7 vv 1-12, analyses the wickedness of the people, which is bound up with the wickedness of their kings and rulers, comparing their plotting of evil to a baker leaving his dough to rise (vv 4 and 6). Underlying the reproof is the idea that this is blatant ingratitude for God's redemption of Israel from Egypt, when their dough did not have time to rise before they hurriedly left (see Targum Yonasan on v 4). As a result Ephraim will be a crude cake baked on the coals and eaten up immediately – consumed by the nations of their exile: no matter where they turn they will be trapped in God's "net". The second part of the prophecy, from 7:13 to 8:14, amplifies on the sins that are leading Israel into exile with Judah to follow. The essential rebellion is against God's Covenant – His Torah (8:1). The people's choice to be governed by a temporal king led them to make themselves gods of silver and gold, the calves of Jerabo'am, an intermediary intended to "manipulate" God. Yet they will find that all their projects and endeavors will be frustrated – they will sow to the wind and produce no flour for real bread (8:7). Their turning to the nations for help will merely hasten their exile (8:10), and because they have become strangers to God's Torah (8:12), they will return to Egypt, the place of their original exile (8:13). Ch 7 v 1: "When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered". God wants to save and heal them, but at the very time of redemption their sins rise to the fore. Whenever there is an arousal of holiness, there is a corresponding arousal of impure forces. From this verse, the rabbis darshened that God does not strike Israel unless He first creates the medicine to heal them (Megillah 13b).

V 2: The people do not believe that God knows and remembers our deeds. V 3: Their very kings and rulers are delighted at the people's evil and lies – the people encourage their rulers in evil and vice versa. V 4: The people are heated up with lust for adultery like a stoked oven, while the "baker" rests, allowing his dough to rise and his immoral plans to come to fruition. As mentioned earlier, Targum Yonasan on this verse contrasts the people's plotting in this way with God's goodness to them in Egypt when He saved them before their dough had time to rise. V 5: The rulers are "drunk" and the king is in league with scoffers and scorners. From this verse the Talmud derives the teaching that scoffers do not enter into the presence of the Shechinah (Sotah 42a). V 6-7: Further elaboration of the image of baking bread as a metaphor for the plotting of sin and immorality that is causing national disaster. Rashi on v 7 brings a midrash from Yerushalmi Avodah Zara 1:1 telling that on the day that Israel chose Yerav'am (Jerabo'am) as king and asked him to make an idol, all the princes were drunk. He told them to come back the next day when they would be sober, giving them time to think about it all night like the baker leaving the dough to rise. When they came back the next morning, he told them he feared the Sanhedrin, but the people said they would kill them – "and they have devoured their judges". V 8: "Ephraim has mingled himself among the peoples". "Mingled" (YITHBOLAL) has the connotation of mixing a batter or dough, and also that of assimilation. "Ephraim is as a cake not turned" – "like a cake baked on the coals that is not even turned over before being consumed" (Targum Yonasan; Rashi). Vv 9-10: The essential flaw lies on the level of DA'AS, knowledge and awareness: the people do not even realize that all their power has been eaten up by strangers and that advanced old age has set in. They do not even try to return to God. Vv 11-12: Ephraim flits around like a silly dove seeking help from Egypt to Ashur – not realizing that wherever they go, God's net is spread for them. There is now a pause after v 12 followed by a Parshah Sethumah starting at verse 13 and continuing until the end of Ch 8. This section further elaborates the sins of Israel that are making the punitive exile inevitable: Vv 13-15: God wants to redeem Israel, but their rebellion is making the coming disaster inevitable. They do not cry out to God with all their hearts – they only complain and they are only interested in securing supplies of grain and wine. The Talmud (Bavli Avodah Zarah 4a) darshens from these verses: "I would have redeemed them, but they have spoken lies against Me"(v 13) – "I said I would redeem them through monetary loss in this world in order that they should merit the world to come, but they have spoken lies against Me" [complaining of their suffering without understanding its purpose]. "Though I have trained them and strengthened their arms, yet do they devise mischief against Me" (v 15) – "I said I shall chastise them with suffering in this world in order to strengthen their hand in the world to come, but they account it as evil". V 16: Their turning to the nations for help will not avail them – they will simply go into exile and fall.

Chapter 8 V 1: This is a direct continuation of the prophecy in Ch 7, calling on the people again to take the shofar to sound a warning about the coming war that will lead to the destruction of the very Temple itself as a result of the fundamental flaw of transgressing the Covenant and abandoning the Torah. V 2: Even when the people cry out to God, it is insincere and He will not answer them. Vv 4-6: It was the choice by the people of kings who were not divinely ordained that led them to make idols of silver and gold – the calves of Jerabo'am – a sin from which the people cannot cleanse themselves. Their idol is merely man-made and will be shattered to pieces. V 7: The entire national enterprise of idolatry is compared to sowing to the wind – it will produce no tangible flour to eat, and even if it does, the nations will consume it. The metaphor of futile sowing connects with the metaphors in Ch 7 vv 4, 6 in which the people's plotting of evil was compared to a baker leaving his dough to rise. Vv 8-10: The irony is that the more efforts Israel will make to run after the nations, the nearer they will bring their own feared exile. Vv 11-13: Ephraim's idolatry goes contrary to the many Torah teachings that God taught them through His prophets – but in the eyes of the people they are strange and irrelevant. Even their rituals of sacrifice in the Temple find no favor with God: the decree is sealed and the people will return to exile in Egypt (as happened after the destruction of the First Temple , when those who escaped captivity by the Babylonians sought refuge in Egypt , where they died). V 14: Israel has forgotten his Maker and is concerned only to build palaces, while Judah has built a multitude of fortified cities – but all will be consumed by fire.

Chapter 9 Chapter 9 v 1 begins a new prophecy, the first section of which is contained in vv 1-9, followed, after a break, by a longer second section (PARSHAH SETHUMAH) running continuously from ch 9 v 10 until ch 10 v 8. The conventional chapter break at 10:1 is arbitrary, interrupts the continuity of the sense of the prophecy, and does not correspond to the section breaks in the hand-written Hebrew scroll. Section 1: Vv 1-9: V 1: "Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy as other people…" The true joy of Israel is not like that of other nations that did not receive the Torah and did not fall to God's lot – but now that Israel has gone astray from God they have lost much good (Rashi). Israel goes around like a harlot seeking sustenance and help from the nations instead of depending on God. V 2: As a punishment, their granaries and wine-vats will not sustain them. V 3: Instead of dwelling in their own promised land, they will go into exile in Egypt and Assyria.

V 4: Instead of offering pure sacrifices in God's Temple, they will eat impure food in exile – for they eat only for their own gratification: this is not the way to bring sacrifices to God. V 5: What will you do on the day appointed for His vengeance – the day of God's "feast", i.e. when He slaughters the people? V 6: Prophecy of the exile that will ensue when destructive invaders enter the land. V 7: After having been flawed with a lack of DA'AS (knowledge, Godly awareness), the people will learn to know God's righteousness through the tribulations of exile, which is the payment for their sins. Then they will see that the false prophets on whom they relied for comfort were fools and madmen (Metzudas David). V 8: Ephraim has his own "watcher", the false prophet who prophesied in the name of their idol, who is nothing but a snare into whose trap the people will fall (Metzudas David). V 9: The sin of Ephraim was rooted in Giv'ah – alluding to the scandal of the Concubine in Giv'ah (where the tribes of Israel initially failed in their campaign against Benjamin owing to the presence of Michah's idol, Judges ch 19), or alternatively this alludes to the people's request for a king made to Samuel at Giv'ath Shaul (Rashi). Section 2 of the prophecy: Chapter 9 v 10 – Chapter 10 v 8: Ch 9 V 10: God originally chose Israel because they were like refreshing grapes in a wilderness or the luscious first fruits of the fig tree – the founding fathers and the generation of the Exodus were unique in the wilderness of the nations. However, already during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the people sinned with the Moabite women who caused them to become attached to their god, Baal Pe'or (Numbers ch 25). V 11-14: The prophet prefers that the people should flit away like a bird and stop procreating: either they should have stillborn children, or abort their embryos, or not even conceive, as this would be better than raising children only to see them killed by their enemies, because Ephraim has become like the haughty Tyre V 15: The prophet prays that their children should die young as the pain over the death of a child is less than that over the death of an adult (Rashi). "All their evil is in Gilgal…" The people sinned greatly with idolatrous altars in Gilgal (which was in the territory of Ephraim) because the Sanctuary had originally been in Gilgal and the later idolatrous prophets told the people that it was a propitious place for sacrifice (Rashi). Vv 16-17: Ephraim is smitten and dried at the roots, and cannot produce fruits – future generations – because God has rejected them owing to their disobedience, as a result they must go into exile. [Students of Hebrew may wish to consider whether allusions to the founder of Islam are embedded in Hosea 9:6 and 16.]

Chapter 10 Verses 1-8 are the direct continuation of the parshah that began in ch 9 v 10.

V 1: Having earlier compared Israel to grapes in the wilderness ( 9:10 ) and having prophesied the terrible fate awaiting their fruits – their children – Hosea now complains that Israel is an empty vine – because their very fruitfulness and prosperity caused them to sin. V 2: "Their heart is divided…" i.e. from God: this is why they will be found guilty. V 3: When the troubles of exile strike, they will realize that they have no king, because the king in whom they trusted to go ahead of them and fight their battles proved unable to help them (Rashi). V 4: They talk indiscriminately, swearing falsely and striking covenants with the nations, and just retribution will therefore sprout like bitter hemlock in a field (Metzudas David). V 5-7: The inhabitants of Shomron will succumb to panic over the idolatrous calves of Beith-Aven (=Beith El, where Jeraboam set up his altar). This is a prophecy of how the Assyrian king Phul was to take away with him the golden calves of Beith El when he took the tribes of Reuven, Gad and Menasheh into exile (I Chronicles 5:26). V 8: The ultimate retribution will be the destruction of the idolatrous altars of Israel, causing them to ask the very mountains and hills to cover them in their shame. A new prophecy starts at verse 9, which is the beginning of a PARSHAH PETHUHAH. This prophecy runs until 13:11 with a pause at ch 12 v 1, which begins a new PARSHAH SETHUMAH. Ch 10 v 9: "More than in the days of Giv'ah have you sinned O Israel…" Rashi explains this as a reference to the sin of the Concubine in Giv'ah (Judges ch 19ff), where the presence of Michah's idol prevented the tribes of Israel from succeeding against Benjamin. "…there they STOOD" – i.e. the people STAYED with the same evil trait of idolatry (Rashi). We thus see Michah's idol to be the root of Ephraim's fall. V 10: "According to My desire, I constantly chastised them in the time between one judge and another and I gave them over into the hands of their enemies" (Rashi). V 11: "Ephraim is like a cow that has to be trained to work and draw the yoke and plow, but she prefers to thresh the harvested crops in order to eat while doing so. God taught them Torah and mitzvoth, but they want the reward without practicing" (Metzudas David). V 12: "Sow for yourselves with righteousness, reap according to kindness…".The prophet yearns for the people to WORK so as to earn the promised goodness. "Rabbi Elazar said: The practice of kindness [going beyond the letter of the law] is greater than righteousness and charity [in strict accordance with the law and no more], as it is written, Sow for yourselves with righteousness, reap according to kindness. If a person sows, he may or may not eat, but when a person reaps, he will definitely eat. The reward for charity is only according to the degree of kindness with which it is practiced" (Succah 49b). V 13: Despite the call of the Torah to good deeds, the people are like a stubborn cow that has plowed nothing but wickedness, as a result of which they will eat the

fruits of their deception, having put their faith and trust in their own might – "MY power and the strength of MY hand" (Deut. 8:17). V 14-15: The coming doom is all the result of the idolatry of Beith El.

Chapter 11 The Bible editors who introduced the chapter system universally used in our printed Bibles broke Hosea into chapters that are in most cases approximately equal in the number of verses they contain. However, the conventional chapter system frequently violates the traditional breaks of Parshah Pethuhah and Parshah Sethumah as contained in the handwritten scrolls. This is particularly confusing in studying Hosea chapters 11 and 12, because the conventional chapter division implies that these are separate prophecies, which they are not. They are in fact the latter part of the first section and the first part of the second section of one long prophecy that began at Hosea 10:9, breaks with a Parshah Sethumah at 12:1 and runs continuously without a break until 13:11. In order to see this entire prophecy as one lengthy discourse falling into two parts, it is best to study Hosea 10:9-13:11 as a continuous piece. The entire prophecy is castigating Israel under the leadership of Ephraim for their original demand at Giv'ah for a king like other nations (Hosea 10:9) – a sin that led to the rebellion of the Ten Tribes against the House of David and to Jeraboam's establishment of the cult of golden calves in Beith El and Dan. The prophecy might in some ways be characterized as an expression of a "love-hate" parent-child relationship in which all the love is from God while all the rebellion is from Ephraim, who having waxed rich from His blessings proceeded to serve the work of his own hands and trust in his own might. Through the overthrow of Ephraim's kings by the very nations they had wooed like a harlot and through the harsh tribulations of exile, God will teach them His righteousness. It is with the final overthrow of their rebellious kings that the prophecy climaxes (13:10-11). One of the underlying metaphors of the entire prophecy is of Ephraim as a calf that was intended to learn to bear the yoke and plow the field of Torah and mitzvos, but which rebelled. The metaphor is bound up with the fact that Joseph (father of Ephraim, corresponding to the constellation of Shor, Taurus, the "Ox") was blessed by Moses as a "first-born ox" (Deut. 33:17). God's love for Israel as expressed in this prophecy is evoked through references to the essence of the Torah – righteousness and kindness -- (10:11-12; 12:7), as a yoke applied with kindness (11:4) and to God's merciful redemption of Israel from Egypt by Moses (11:3; 12:14; 13:4-5). In the second section of the prophecy which starts in ch 12 v 1, God's love for Israel is evoked in particular through telling of God's mercies to Jacob (12: 4-5 and 12:13f.). The prophecy repeatedly juxtaposes God's mercies and His calls for repentance through His true prophets with the people's callous deceptions: the more they are called to repent, the more they run to their idols (11:2). Yet in spite of their rebellions, God's eternal love for Israel cannot allow Him to reject his first-born son – for He is God and not a man (11:9) – and woven into the fabric of this prophecy is how He will redeem Israel and enter the celestial city of Jerusalem only when the Temple is rebuilt in the earthly Jerusalem (11:9-10).

The opening of chapter 11 v 1 must be understood as the direct continuation of the passage at the end of the previous chapter (Hosea 10:9-15), the beginning of the prophecy, recounting how Israel sinned from the days of Giv'ah and were repeatedly chastised, and how although God sought to train the wayward calf in the ways of righteousness and kindness, they rebelled and trusted in their strength and might, causing their own coming doom through the destruction of Beith El and the kingship of Israel (11:15). Chapter 11 v 1 answers why all this is coming upon the people – "Because Israel is a NAAR…" – lit. a "foolish youth", stripped (ME-NU'AR) of all goodness (Rashi ad loc.) – YET EVEN SO, "I have loved him…" God has been calling Israel through his prophets from the time He brought them up from Egypt . V 2: As much as the prophets called to them, so the people went after their idols. V 3: God wanted to train Ephraim, the Ox – he sent them Moses, who "took them on his arms" (Numbers 11:12) – but the people did not know it was He that healed them. V 4: In His mercy, He put upon them the yoke of Torah with loving tenderness. V 5-6: He promised them they would not see their Egyptian enemies any more (Exodus 14:13). But the result of Israel 's rebelliousness was that now Ashur is their king – it was the Assyrians who took the Ten Tribes into exile, because they refused to repent. Because of their own foolish counsel, their cities were to be scourged with the sword and their "branches" (=the mighty warriors) consumed. V 7: The people are in doubt about whether to repent. The prophets "call them TO ABOVE (=EL AL), but none at all would raise himself". [Yes indeed, it is from this verse that the Israeli national airline takes its name. And travelers look forward to the days when the captains will start every flight with a call to all the passengers and crew to join in lifting our hearts TO ABOVE, up to God, and offering Him our prayers for the safety and success of all.] Vv 8-9: Yet as the loving Father, God is wracked with pain, as it were, over how to chastise His wayward son. "How shall I give you up, Ephraim? How shall I surrender you, Israel? My heart is turned within Me. All my compassion is kindled. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger, I will not turn to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not a man; the Holy One in the midst of you, and I will not come as an enemy." The moving eloquence of these verses speaks for itself. An alternative translation for the closing words of v 9, "I will not come as an enemy", would be: "I will not come into (another) city" – i.e. I am the Holy One in your midst and in spite of everything I will always dwell only in Jerusalem. A third interpretation – on the level of allusion – is given in Taanis 5a: "I will not come into the city…" "The Holy One blessed be He said, I will not come into the heavenly Jerusalem until I come into the earthly Jerusalem, for the two are interconnected" (cf. Psalms 122:3). In other words, the perfection of creation – when God as it were enters and reigns in His celestial city – will come about only with the rebuilding of the earthly Temple in Jerusalem. Vv 10-11 prophesy the future awakening of Israel in response to God's call, and how the exiles will come trembling [as Haredim?] from the west, from Egypt [the exile in Islamic countries in the south] and Ashur [the exile in the Christian countries in the north] and return to their homes. This promise of future redemption concludes the first section of the prophecy.

* * * The Sefardic custom is to read Hosea 11:7-11 and 12:1-12 as the Haftara of Parshas Vayeitzei, Gen. 28:!0-32:2 * * *

Chapter 12 The second section of the prophecy that started in Hosea 10:9 now begins with the opening of a Parshah Sethumah: V 1: Despite all of God's mercies as recounted in the first section of the prophecy, "Ephraim compasses Me about with lies and the House of Israel with deceit…" Yet " Judah still rules with God" – Judah is still ruled by the fear of God, their kings were still faithful to God. V 2: But Ephraim is running after the wind in his international alliances, which will not save him on his day of doom. V 3: "HaShem has also a controversy with Judah …" – God explains to Judah His grievances against Ephraim so that they will not be surprised when He punishes Jacob (=the people of Israel) for his ways (Rashi). V 4: God's grievance is that Israel has rebelled in spite of all His mercies to Jacob from the very time that he was in the womb, when God already gave him mastery over Esau, after which He enabled him to prevail over the angel with whom he struggled (Genesis 32:25ff). V 5: This verse tells the story of Jacobs overcoming the angel, who wept and begged Jacob to release him, promising that he would later testify at Beith El that he and Esau agreed that Jacob deserved Isaac's blessings (Rashi; Hullin 92a). V 6-7: God is eternally faithful – ready to bestow love on Ephraim now just as He did upon Jacob, asking Israel only to return to God and to guard the essential path of the Torah – kindness and Justice, always hoping in God. V 8: But Ephraim is a merchant of deceit, a Canaanite! The Hebrew word KENA'AN in this verse has the connotation of "merchant" but also is used reprovingly of Israel , who are behaving like the Canaanites. V 9: Ephraim trusts in his own wealth and power, even though he should realize that they will not save him on the day when he is judged for his sins. V 10: God reminds Ephraim that He is the God who brought them out of Egypt, and despite their waywardness He will eventually bring them to dwell again in tents – the tents of Torah study – just as in the time when Jacob was pure and simple, dwelling in tents (Genesis 25:27; Rashi on Hosea 12:10). V 11: God has repeatedly warned the people through His prophets. "…and I have used similes by means of the prophets". These words are an important source text for teachings about the methods of the prophets. V 12: If destruction comes to Gil'ad (Reuven & Menasheh), it is only because of the idolatry that has continued in Gilgal and all over the rest of their territories. V 13-14: The prophet returns to the theme of God's mercies with Jacob, father of Israel – as when he protected him in his flight from Esau to dwell with Laban, and when He took the people out of Egypt under the leadership and guardianship of

Moses. This verse is the beginning of the Haftara of Parshas VAYEITZEI in Genesis (read in November) speaking of Jacob's flight to Laban. The Haftara of VAYEITZEI runs from Hosea 12:13 until 14:10. V 15: Yet in spite of all God's mercies, Ephraim has provoked Him most bitterly, and He will requite him for this. The prophecy continues in Ch 13:1-11, which will be discussed in the next commentary. MAY GOD TURN OUR HEARTS TO HIM AND RESTORE US TO OUR LAND AND BUILD HIS TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM QUICKLY IN OUR TIMES. AMEN. * * * The sections in Hosea 12:13-15, 13:1-15 and 14:1-10 are read as the Haftara of Parshas Vayeitzei, Gen. 28:!0-32:2 * * *

Chapter 13 Hosea Chapter 13 vv 1-11 are the concluding verses of the second section of the lengthy prophecy that began in Hosea 10:9 – a prophecy tracing the sin of Israel to their original request for a temporal king and culminating in 13:11 with foretelling how God in His anger will take away their king. In the central sections of this prophecy, contained in the previous two chapters, the prophet repeatedly contrasted God's mercies throughout their history with Israel's betrayal through idolatry. The last verse of the previous chapter (12:15) summed up Ephraim's bitter provocations that will cause God to requite him. Hosea 13:1 continues immediately with an historical allusion to Ephraim's provocations. "When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel; but when he became guilty through the Baal, he died." This verse contrasts the earlier status of Ephraim as leaders of the people for good (e.g. under Joshua) with their later fall through idolatry. The commentators explain this verse as alluding specifically to how Jeraboam originally caused trembling when he showed zealousness for God in speaking out against Solomon (I Kings 11:26), but how after becoming king himself, he ruined everything for Ephraim by making his idols (Rashi, Metzudas David). V 2: "And now they sin more and more…" In the generations after Jeraboam people sinned more and more by making silver images of their idol to have always visible in their very homes (Metzudas David). "They say, let those who sacrifice a man kiss the calves." They considered Molech-worship (passing children through fire and entrusting them to the idolatrous priests) as the highest form of service, and said that whoever kissed their calf idols was considered as if he had carried it out. I leave it to the reader to reflect on how Hosea's analysis of ancient idolatry relates to the widespread contemporary idolatry of wealth and the way many parents bring up their children to serve it. V 3: It is because of this idolatry that Ephraim will be swept away. V 4-6: Again the prophet recalls God's historical mercies to Israel in redeeming them from Egypt and protecting them in the arid wilderness, only to see them rebelling because of their very satisfaction from His blessings to the point where they forgot Him.

Vv 7-8: Therefore God will track them and lie in wait for them as wild beasts track their prey. None is more dangerous than a great bear embittered over the loss of his young, who attacks whoever he meets and tears apart his victim's chest to get to his heart – so God will tear open the closed heart of the people. V 9: The people themselves are responsible for their own destruction, having rebelled against their very Helper. Vv 10-11: The prophecy now concludes by God mockingly asking the rebellious people where on their day of doom are the kings and judges they had requested to be their saviors. The people should have served God instead of relying on temporal rulers, and their penalty would be to see God take away the very king they had put their trust in. The five verses in Hosea 13:12 -14:1 make up one Parshah Pesuhah, a separate short prophecy relating thematically to the previous prophecy in that it sums up the coming doom of Ephraim as punishment for his rebellion and ingratitude. The conventional chapter break at 14:1 needlessly violates the continuity of this section. This prophecy presents the picture at its worst – perhaps to shock those who hear its message into truly opening their hearts ready for the beautiful climax of the entire prophecy of Hosea which comes in the closing Parshah, Hosea 14:2-10, "Return O Israel …" Hosea 13:12: "The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid in store" – God will remember every detail and not let him off (Rashi). V 13: A time of travail will come in which Ephraim will not be able to stand. V 14: God had repeatedly saved them from death and hell, but they showed no gratitude, and therefore He will not relent. V 15: "Though he be fertile (YAPHREE) among the reed grass (AHIM)…" YAPHREE is a play on the root letters of EPHRAIM, meaning to be fruitful. Ephraim was a fruitful leader among his brothers (=AHIM). PERE also has the connotation of gall-root (Deut. 29:17) as well as wildness and excess (Gen. 16:12; Rashi on Hosea 13:15). But an east wind (the most destructive of all the winds) will sweep them away.

Chapter 14 Chapter 14 verse 1 is the concluding verse of the short prophecy that began in Hosea 13:12. The brutal and horrific destruction of the suckling babes and expectant mothers of Shomron is the penalty for her rebellion. This very harsh prophecy of doom concludes the reproofs of Hosea, who now greatly softens his tone for his final, glorious prophecy, Chapter 14:2-10, a Parshah Pesuhah consisting of his immortal call to Israel to return to God, teaching the simple, cleansing pathway of repentance through confession and prayer, and promising that God will certainly respond with unstinting love, reviving and restoring Israel with the resurrection of the dead and the building of the Temple. This prophecy is read as the first part of the Haftara of Shabbos Shuvah, the "Shabbos of Repentance" between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur (Septemberearly October). V 2: "Return O Israel to the Lord your God for you have stumbled in your iniquity": "Great is Teshuvah, repentance, for thereby even willful sins are transformed into

unwitting transgressions, because 'iniquity' is willful yet the verse calls it 'stumbling'… See how great is the power of Teshuvah, which reaches the very Throne of Glory, as it says, 'Return unto the Lord your God'" (Yoma 86b). V 3: "Take with you words…" These are the words of confession offered by the penitent (Likutey Moharan I:4). "…and we will offer the words of our lips instead of calves": prayer takes the place of animal sacrifice. When a person conquers his material lusts and devotes his energies to prayer, this itself is the sacrifice of his "animal" side. This is the ultimate repair of the root sin of the people – worship of the animal. V 4: The prophet puts words into the mouths of the penitent nation, who will reject their earlier path of seeking succor in other nations and in military might and instead turn to God, Who shows compassion to the orphan. V 5- As soon as the people repent, God will show unstinting love and His anger will depart. V 6: Just as the dew never ceases, so God's love for Israel will never cease (Metzudas David). They will flourish and grow strong as the mighty trees of Lebanon. V 7: "Their sons and daughters will multiply and their radiance will be like the radiance of the oil of the Temple Menorah and their fragrance will be like the fragrance of the Temple Incense " (Targum Yonasan). V 8: "They will be gathered in from their exile and they will dwell in the shade of their Mashiah and the dead will live and there will be abundant good on earth and the memory of their good deeds will go forth unceasingly like the blasts of the trumpet over the good old wine poured as libations in the Temple" (Targum Yonasah). V 9: "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?" Immediately God will answer and look down upon Ephraim providentially, reaching down to the level of man just as the foliage of the cypress tree bows down gracefully to the earth when a man takes hold of its branches, for it is from God that all the people's "fruit" – their goodness -- derives (Rashi). V 10: "Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is prudent let him know them; for the ways of HaShem are right, and the just do walk in them, but the transgressors shall stumble in them". The Torah is a double-edged sword, but those who follow it innocently and sincerely will go ever forward to eternity.

Book of Joel Chapter 1 Some identify the prophet Joel -- Yo'el son of Pethu-el – as the firstborn son of Samuel the Prophet (cf. I Samuel 8:2), who did not initially go in his father's ways but was said to have repented later and "persuaded God" (PETHU-EL) with his prayers (Bamidbar Rabbah 10:5, Rashi on Joel 1:1). According to another opinion, Joel prophesied in the time of Yehoram son of Ahab, during whose reign there were seven years of famine (II Kings 8:1) – four of them said to have been caused by the four species of locusts enumerated in Joel 1:4, while the last three were marked by drought (Rashi ad loc. RaDaK). A third opinion is that of Midrash Seder Olam ch 20, which states that Joel prophesied together with Nahum, and Habakkuk towards the end of the First Temple period in the reign of the wicked king Menasheh son of Hezekiah (Rashi, RaDaK). Whenever he lived, Joel was granted eternal prophecy teaching lessons for all time. His prophecy divides into two main parts: (1) Chapters 1-2: Warnings about a coming terrible plague of locusts and calls for the people to repent. (2) Chapters 34: Prophecies about the end of days, the ingathering of the exiles to Israel, the attack of the nations of the world against Israel and their defeat in Emek Yehoshaphat, the restoration of Zion and the time of Mashiah. Vv 1-6: Prophecy of the coming terrible plague of locusts. A particularly noteworthy aspect of Joel's prophecy is that it brings out the ECOLOGICAL effects of sin and how these may be averted through REPENTANCE. The coming plague of locusts prophesied by Joel in this and the following chapter is described as one "the like of which has never ever been" (Joel 2:2) whereas in the case of the plague of locusts brought by Moses against the Egyptians, the Torah states that "before it there was no similar case of locusts like it and after it there will be nothing like it" (Exodus 10:14). Rashi on the verse in Exodus states that the plague in the days of Joel was even more serious than that of Moses, because there were four species of locusts, while that of Moses was unique precisely because it consisted of only one species. A literal plague of locusts is a very terrible thing. One can also take Joel's prophecies about the coming plague of locusts as a graphic metaphor for the destructive effects of men's evil deeds upon the entire global environment – as if vast armies of natural destroyers are invading and consuming the very food we depend upon. In the light of repeated scientific warnings about the dangers of global warming, the latest reports about a serious epidemic of Asian bird flu now ravaging poultry in sophisticated Britain, etc. it is fitting to take Joel's prophecy as yet another wake-up call to repentance in order to save the world we live in. Vv 2-3: Joel's call is to the elders and all the inhabitants of the earth. HA-ARETZ in this verse particularly refers to Eretz Israel , but it can also apply to the whole earth. The call is one that must be told to all the future generations.

V 4: This verse enumerates the four species of locusts that would come one after the other to devastate the land. Vv 5ff: The people are in a drunken stupor – the only way to shock them is to illustrate to them how they themselves will feel the plague – by seeing the vines that provide them with their wine destroyed by the locusts. V 9: "The meal offering and the drink offering is cut off from the House of God": from here we see that Joel was addressing a nation with a functioning Sanctuary or Temple. They had to understand that even if they were outwardly practicing the Temple rituals, this was not enough. Without their inner repentance, they would see the destruction of the entire ecology. V 10: This is the opposite of the blessing in the second paragraph of Shema, "and you shall gather in your grain, your wine and your oil" (Deut. 11:14). Vv. 10-12: Including the reference to olive oil in verse 10, these verses enumerate all the seven species of produce for which the Land of Israel is praised: Wheat, Barley, the Vine, Fig and Pomegranate, Olive and Date (Deut. 8:8). Vv 13ff are a call to the priests to lead the people in mourning and repentance over the destructive plague through fasting and self-examination. "For near is the day of HaShem, and as a destruction from the Almighty (SHOD MI-SHADAI) will it come" (v 15). Whereas the divine attribute of YESOD (=SHADAI) is the source of blessing, when the Yud departs because of sin, all that is left is SHOD, destruction. Vv 16ff. The prophet calls to the people to open their eyes to the environmental destruction and waste around them. V 18: The very animals are sighing and perplexed at man's destruction of nature through his evil deeds. V 19: This is truly a cry of prayer to God over the destruction of the environment. V 20: The very animals are panting to God over the destruction of water resources and the fire that is ravaging the world.

Chapter 2 V 1: The blast of the Shofar is emblematic of the call of the prophet to the people to repent before the evil comes. Vv 2-9 are a horrifically graphic description of the coming plague of locusts, which descend upon a land green like the Garden of Eden and leave it like a desolate desert. They are like armies of horses and their riders, sounding like chariots as they dance over the tops of the mountains like an entire nation of warriors ready for war, bringing terror to all faces. Locusts are noted for their extraordinary discipline and methodical destruction (v 8). They will climb into all the houses through the windows like a thief (v 9). Vv 10: These swarms of relentless warriors of God blot out the very light of the sun and the moon and the stars. Ecological destruction affects the entire universe. V 11: The people must understand that the plague is being sent only through the word of God. "And HaShem utters His voice before His army, for His camp is very

great, for He Who executes His word is strong, for the day of HaShem is great and very terrible, and who can abide it?" This verse introduces one of the most sublime prophetic calls to repentance (Joel 2:11-27). It is read together with selections from Hosea (14:2-10) and Michah (7:18-20) as the Haftara of Shabbos Shuvah, the Sabbath of Repentance between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur (September/early October). V 12: Since the plague is sent from God, it follows that in order to avert the coming evil, the people must repent. "EVEN NOW, says HaShem, return to Me with all your hearts…" (v 12). V 13: "Tear your hearts and not your garments…" We are asked not merely to make outward shows of mourning but to tear down our inner insensitivity and break through the apathy in our hearts… V 14: Repentance can cause God to turn around the harsh decree and convert it into a blessing. Vv 15ff. The whole people must be mobilized for a national campaign of repentance that will bring in people of all ages, elders, children and even suckling babes, brides and their grooms. V 17: The words of the prayer of the Cohen-priests and Levites in this verse, "Spare Your people, HaShem…" are incorporated into the additional Tahanun supplications recited in the synagogue on Mondays and Thursdays. Vv 18-27 are a prophecy of the comfort and great goodness that will come if the people will repent. As soon as they do so, God will immediately show His zealousness for the Land and have mercy on His people. V 19: "And I will remove far off from you the northern one (HA-TZAPHONI)…" – this is the evil inclination, which is hidden (TZAPHOON) in the heart (Rashi, Succah 52a). V 23: "Be glad, you children of Zion, and rejoice in HaShem your God, for He has given you the former rain in due measure, and He has brought down for you the rain in the first month, the former rain and the latter rain…" The Talmud relates that after the plague of locusts in the time of Joel, the entire period of the rainy season passed in Israel with no rainfall whatever by the end of Adar. On the first of Nissan (normally the time of the last rains of the year) came the very first rainfall. Joel told the people to go out and sow their fields, but they said it would be better to eat their last remaining measure of wheat and barley and live rather than sow it and die. Joel told them nonetheless to sow, and they miraculously discovered remaining seeds in the walls and ant holes, and went out and sowed on the second, third and fourth of the month. The second rains fell on 5 Nissan and by 16 Nissan the crops ripened sufficiently to make it possible to bring the Omer offering in the Temple (Taanis 5a). Vv 24-27 are a beautiful prophecy of how in time to come God will make up for all that the predators have taken from us. "And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied" (v 26): in the future, man will no longer feel the gnawing urge to OVERCONSUME, because he will be truly satisfied.

Chapter 3 Verse 1: "And it shall come to pass AFTER THIS…" – "This refers to the end of days. The verse here says 'AFTER THIS' because the previous verse had said 'And you will KNOW that I am amidst Israel …' (Joel 2:27). However as yet this is not complete knowledge, because even so, you will still relapse and sin again. However, AFTER THIS level of knowledge there will come a time when you will know Me with perfect knowledge and you will no longer sin. This will be in the days of Mashiah, 'for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God' (Isaiah 11:9)" (RaDaK on verse 1). "I shall pour out My spirit over all flesh…" Metzudas David interprets "flesh" as referring to the nations of the world, "for even the heathens will then recognize and know that HaShem is God". However, RaDaK maintains that "all flesh" refers to those Israelites who will be worthy to receive the holy spirit of knowledge and understanding that God will then pour forth (compare Likutey Moharan I:22 on the concept of "flesh"). The verse speaks of "all" flesh to indicate that those worthy will include young and old (cf. Jeremiah 31:33). Even higher will be the levels of "your sons and daughters, your elders… and your young men…" They will attain actual prophecy, which will be granted to them through dreams (Numbers 12:6) (RaDaK on v 1). V 2: "And also upon the servants and the handmaids in those days…" Those who will serve Israel in the Land of Israel will also be filled with the spirit of knowledge and understanding (RaDaK). V 3: "And I will put wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke…" "The sign of blood will be on earth because of the great amount of killing there will be. The fire and pillars of smoke will be in the skies – these are the flashes of light that will burn up as they fall and the fires will send up smoke. These will be the sign of the plague upon the nations that come with Gog and Magog against Jerusalem " (RaDaK). Do these flashes of burning light presage nuclear war??? The words "wonders… blood and fire and pillars of smoke" in this verse are brought in the Pesach Haggadah to prove that Deut. 26:8, speaking of how God brought us out of Egypt with "wonders", alludes to the plague of blood. V 4: "The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood…" Ibn Ezra says the darkening of the heavenly lights will be a sign of terrible wars, and this darkening of the lights will be just before the coming of the day of HaShem – this will be the day of the plague on Gog and Magog and the nations that come up with him. The moon will turn into "blood" in the sense that this will be its color when it is partially eclipsed, while when the eclipse is complete it will be black. Rambam interprets the darkness of the sun and blood of the moon and similar descriptions in Joel 4:15 as metaphors for the troubles that will strike the nations at the time of their downfall. According to Rambam's interpretation, the darkness could also refer to the anguish Israel will suffer just prior to the downfall of Gog and Magog, who will go up with many nations against Jerusalem and make war against the city, and half the people will go out into exile (cf. Zechariah 14:6) – this will be the darkness – while the day of the downfall of Gog and Magog will be "the great and awesome day of God". V 5: "And it shall be that everyone who will call on the Name of HaShem will be saved…" "For then in the war of Gog and Magog it will be a time of great trouble for Israel for a short time (cf. Isaiah 26:20) and then many of Israel will fall, but the

KEDOSHIM, the holy ones who truly fear God will be saved (cf. Isaiah 26:20, Psalms 145:18). These are "the remnant whom HaShem shall call" (RaDaK on v 5) In the Hebrew handwritten scroll there is no break between the end of Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4: it is one continuous prophecy until Chapter 4 verse 9, which begins a new Parshah Pethuhah.

Chapter 4 V 1: "All of this will take place in the days and at the time when I will bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem – these are the days of Mashiah. The verse mentions Judah and Jerusalem because even though ALL ISRAEL will return, Mashiah himself will be from the tribe of Judah and Jerusalem will be the capital of the kingdom and that is where the war of Gog and Magog will take place" (RaDaK). V 2: "And I shall gather all the nations and I shall take them down to the valley of Yehoshaphat …." This refers to the Kidron Valley, which runs along the eastern wall of Jerusalem separating the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives . It means "the valley where God will judge". According to the Biblical prophecies, in the war of Gog and Magog the two major coalitions of gentile nations under Esau and Ishmael will join forces against the Jewish state in Israel, which will be overwhelmed and conquered. Its last stronghold will be Jerusalem, which will also be conquered by the gentiles. At that moment God will commence Judgment, saving Israel through plague, rain, fire and stones sent against the gentile nations, whose bodies will fill the Land of Israel taking seven months to bury, and only the gentiles who helped Israel will be spared (cf. Ezekiel 38ff, Daniel 2, Zechariah 14) . "…over My people and My inheritance Israel whom they scattered among the nations and they divided My land". We today are witnesses not only to how Israel has been and still is scattered among the nations, but also to how even after the nations promised to give the Land back to the Jewish People (in the Balfour Declaration 1917), they divided up the land into smaller and smaller strips in the various armistice lines and partition plans that have been and are being debated up until this very day… In the last few years we have all watched the "Separation Wall" built up to divide the Land. V 3: "And they have cast lots for my people and have given a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine that they might drink…" How many secularized and assimilated Jewish kids in Israel and throughout the Diaspora have been sold into mental and ideological captivity and slavery in all but name? V 4: "What are you to me Tyre and Sidon and all the provinces of Philistia …?" In the light of this prophecy about the centrality of these towns of Lebanon and the territories of the Palestinians in the end-of-days war against Israel, it is significant that many of the missiles sent against Israel from Lebanon in the 2006 war came from Tyre and Sidon , while the Palestinians are obviously today's frontline protagonists against Israel . Vv 5-6 speak of the material plunder taken from Israel by the nations, as well as the plunder of their sons and daughters, who were kidnapped and sold to the Greeks far from their own borders. It is significant that historically the single most powerful ideological challenge to the Torah has come out of Greek culture, which has had a decisive influence on the "western" culture that enslaves assimilated and non-assimilated Jews alike until today.

Vv 7-8: "Behold I will arouse them from the place to which you have sold them…" We are today witnessing the arousal of Jews and Israelites all over the world, and we have seen the great influx of Jews into Israel particularly in the last 60 years. This has been paralleled by enormous migrations of gentiles from country to country, where many end up as migrant workers – de facto slaves – as prophesied in Verse 8. A new section (Parshah Pethuhah) begins at verse 9. Having already prophesied in general terms how God will bring the nations to judgment in the Valley of Yehoshaphat and having laid forth God's testimony against the nations for their crimes against Israel through the ages, the prophet now depicts the war of Gog and Magog in detail: V 9: "Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare (KADSHU) war, stir up the mighty men…" Whereas Joel in ch 2 v 15 called for blasting the Shofar in Zion, "Sanctify (KADSHU) a fast", i.e. repentance on the part of Israel, he now uses the same word KADSHU in a mocking call to the nations to prepare their "holy" war – Jihad? – against Israel. V 10: Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears…" Ironically, this is the opposite of Isaiah's depiction of the age of Mashiah that will follow the war of Gog and Magog, when the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4). Today we indeed see how mind-boggling sums are invested in weaponry while everywhere people are impoverished and starving. Vv 11-12: Summons of the nations to the Valley of Yehoshaphat for God's judgment. Vv 13ff: "Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe…" Just when the nations are at their fattest and most prosperous, they will be ripe to be cut down. Vv 15-16: This will be a moment of cosmic darkness – the sun, moon and stars be darkened – and precisely then HaShem will roar from out of Zion and give voice from Jerusalem … "And the heavens and earth will shake" – "First he exact punishment from the angels of the nations above, and afterwards from nations on earth" (Rashi).

will His will the

V 17: The result of all this will be that we will each in our own individual way know that HaShem is God, ruler over all – and at last Jerusalem will be cleansed from the aliens passing through it. V 18 begins a new Parshah Sethumah – i.e. there is a brief pause before we enter the climactic conclusion of this prophecy in vv 18-21 depicting the wonderful prosperity that will reign in the days of Mashiah after this war. "And a spring shall go forth from the House of HaShem and water the valley of Shittim ". This spring is described in detail in Ezekiel's prophecy of the Messianic era (Ezekiel 47:1-12). The Midrash states that it waters the valley of Shittim to atone for the sin of Pe'or, which took place when the people dwelled in Shittim (Numbers 25:1; see Rashi on Joel 4:18). V 19: The future destruction of Egypt and Edom are mentioned together in this verse because just when King David almost completely destroyed Edom, Haddad escaped to Egypt where he found favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, who allowed him to

stay until he was able to rise up against Solomon (I Kings 11:16ff; Rashi on Joel 4:19). Vv 20-21: In the end Judah will endure forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation. Even if God cleanses the nations of their other sins and evil, He will not cleanse them of the blood of Judah. Metzudas David comments that Israel need not fear that since the nations know they are going to be killed, they may make every effort to take revenge against Israel thinking that they are in any case lost, because God dwells in Zion and He will protect His people and the nations will have no power. God's indwelling presence will rest in Zion for ever – the conclusion of Joel's prophecy is thus parallel to the conclusion of Ezekiel's prophecy, "And the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there" (Ezekiel 48:35; RaDaK on Joel 4:21).

Book of Amos Chapter 1 The prophet Amos was a wealthy cattle farmer and cultivator of sycamore trees (Amos 7:14). He came from the city of Tekoa in the territory of the tribe of Asher (see RaDaK on Amos 7:10). He received Torah from the prophet Hosea and was an older contemporary of the prophets Isaiah and Michah (Pesachim 87a). Amos prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Yerav'am son of Yo'ash king of Israel, both of whom succeeded in restoring the power and prosperity of their respective kingdoms and subduing the rebellious neighboring subject peoples. While Amos prophesied against the gentile nations as well, his prophecies were mainly directed against Israel and the moral decline that had set in as exemplified by the exploitation of the poor and weak by the wealthy and powerful. Amos encountered fierce opposition, and was mocked by his contemporaries as a stammerer (Vayikra Rabbah 1:2). His name, from the Hebrew root AMAS meaning to carry a heavy load, has the connotation of being of heavy tongue (cf. Rabbi Nachman's story of the Beggar who could not speak). However, the rabbis enumerated Amos among eight "princes of men" together with Yishai (Jesse), Saul, Samuel, Zephaniah, Tzedekiah, Elijah and Messiah. Verse 1: Amos prophesied "two years before the earthquake". This "earthquake" was the natural and/or moral earthquake that took place when King Uzziah of Judah offered incense in the Temple Sanctuary (which was strictly forbidden for any non-priest). This earthquake is mentioned in Isaiah 6:4 and Zechariah 14:5. Verse 2: The "roar" of God is the prophetic message of reproof emanating from the Holy of Holies, causing mourning in the "pastures of the shepherds" – these are the doomed kings – and the destruction of their strongholds (Targum Yonasan, Rashi). These two introductory verses are followed by a series of six short parallel prophesies of doom against the six chief neighboring kingdoms of the time around Israel, Damascus (=Aram, Syria), Gaza and the Philistines, Tyre, Edom, Ammon and Moab, before the prophet turns his main focus to Judah and especially Israel. Each of the following prophesies against the nations is a separate PARSHAH PETHUHAH in itself. Verse 3: "Thus says HaShem: For three transgressions of Damascus I will turn away its punishment, but for the fourth I will not turn away its punishment". The commentators explain that the principle underlying this verse and the parallel verses later in this chapter and the next (Amos 1:6, 9, 11 & 13 and 2:1, 4 & 6) is that expressed in Job 33:29: "Lo, God does all these things twice or three times with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit…": God does not punish a person for the first, second and third sin he commits but only for the fourth sin and those afterwards (Rashi, RaDaK; cf. Rambam, Hilchos Teshuvah 3:5). While God does not normally exact payment from the nations for their evil except if it is very severe, as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, He does take exception to the evil they perpetrate against Israel (RaDaK).

RaDaK lists three major evils perpetrated by Damascus (= Aram ) against Israel – in the time of Baasha king of Israel , in the time of Ahab and in the time of Yehoahaz son of Yehu. The fourth sin was their attack on Judah in the reign of Ahaz (II Kings 10:32), after which they were punished for all their past evil by being taken into exile by Ashur. Vv 4-5: Amos' prophecy of the punishment of Aram was delivered sixty-five years before it took place. Vv 6-8: The commentators explain the sin of Gaza and the Philistines in "carrying away into exile a whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom" as referring to what they did at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, when they handed over to Titus and his armies (=Edom) the many Jews who were trying to flee from them through Philistine territories (RaDaK). Vv 9-10: The people of Tyre also handed escaping Jews over to the Romans at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, forgetting the "covenant of brothers" that had existed between King Solomon and Hiram king of Tyre (I Kings 5:26; Rashi, RaDaK). Vv 11-12: Edom too "pursued his brother with the sword… and he kept his wrath for ever": This refers to the pursuit by Esau (=Edom) of his brother Jacob, the refusal of the Edomites to allow Moses and the Children of Israel to pass through their territory on the way to Israel (Numbers 20:14ff) and to the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans. The town of Basra mentioned in v 12 cannot be identified with Basra in Iraq , but was a town between Moab and Edom southeast of the Dead Sea (see Rashi on v 12; cf. Genesis 36:33). Vv 13-15: The Ammonite territories lay east of Gil'ad, the territory of the tribes of Reuven, Gad and Menasheh east of the Jordan , into which the Ammonites constantly sought to encroach in defiance of the Biblical curse against those who encroach on their neighbor's boundaries (Deut. 27:17).

Chapter 2 The conventional chapter break here is somewhat arbitrary although it does fall at the beginning of a new Parshah Pethuhah containing the prophecy against Moab . But this must be taken together with the preceding prophecies of doom against the other nations, all of which come as an introduction to Amos' prophecies against Judah and Israel, as if to say: since God punishes the other nations, to whom He did not reveal Himself, how much more must He chastise his chosen people Israel, who are much nearer to Him (see RaDaK on Amos 3:2). Vv 1-3: Moab's sin of "burning the bones of the king of Edom into lime" is explained by the commentators as referring to the incident in II Kings 3:27 when the Moabite king burned the firstborn son of the king of Edom, causing Edomite fury against Judah (with whom Edom was forced to fight against Moab) from then on (RaDaK). Vv 4-5: While the nations are punished for their evil and treacherous behavior against Israel, Judah is taken to task for despising God's Torah – for every person is judged according to his level, and the same applies to each nation. While the kingdom of Israel were also guilty of despising the Torah, the people of Judah were particularly criticized for this since the authoritative Torah scroll was kept in the Temple, which was in their territory. From the fact that the "rediscovery" of the

Torah scroll by Hilkiah the High Priest in the reign of Josiah (II Kings 22:8) caused such a great stir, we can infer the degree of previous neglect of the Torah (RaDaK). Vv 6-16: A new Parshah Pethuhah opens at verse 6 detailing the sins of Israel : "because they have sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes…" (v 6). While the Israelites were guilty of the three cardinal sins of idolatry, murder and adultery, it was their corruption of justice that sealed their fate. The very judges and leaders took bribes to pervert justice at the expense of the righteous, poor and downtrodden, as detailed in vv 6-8. In the same way as Hosea contrasted God's mercies to Israel with their disloyalty and betrayal, Amos recounts how God gave them the land of the Canaanites and blessed their children with prophetic spirit, expecting them to adhere to a higher standard of behavior (vv 9-11). But the people gave the Nazirites (=their teachers, Targum) wine to drink so that they would not be able to give legal rulings (cf. Lev. 10:9-11) and they told the true prophets to stop prophesying (cf. Amos 7:12). Amos warns that these sins will completely undermine the strength of the nation (vv 13-16). Amos 2:6-16 and 3:1-8 are read as the Haftara of Parshas VAYEISHEV in Genesis, read in November-December, narrating the sale of Joseph by his brothers, corresponding to the sin of selling the righteous for silver (Amos 2:6).

Chapter 3 Chapter 3 vv 1-10 make up a single Parshah Pethuhah, a section in itself. In the previous section Amos had castigated the people for ordering their prophets not to prophesy. Now he tells them that the prophets are the true servants of God to whom He reveals what is to come in advance, and that their prophecies of doom will surely come about. V 1: The prophet urges the people to HEAR, understand and internalize the word of God that he will speak. Amos explicitly addresses the ENTIRE FAMILY of Israel – the kingdom of Judah and the Ten Tribes. V 2: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth". This text offers a crucial insight into the deepest mystery of the world, why Israel suffers more than all the other nations, as history clearly testifies until this very day. In the words of RaDaK (ad loc.): "It is because I know and love you and have chosen you from all the peoples that I will therefore punish you for all your sins, because you have seen and known all My signs and wonders that I performed on your behalf, and you know I have benefited you. Justice therefore demands that I punish you for your sins. For when the servants who minister directly before the king disobey his orders, he shows greater anger towards them than he does towards those who are not so close to him. God pays little attention to the nations of the world regardless of whether they do good or evil except when their wrongdoing is very serious as in the case of the generation of the flood. But in the case of Israel , He punishes them for all their sins precisely because they are close to Him." Vv 3-6 contain a series of seven interrelated rhetorical questions leading to the inevitable conclusion that the doom foretold by the prophets will come about. 1. "Can two walk together unless they be agreed?" (v 3): Before I punish you, I make it known through My prophets in case it might bring you to repent. If I did not make myself known to and "meet" the prophet and reveal My secret to him in

order to reprove you, how could he have fabricated his prophecies, for how could he have known what I am going to do? Know that I have sent him (RaDaK). 2. "Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?" (v 4) The holy spirit in the mouth of the prophet is the "roar of the lion". Just as the lion only roars when he has his prey, so the prophets only prophesy doom when the decree has been made. The lion also alludes to Nebuchadnezzar (Rashi). 3. "Will a young lion cry out from his lair if he has taken nothing?" (v 4). The lion does not roar before he has his prey in order not to give it a warning in time for it to escape (RaDaK). 4. "Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where there is no trap for it?" (v 5): The enemy will not leave you alone and go away empty-handed (RaDaK). 5. "Does a snare spring up from the earth and have taken nothing at all?" (v 5). How can it be that you sin yet your sins will not be a snare for you? (Rashi). 6. "Shall a shofar be sounded in the city and the people not be afraid?" When the watchman warns the people of an onslaught of enemies, the people become filled with fear. So you should have feared on hearing the warnings of the prophets. 7. "Shall evil befall a city and the Lord has not done it?" When the evil comes, you will know that it has been sent by God as the penalty for not heeding His prophets. Vv 9-10: The prophet calls on the Philistines and Egyptians to come to witness the coming tumult in Shomron, capital of the Ten Tribes, as a result of their oppression and robbery. Verse 11 begins a new Parshah Pethuhah which continues until the end of the present chapter (Amos 3:11-15). This is followed by two Parshah Sethumah's in ch. 4 vv 1-9 and vv 10-13. As discussed in previous commentaries, the break between a Parshah Sethumah ("closed section") and the section that precedes it is less absolute than in the case of a Parshah Pethuhah ("open section"). Thus Amos 3:114:13 is a single long prophecy broken into three sections. The overall message – following on from the previous section vindicating God's prophets – is that the doom they are foretelling will definitely come upon the sinful people unless they repent. V 11: The enemies are poised all around the land, ready to bring down the arrogant nation. V 12: When a lion snatches a lamb, the shepherd tries to retrieve at least a mere couple of bones or a piece of ear, even though they are of no use whatever, in order to prove to his master that the lamb was taken as prey and that he did not steal it (Metzudas David). The metaphor comes to emphasize how absolute the destruction of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes would be. Only the few members of the Ten Tribes who attached themselves to the House of Judah would survive (see Rashi). Vv 13-15: The first section of this prophecy concludes with the warning that the coming doom will destroy Jeraboam's idolatrous altar of Beith El together with the opulence of Shomron, whose inhabitants were so wealthy that they had separate winter and summer houses.

Chapter 4 The prophecy that began in Amos 3:11 now continues with a new section (Parshah Sethumah), Amos 4:1-9. This is the middle section of this prophecy. Verse 1: The "fat cows of Bashan that are on Mt Shomron" are literally the wives of the oppressive lords of the kingdom as well as being a metaphor for the very lords themselves, who evidently corrupted justice and robbed and exploited the poor and weak in order to satisfy their demanding wives. V 2: The fat cows and their daughters will be taken into exile in cramped, undignified fishing boats. V 3: The population will go out into exile through the many breaches in the city walls. Targum Yonasan interprets Harmon as a reference to the "Mountains of Darkness" beyond which the Ten Tribes were taken into exile. Vv 4ff where the prophet tells the people to go to Beith El to transgress are like a man telling a villain, "Keep on, keep on… until your measure is filled " (Rashi). "…bring your offerings THE NEXT MORNING and your tithes AFTER THREE DAYS". The prophet sarcastically mocks the idolaters for changing the Torah laws of sacrifice for their own convenience [just as the "Reform" movement has done]. Thus the Torah says "the sacrifice shall NOT remain overnight until the morning" (Ex. 34:25) while the animal tithe must be consumed within TWO days. The idolaters would "Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice of LEAVEN", while the Torah specifically forbids this (Lev. 2:14; Rashi on Amos 4:5). Vv 6ff depict how God has already sent chastisements to the people in the form of famine (v 6), drought (vv 7-8), crop failure and pests (v 9) yet they have not repented. The refrain, "yet you have not returned to Me" is repeated three times in this section (vv 6, 8 and 9). The depiction of drought in verse 7 – with some suffering more than others – is cited in Talmud Sanhedrin 97a as one of the signs of the period immediately prior to the coming of Mashiah. Verses 10-13 are a Parshah Sethumah which constitutes the third and closing section of the prophecy that began at Amos 3:11. This section echoes the previous section in repeating twice the refrain following the evocation of the steadily intensifying punishments: "…yet you have not returned to Me says HaShem!" (vv 10 and 11). V 12: "Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" The coming evil can still be averted if the people will repent. This verse is quoted as the Biblical source of the requirement to prepare oneself for prayer – by cleansing the body of its waste products and dressing respectfully (Berachos 23a, Shabbos 10a). V 13: This verse is one of the sublime prophetic evocations of the greatness of God, who not only creates the grandest aspects of the universe (mountains, winds) but even knows the tiniest details of man's private conversations with his very wife – when one dies, God lays out all his deeds and words before him (Chagigah 5b). "He will turn the dawn of the Tzaddikim into radiant light and the light of the wicked into gloomy darkness" (Rashi). "He treads on the high places of the earth" – he brings down the haughty and arrogant (Rashi).

MAY GOD TURN OUR HEARTS TO HIM, RESTORE US TO OUR LAND AND BUILD THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM QUICKLY IN OUR TIMES. AMEN.

Chapter 5 Amos Chapter 5 consists of two related prophecies: (1) vv 1-17 with a break after v 15 for a short concluding 2-verse Parshah Sethumah; this prophecy calls on Israel to repent before doom befalls them and analyzes their wrongdoing, foretelling the devastation and mourning that will come when God vents His anger; (2) Vv 18-27 warning that the day of doom will be worse than people imagine and calling on the people to repent in order to avoid going into exile. The prophecies of Amos were directed to the people of his time, and having through our study of the historical portions of the Bible broadened our perspective on this period prior to the exile of the Ten Tribes and the destruction of the First Temple, we should be in a better position to understand the specific situation he was addressing. Yet as eternal prophecy from God, Amos' words apply to all of us until today. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov urges us to see ourselves and our own situation within every Torah lesson we study. We are therefore also bound to look deep into our own hearts and ask ourselves how Amos' prophecy can help us uncover our personal flaws and see what we can do to correct them. In seeking to relate the message of Amos and his fellow prophets to the sociopolitical realities of the people of Israel today – both those in the land of Israel and those in the Diaspora – it might be tempting to identify those who continue to put Torah practice at the center of their lives with Judah, while the more assimilated and distant from the Torah tradition might be identified with the Ten Tribes. Many of the reproofs of Amos and his fellow prophets against the kingdom of Israel seem highly relevant to the Israel of today as well as to Diaspora communities. Yet such schemas must be employed only with the utmost caution since the God-created reality in which we live is infinitely more subtle and complex than our minds can comprehend. V 1: The prophet calls upon the House of Israel – the entire people – to hear and attend to his sorrowful lament. V 2: The apparent simple meaning of this verse is that the virgin of Israel has fallen and shall rise no more (LO THOSEEF KOOM). Israel was a "virgin" prior to falling under the influence and control of foreign masters. RaDaK (ad loc.) explains that this is a prophecy that the Ten Tribes would go into exile, as indeed they did in the days of Hoshea ben Elah at the hand of the king of Assyria, and they still have not returned because Judah alone returned to Jerusalem from Babylon but not the Ten Tribes. However RaDaK is at pains to emphasize that the Ten Tribes are destined to return in time to come, as prophesied by several prophets. RaDaK thus brings examples from elsewhere of the same root LO YASAF used in the sense of someone not adding any more to do something for a certain period of time, whereas in fact they did indeed do it again later on (II Kings 6:23; ibid. 24:7 and Jer. 37:5). Thus Israel may not have risen yet, but she will! This agrees with the rabbinic interpretation of this verse in Talmud Berachos 4b: "She has fallen but she will not continue to fall any more; Arise O virgin of Israel". This interpretation is consistent with the rabbinic approach of uncovering the good that lies buried within apparently negative phrases. V 3: The prophet warns of the literal decimation of the cities and towns of Israel.

V 4: "For thus says HaShem to the House of Israel: Seek Me and you shall live". These words are the foundation of the entire Torah – and are seen as such in the Talmudic passage in Maccos 23b: "Six hundred and thirteen commandments were given to Moses… David came and reduced them to eleven principles… Then Amos came and reduced them all to one foundation, 'Seek Me and live'". The way to seek out God is through constant study of His Torah in order to understand His will, and through constant prayer to Him to help us fulfill it. V 5: Beith El and Gilgal were the sites of idolatrous worship. There was no idolatry in Be'er-Sheva, but once people had come up from the south and passed Be'erSheva, they were on the road to Beith El (Rashi). V 6: The prophet repeats his call to repent, warning of the doom that will befall the people and their idols if they do not. V 7: The main sin that is bringing on this doom is the corruption of justice and the failure to practice charity and kindness. The people have overturned God's intention. V 8: The prophet now brings examples of how God turns things around from one extreme to the other. The rabbis said that the stars of the Pleiades (the "tail" of Aries) have a chilling effect while those of the constellation of Orion bring heat to the world, and both are necessary for the growth of fruits. The people should have learned from God to turn things around for the benefit of the world and not to overturn justice (RaDaK). V 9: In vengeance for the people's overturning justice, God will strengthen the weak enemies and bring them against the mighty nation. V 10: The people refuse to heed the words of the prophets. Vv 11-12: The corruption of justice and oppression of the poor by the powerful and wealthy will be punished with the loss of their fine mansions and charming orchards and vineyards. V 13: On the day of doom the wise person will be silent – he will not question God's attribute of Justice because the people are guilty of all these sins (Rashi). Vv 14-15: The prophet again calls on the people to repent in the hope that they will listen, so that God will mitigate the harsh decree. Vv 16-17 are a PARSHAH SETHUMAH concluding the previous prophecy, telling of the terrible mourning that will reign in all the towns and streets and in the very orchards when the evil decree strikes. Verse 18 opens a new PARSHAH PETHUHAH – a new prophecy – which continues until the end of the chapter v 27. "Woe to you that DESIRE the day of HaShem": This is addressed to those who mocked the prophets' warnings of coming doom, sarcastically saying "Let Him hurry and hasten His work" (Isaiah 5:19; Rashi). Vv 19-20 warn that the coming doom will be far more terrible than these sinners imagined.

Vv 21-23 condemn the people for the emptiness of their religious assemblies and their sacrifices. Their ritual music does not please God. V 24-5: The essentials that God wants are Justice and Charity. Mere sacrifice without inner repentance is not what God asks. V 26: The people are warned that they will carry their idols with them into exile. "Kiyyun" mentioned in this verse is a reference to the cult of Shabbetai=Saturn, which is called by this name in Arabic and Persian (RaDaK). It has indeed been suggested that aspects of this cult were involved in Sabbeteanism, to which some modern scholars trace the origins of the assimilation that has overtaken the Jewish people in recent centuries. V 27: "I will cause you to go into exile beyond Damascus". Until now, the kingdom of Israel had suffered mainly from Aram with its capital in Damascus, but the coming exile under Sennacherib was to take the Ten Tribes much further afield.

Chapter 6 Chapter 6 makes up one prophecy that starts with a PARSHAH PETHUHAH (vv 110) followed by a PARSHAH SETHUMAH (vv 11-14). V 1: "Those who are at ease in Zion" refers to Judah, while "those who trust in Mt Shomron" are the Ten tribes. They were named "chief among the nations" – they were intended to be separate from them – but instead they have assimilated. V 2: The prophet asks the people to look at the great contemporary powers of the day – Kalne=Babylon, Hamat=Antioch, and Gath was the most powerful of the Philistine cities – and consider if their territories are really so superior to the land God gave Israel that they feel they want to be like the foreign nations. V 3: The people are simply bringing nearer the evil day when they will dwell in the seat of violence – under Esau (Rashi; cf. Ovadiah 1:10). V 4 depicts the affluence of the wicked people who have made comfort and the satisfaction of appetite the center of their lives. V 5: Just as today, there was a plethora of self-infatuated singers and musicians to entertain the comfortable people. V 6: Nobody felt pain over the destruction looming over the Ten Tribes under the leadership of Ephraim (=Joseph). Vv 7-10 depict the coming doom in chilling detail. Vv 11-12 warn of the utter destruction that awaits the kingdom of Israel on account of the corruption of justice. V 13: "They who rejoice over nothing, saying, 'Have we not taken horns for ourselves through our own strength?'" This seems to typify the aggressive shopping-mall, entertainment-center-based culture of our times.

V 14: The enemies will afflict Israel all the way "from the entrance of Hamath" – i.e. the extreme north east of Israel – "up to the river of the Aravah="the brook of Egypt" in the extreme south west of Israel (Rashi) – i.e. across the entire Land.

Chapter 7 The last prophecies of Amos in the closing section of the book (Amos 9:11-15) speak of the final redemption and restoration, but before that, from the beginning of chapter 7 until 9:10, he recounts in a succession of short parshahs a progression of five prophetic images of the coming doom. Rambam (Maimonidies) writes of suh prophetic images as follows: "The things that are made known to the prophet in a prophetic vision are made known to him by means of a metaphor. During the actual vision, the meaning of the metaphor is immediately inscribed in his heart and he knows what it signifies, as in the case of the ladder seen by Jacob our father with the angels ascending and descending: this was a metaphor for subjugation to the empires…. The same applies in the case of the 'beasts' seen by Ezekiel, Jeremiah's 'seething pot' and 'almond rod', the scroll seen by Ezekiel and the Eiphah-measure seen by Zechariah. Some of the prophets recount both the image and its meaning, while others only tell the interpretation, or in some cases only the metaphor without the interpretation as in certain passages in Ezekiel and Zechariah. And they all prophesied through metaphors and riddles…" (Rambam Yesodey HaTorah 7:3). 1. Amos 7:1-3: Image of the plague of locusts. "Thus HaShem God showed me… KO HEER'ANI ADNY YKVK" (the Hebrew NIKUD, vocalization of YKVK in this verse is with the vowels of ELOKIM). In this verse, KO signifies the lens or looking glass of Malchus – "like this, so" (introducing the prophetic MASHAL or metaphor). HEER'ANI means "He showed me". The two names of God in this verse are ADNY, signifying His attribute of Malchus, together with YKVK (with the NIKUD of ELOKIM=Gevurah, might), signifying BINAH. The junction of Malchus and Binah signifies that the decree has been made by the BEIS DIN SHEL MAALAH, "the Heavenly Court", and is to be executed by the BEIS DIN SHEL MATA, "the court below" (Shaarey Orah Gate 8). The image of the locust as the destroyer who consumes everything is reminiscent of the prophecy of Joel ch's 1-2. Amos stands up and pleads with God to revoke this decree of absolute destruction and God repents. 2. Vv 4-6: Image of judgment by fire. This prophetic metaphor is introduced by the same formula as in the previous metaphor: "Thus HaShem God showed me…" Once again Amos stands and pleads with God to revoke the decree because the people will be unable to survive, and God repents. 3. Vv 7-9: Image of the builder's plumb line – used to ensure that the wall is built exactly perpendicular. This indicates the strict line of Judgment whereby nothing is overlooked or forgiven (Rashi). The prophet sees ADNY – the attribute of Judgment -- "standing" on the wall holding the plumb line. The rabbis interpreted this as a sign that the Divine Presence was leaving the Temple stage by stage. They listed ten separate "journeys" of the Shechinah – from the cover over the Ark of the Covenant to the Keruvim (angelic figures), from there to the threshold of the House, then out to the Temple courtyard, onto the altar, onto the roof, from the roof to the wall (our verse is the proof-text for this "journey" to the wall), from there out to the city, from there to the mountain, then on to the wilderness before rising and sitting in her place…. (Rosh HaShanah 31a).

Verse 9 speaks of the destruction of the high places of "YIS-HAK" (=Isaac). What is unusual in this verse is not so much that YIS-HAK is spelled with a letter SIN in place of TZADE (cf. Jeremiah 33:26) but that almost uniquely in all the prophets, Israel are here called the children of Isaac (cf. Amos 7:16) whereas usually they are called only the children of Jacob/Israel since Abraham and Isaac both had other sons who were not ancestors of Israel. RaDaK (ad loc.) suggests that Amos was contrasting the behavior of Isaac – who was bound on the altar to do God's will – with that of his descendants, who flouted His will with their high places. Amos concludes the prophecy of the builder's plumb line by foretelling the destruction of the HOUSE of Jeraboam II (son of Joash and the grandson of Jehu ben Nimshi) by the sword. Vv 10-17: Amatziah the idolatrous priest of Beith El denounces Amos to king Jerabo'am II as a traitor for prophesying that he would be killed. Amatziah lied to Jerabo'am, because Amos had not prophesied that Jerabo'am himself would fall by the sword but that his HOUSE would fall – alluding to the killing of Jerabo'am's son Zechariah by Shalem ben Yaveish. The rabbis praised Jerabo'am for not accepting this slander (Pesachim 87b). Amatziah contemptuously tells Amos to flee to Judah and collect bread from people in reward for his prophecies. Amos answers Amatziah, "I am no prophet neither am I a prophet's son…" (v 14). Rashi ad loc. explains: "I am not one of your false prophets who takes a fee for prophesying. I have no need for all this and I have never practiced this, because I am wealthy with herds and property…" "I was a dresser (BOLEIS) of sycamore trees…" (v 20). Rashi here says the correct Hebrew word should be BOLEISH (searching like a BALASH, "detective", for the best trees to cut down) but that Amos was a stutterer (see commentary on Amos 1). So was Moses, and so was Rabbi Nachman's hero, the Beggar who could not speak – because his words were so exalted that people in this world could not understand what he was saying. Amos curses Amatziah – among other things, he will die on impure land – i.e. in exile. From here the rabbis taught that all who are buried in the Land of Israel are as if they were buried under the Temple Altar (Kesubos 111a).

Chapter 8 Chapter 8 opens with the fourth of Amos' prophetic images, the basket of summer fruit (Amos 8:1-3). The figs and dates used to be put aside to dry in the hot summer sun and are called KAYITZ. As in many cases in such prophetic images, the interpretation is linguistically bound up with the metaphor: thus KAYITZ alludes to the KEITZ=end. The happy songs of idolatry will be replaced with howling and mourning, and the dead bodies will be so many that those dealing with them have to hush each other in order to prevent everyone from breaking down in helpless weeping. Vv 4-8 are a separate PARSHAH PETHUHAH explaining that the root cause of the coming doom is the injustices of the wealthy and powerful, who are heartlessly squeezing the poor – hoping that food will be scarce, whether through the intercalation of an extra month in the calendar causing a late Pesach Omer offering, or after the end of the Sabbatical year, in order to jump up prices. "To decrease the measure and increase the shekel and falsify the balances of deceit" (v 5) – i.e. smaller quantities for higher prices, and deceit everywhere. This also typifies the modern economy as far as the poor are concerned. This is why enemies will sweep

away the people like a massive flooding river that washes over the land sweeping everything away. Vv 9-10 are a separate PARSHAH PETHUHAH. "I will cause the sun to go down at noon" (v 9). Rashi explains that the downfall would come suddenly at a time of great peace, referring this prophecy to the killing of King Josiah by Pharaoh Necho when the latter marched his armies through Israel on his way to Assyria. According to this interpretation, this prophecy is directed at Judah just as much as at Israel. "And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation…" (v 10). This verse is the source of the law that Jewish mourning over the dead lasts for seven days (SHIV'AH) as well as various other laws of mourning (Mo'ed Katan 15b). Vv 11-16 are a separate PARSHAH PETHUHAH prophesying the terrible spiritual famine that will strike. We see this in our days: even the spiritual seekers do not know where to find reliable Torah teaching, while the overwhelming majority of the population are not even aware of how starved they are for Torah. When the rabbis went into the orchard of Yavneh and said that the day would come when the Torah would be forgotten by Israel, they cited verse 11 in support – except that Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai (author of the Zohar) said that the Torah would not be forgotten in his merit! (Shabbos 138b).

Chapter 9 The closing chapter of Amos prophesies the destruction of the Temple, the exile of Israel, the restoration of the House of David, the final redemption and the Messianic era of prosperity and blessing. Chapter 9 vv 1-12 make up a single Parshah Sethumah which continues the prophecy that began in Chapter 8 v 11 speaking about the terrible spiritual famine that was to come about because of the idolatry of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes. Chapter 9 now opens with the fifth and last in the series of prophetic images of the coming doom that started at the beginning of Chapter 7. Verse 1: "I saw the Lord (ADNY) standing besides the ALTAR, and He said, Smite the capital that the thresholds may shake…" As in the previous visions, the divine name used here indicates that Amos saw the aspect of DIN, harsh judgment. In chapter 7 vv 7-9 Amos described the builder's plumb line over the Temple wall – indicating the departure of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) from the Temple building, one of her ten "journeys" away from Israel heralding the coming exile. The present vision was said by the rabbis to prophesy one of the earlier stages or "journeys" of the Shechinah in this process – from the cherubs over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies onto the golden incense ALTAR that stood in the Temple Sanctuary (Rashi ad loc., Talmud Rosh HaShanah 31a). The fact that in this later prophecy Amos saw an earlier stage in the flight of the Shechinah from the Temple, one that was to come sooner, underlines that the day of doom was drawing closer. Targum Yonasan explains that the blow to the capital – the lintel over the entrance of the Temple – alludes to the death of King Josiah, while the subsequent shaking of the thresholds alludes to the terror that gripped the leaders of the people as a result: Josiah was the last righteous king of Judah and with his death at Meggido at the hands of Pharaoh Necho, the kingdom's doom was sealed.

Vv 2-4 prophesy the terrible carnage and exile that would overtake the people. Targum Yonasan explains the "serpent" that God would send to bite them (v 3) as a metaphor for the nations fierce as a serpent that He would arouse against them. Vv 5-6 are reminiscent of passages in some of the other prophets, notably Isaiah, and also in the book of Job, majestically evoking the great might of God over the entire universe in order to affirm that He has the power to bring about all that His prophets foretell. V 7: "Are you not as much mine as the children of the Kushiyim (=Africans)…?" This verse until the end of the book (Amos 9:7-15) are read in the synagogue as the Haftara of Parshas Aharey Moth (Leviticus 16:2-18:30) which warns Israel not imitate the immorality of the Egyptians and Canaanites. However, by the time of Amos the people had fallen into the immorality proscribed by the Torah, and in response God says in this verse, "Why should I hold back from punishing you since you do not return to Me? Are you not descended from the sons of Noah just like all the other nations? Indeed you have become like the Kushiyim, of whom it says, 'Can the Kushi change his skin?' (Jer. 13:23) – so you too can improve" (Rashi). Metzudas David explains that the Philistines and Arameans were both destined to be exiled from their lands (Jeremiah 47:4; II Kings 16:9) yet God would not redeem them, whereas He did redeem Israel from slavery in Egypt and thereby acquired them as His – in which case they are duty bound to obey Him. V 8 foretells the destruction of the KINGDOM of the Ten Tribes but emphatically states that the PEOPLE – the House of Jacob – will never be destroyed. Vv 9-10 foretell that the people of Israel will be "shaken about" among all the nations just as corn is sifted in a sieve, the purpose being to allow the grit and waste – the sinners – to fall through the sieve and die in order to leave the grain – the righteous – purified and intact (Metzudas David). V 11: "After all this will have come upon them, the day prepared for redemption will arrive, and on that day I shall raise up the fallen tabernacle of David. This, as explained by Targum Yonasan, refers to the kingship of the House of David" (Rashi). V 12: This verse prophesies that Israel – upon whom the Name of God is called – shall in future possess the remnant of Edom and of all the nations. Verses 13-15 are a final Parshah Pethuhah describing the great plenty with which Israel will be blessed after the restoration. V 13: There will be so much produce in the fields that the harvesters will still be at work when it is time to start plowing for the next growing season, while the grapes will be so plentiful that the wine pressers will still be at work when it is time to sow next year's crops… Amos' blessing is even greater than the blessing in the Torah (Leviticus 26:5) that "the threshing will continue until the grape harvest and the grape harvest until the time of sowing" (RaDaK). Vv 14-15 foretell the return of the exiled people of Israel to our land. "…and they shall no longer be plucked up out of their land which I have given them says HaShem your God". Here we have God's promise that there will be no further exile from the Land of Israel!!!

Book of Obadiah Chapter 1 The rabbis taught that Obadiah was a GER TZEDEK (righteous convert) from Edom (Sanhedrin 39b) – he was a descendant of Eliphaz the Teimanite, the companion of Job (Yalkut Shimoni) – and that he received Torah from Elijah the Prophet. Obadiah prophesied in the time of Ahab king of Israel and Yehoshaphat king of Judah. He lived in the kingdom of Israel under the rule of Ahab and Jezebel – he was Ahab's chamberlain – yet he resisted their evil influence. The rabbis pointed out that whereas Abraham was described only as "fearing God" (Genesis 22:12), Obadiah was characterized as "fearing God VERY MUCH" (I Kings 18:3; Sanhedrin 39b). Although prophesy normally rested only on those of Israelite lineage, Obadiah attained prophesy in the merit of his self-sacrifice to save the true prophets whom Jezebel sought to kill. He hid one hundred prophets in two caves and after using up his own considerable wealth to feed them, he borrowed on interest from King Yehoram, signing over his own children as collateral for the loan (II Kings 4:1). Obadiah's prophecy relates mainly to the nation from which he came: Edom. "The Holy One blessed be He said: Let one who dwelled between two villains (Ahab and Jezebel) yet did not learn from their deeds come to prophesy against Esau, who dwelled between two Tzaddikim (Isaac and Rebecca) and did not learn from their deeds". Obadiah's prophecy ends with the great salvation of Israel at the end of days and the revelation of God's glorious kingship over all the world. The book of Obadiah is read as the Haftara of parshas VAYISHLAH speaking of Jacob's encounter with Esau and the latter's descendants. Verse 1: "So says the Lord (ADNY) God (YKVK with nikud of Elokim)…" As discussed in the commentary on Amos, the juncture of these two divine names alluding respectively to Malchus and Binah indicates that the destined fate of Edom is agreed by the Beis Din shel Matah (Malchus) in conjunction with the Beis Din shel Maalah (Binah). All the nations will eventually make war against Edom (Metzudas David). Regarding the identity of Edom, RaDaK (on Obadiah 1:1) writes: "The land of Edom (south east of the Dead Sea) does not today belong to the children of Edom because the nations were mixed up and the majority are either Christian or Moslem and it is impossible to recognize which of them comes from Edom, Moab, Ammon or the other ancient nations, because they all went into exile from their lands and became mixed up with the other nations. But Rome was initially mostly made up of Edomites. When the prophets speak of the destruction of Edom, they were referring to what will happen at the end of days." Verse 2: "I will make you small among the nations". Isaac and Rebecca both called Esau their "big" son (Genesis 27:1 & 15) but God says, "Before Me he is small" (Rashi). The rabbis taught that Edom is called "small" because they did not have their own script or language (Avodah Zara 10a). This fits in with RaDaK's teaching that the Edomites infiltrated other nations, presumably adopting their languages and alphabet. Thus Haman – from the seed of Amalek, who was Esau's illegitimate

grandson – attained power in Persia [and his descendants appear to have gained power in Iran today as well as over other groups that promote the killing of Jews]. Verse 3: "Thou who dwellest in the clefts of the rock…" Rashi explains that Edom leans on the "staff" of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, but they will not help him. Rashi also identifies the Hebrew word for "clefts", HAGVEY, with the word HAGA="destruction" (cf. Isaiah 19:17). Rashi renders the latter in Old French as BREITEINA. Whether this is a secret allusion identifying Edom with Britain is left for the reader to decide. Verse 4: "Although you soar aloft like the eagle and though you set your nest among the stars, from there will I bring you down…" The eagle was the emblem of the Roman and Byzantine empires as well as being the emblem of the U.S.A. [Does the prophecy that God will bring Edom down even from among the stars indicate that the American attempt to dominate outer space to ensure military superiority will eventually fail? China's recent knocking out of a space satellite may presage this.] Verse 5: "If thieves come to you and robbers by night, how come that you will be in a slumber (alternative rendering: cut off)?" Today the predominantly Edomite nations of Europe and America are suddenly beginning to wake up to the fact that vast numbers of foreign immigrants have entered their lands and are consuming their resources at a rate that is very alarming to their home-born citizens! Verse 7: "All the men of your confederacy have driven you to the border…." Does this verse also allude to the way America's allies have left her alone in the mire in Iraq? Verse 8-9: The leadership of the west does indeed today seem to have fallen into the hands of fools who seem bent on their own ultimate self-destruction. Verse 10-11: "For your violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you". The final destruction of Edom will come about in vengeance for the evil they perpetrated against Israel at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. RaDaK (on v 11) writes that Titus and his forces who destroyed the Temple were Edomites, many of whom still lived in the land of Edom, and although they were under the power of Rome, the Roman rulers themselves were Edomites, and when Titus laid siege to Jerusalem the Edomites were delighted and did everything in their power to hand over Jewish fugitives to the Romans, whereas they should have come to their aid since they were their brothers… "And foreigners entered his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem, and you too were one of them." In our own times, Israel's chief "allies", U.S.A. and Britain, are constantly pushing for a "settlement" that involves the division of Jerusalem. Vv 12-14: Edom should not have stood from afar jubilantly witnessing Israel's suffering. Vv 15-16: God will requite the nations measure for measure. V 17: In the end the House of Jacob will repossess all that the nations took from them and be restored to Zion. V 18: Joseph will be the flame that sets fire to Esau's house of straw! It is the moral purity of Joseph – archetype of the Tzaddik – that will prevail over Esau. See Rashi on Genesis 37:1 for further explanation.

V 19: This verse prophecies that at the end of days, the people of Israel will inherit both the territories of Edom to the south east of Israel and also all of their own ancestral lands west and east of the River Jordan, including the territories that were not fully conquered in the days of Joshua and the Judges (see Metzudas David). V 20: The cities of the south of Israel will be inherited by "this exiled host of the Children of Israel who are among the Canaanites as far as France and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Spain". RaDaK (ad loc.) explains that "this exiled host" refers to the exiles that Titus took to Germany, France and Spain, and that it was the inhabitants of Jerusalem who went into exile in Spain, from where they spread out to other lands in the Roman Empire and to what are today Islamic lands. In other words, the Land of Israel will eventually be repossessed by Jews of both Ashkenazic (from France and Germany etc.) and Sephardic (Spain, Islamic lands) backgrounds. This prophecy has been realized within our lifetimes. RaDaK also brings a tradition that the inhabitants of Germany were the Canaanites who fled from their land in the time of Joshua. This adds the profoundest historical irony to the fact that Germany started the Holocaust. And in the end of days, "Liberators shall ascend upon Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom shall be God's". SPEEDILY IN OUR TIMES! AMEN.

Book of Jonah Chapters 1-2 The book of Jonah is read every year in the synagogue on Yom Kippur as the Haftara after the afternoon Minchah service reading from the Torah. Jonah is appropriate reading on the Day of Atonement as the message of this profoundly deep and heavily veiled prophetic metaphor is ultimately simple and completely universal: Repent! Our sages tell that Yonah (=dove) son of Amitai (from the root EMeT=Truth) was the son of the widow from Tzorphath with whom Elijah the prophet stayed during the years of famine (I Kings 17:8ff), and that it was this boy that Elijah revived (ibid. vv 17-24; Midrash Shohar Tov 26). Jonah learned Torah from Elisha and was considered Tzaddik Gamur – completely righteous. It was Jonah that Elisha sent to anoint Yehu ben Nimshi, nemesis of the house of Ahab (II Kings 9:1-10), and Jonah's prophecy that Yehu's grandson, Yerav'am ben Yo'ash would restore the boundaries of Israel is recorded in II Kings 14:25. Here Jonah is said to have come from "Gath HaHefer", prompting the rabbis to discuss if he was from the tribe of Zevulun or Asher. Jonah is said to have received prophecy in the merit of going up to Jerusalem for the festival of Succoth (at a time when the kingdom of Israel prevented the people from doing so) and rejoicing greatly at Simhat Beith HaSho'eva, the celebration of drawing the water for the Succoth water libation on the Temple Altar (Yerushalmi Succah 8:1). As the book of Jonah relates, God told the prophet to go to Nineveh to tell the people to repent, but not wanting to carry out this mission, Jonah tried to flee to Tarshish, taking a boat from Yaffo. The latter is none other than the ancient Israeli Mediterranean harbor-town of Yaffo besides which the great metropolis of Tel Aviv has sprung up in modern times. The exact identity of Tarshish is the subject of considerable discussion: While some associate it with Tarsus, the city in Cilicia in the present-day Mersin province of Turkey , others think it may have been Crete (cf. Genesis 1:4). Elsewhere in TaNaCh Tarshish is the name of a great sea (Daniel 10:6 etc.) as well as that of the gem aquamarine (Ex. 39:13). Nineveh , the sinful city to which Jonah was sent, was a very important city in ancient Assyria located on the east bank of the Tigris in modern-day Mosul (N. Iraq/Kurdistan). There could be no better guide into the mysteries of Yonah than Rabbi Eliezer the Great in ch 10 of the Midrash named after him (Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer):Why did Jonah flee? First God sent him to restore the boundary of the kingdom of Israel and his words were fulfilled. Next He sent him to Jerusalem to prophesy its destruction, but the people repented and God relented and did not destroy it – and people called Jonah a false prophet. The third time, He sent him to Nineveh, but Jonah argued within himself: "I know this people are close to repenting, and if they do and God relents, He will send His anger against Israel. Not only will the Israelites say I am a false prophet but so will the nations of the world. I will flee to a place in connection with which His glory is nowhere mentioned (=the sea)… " Jonah went down to Yaffo but could not find a boat – the boat he eventually took

was already two days' voyage from Yaffo in order to test Jonah. What did God do? He sent a storm-wind that brought the boat back to Yaffo. Jonah saw and rejoiced in his heart, saying, "Now I know that my way is right". When the sailors told Jonah they were going to the remote sea islands of Tarshish, he said "I will go with you". Jonah happily hired the boat… After one day at sea the boat was encompassed by storm-winds. All the other boats were going to and fro on a calm sea, but the boat Jonah went in was in dire trouble, "so that the ship seemed likely to be wrecked" (Jonah 1:4). Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer continues: Rabbi Hananiah says, PEOPLE FROM ALL THE SEVENTY NATIONS WERE PRESENT IN THAT BOAT, each one with his idols in his hand (cf. 1:5). [I.e. the story of Jonah has universal application.] They prostrated to their idols, saying, "Let each one call in the name of his gods and the god that answers us and saves us from this trouble is God". Jonah was asleep until the captain of the boat came and aroused him. When Jonah told him he was a Hebrew, the captain said, "We have heard that the God of the Hebrews is great. Rise and call to your God: perhaps He will have pity on us and perform miracles for us as He did for you at the Red Sea ". Jonah said, "I will not deny that this trouble has come upon you because of me. Throw me into the sea and it will become calm". Rabbi Shimon says: The sailors did not want to throw Jonah into the sea, but after throwing all their baggage into the sea and trying in vain to row back to the shore, they took Jonah and lowered him up to his ankles into the water. The sea started becoming calmer, but when they hoisted him up again it started to rage again. They lowered him in up to his belly and it became calm; they pulled him up and it raged again. They lowered him down to his neck and it became calm, but when they pulled him up again it continued raging, until they threw him in completely – and the sea became calm. The Midrash continues: Rabbi Tarphon says, The fish had been prepared to swallow Jonah since the six days of creation. HE ENTERED ITS MOUTH LIKE A MAN WALKING INTO A GREAT SYNAGOGUE [i.e. the whole mystery of being swallowed by the fish is bound up with the mystery of prayer and spiritual devotion]. The two eyes of the fish were like radiant glass windows. Rabbi Meir says that a precious jewel hung in the belly of the fish radiating to Jonah like the midday sun, showing him everything in the sea and the depths of the earth. Of this it says, "Light is sown for the righteous" (Psalms 97:11). The fish said to Jonah, Don't you know that today it is my turn to be eaten by Leviathan?" Jonah said: "Take me to him". Jonah said to Leviathan, "For your sake I have come down to see your dwelling-place, because in the future I am destined to tie a rope around your tongue and raise you up to slaughter you for the great feast of the Tzaddikim". Jonah showed Leviathan the seal of Abraham (the sign of the Covenant, his circumcision). Leviathan saw and fled two days' distance from Jonah. The Midrash goes on: Jonah now said to the fish, "I saved you from Leviathan: now show me everything in the sea and the depths of the earth." [The Midrash now relates how the fish took Jonah on a kind of grand underwater world tour in a live submarine.] The fish showed him the great river-source of the Ocean, as it says, "The depth encompasses me" (Jonah 2:6). He showed him the Red Sea through which Israel passed, as it says, "the reeds (SOUF) were wrapped about my head" (ibid.) He showed him the breakers of the sea from which the waves go forth, as it says, "all Your billows and Your waves passed over me" (v 4). He showed him the pillars and foundations of the earth (v 7) and he showed him Gehennom, as it says, "You brought my life up from destruction", and he showed him the lowest pit of hell, as it says, "From the belly of hell I cried out and You heard my voice" (v 3). He showed him the Temple of God, as it says, "I went down to the ends of the mountains" (v 7). He showed him the Evven Shesiyah ("Foundation Stone") fixed in the depths beneath the Sanctuary, and the sons of Korach standing praying on it.

The fish said to Jonah, "You are standing under God's Temple: pray and you will be answered". Jonah prayed…. But he was not answered until he said, "What I have vowed I will fulfill" (v 10) – "My vow to bring up Leviathan and slaughter him before You I will fulfill on the day of Israel's salvation". God immediately made a sign for the fish to vomit Jonah out onto the dry land (v 11). The Midrash of R. Eliezer concludes: The sailors saw all the great signs and wonders that God performed for Jonah and immediately rose and cast their gods into the sea, as it says, "They that guard lying vanities forsake their loyalty" (2:9). They returned to Yaffo and went up to Jerusalem and circumcised themselves…. And they made vows and proceeded to fulfill them, going to bring their wives and all their families to fear the God of Jonah (Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer ch 10). Through the weave of Rabbi Eliezer's Midrash we can see how the story of Jonah is an allegory of Israel among the Seventy Nations, and how the terrible global storm sent by God as a result of Israel's flight from Him into sin eventually brings Jonah and all the nations to know and fear God. With many contemporary world "leaders" repeating regularly that "all of the world's problems are rooted in the Middle East problem (= Israel), and if that can be solved, everything else will be solved", we clearly see how God's "dove" (=Yonah, cf. Song of Songs 2:14) remains until today at the very center of the global storm. Another dimension of the prophecy of Jonah is brought out in the Holy Zohar (Vayakhel 199a ff). In the words of the Zohar: These verses allude to the whole of man's life from his emergence into the world until the resurrection of the dead. Jonah's going down into the boat is man's soul entering the body to live in this world. Man goes in this world like a boat in the great sea that seems likely to be wrecked. When man sins in this world and thinks he will flee from his Master without taking account of the world to come, God sends a great storm-wind – the decree of harsh justice – and demands justice from this man, striking the boat and causing illness. Even on his sickbed, his soul is still not stirred to repent – Jonah goes down into the depths of the boat and slumbers. Who is the captain of the boat that wakes him up? This is the good inclination, who tells him, "Now is not the time to sleep – they are taking you to judgment over all that you have done in this world: repent!" "What is your work? From where do you come? Which is your land? From which people are you" (Jonah 1:8). "What work have you done in this world – confess to God about it! Think where you come from – a putrid drop – and don't be arrogant before Him! Remember that you were created from the very earth! Ask yourself if you are still protected by the merits of the founding fathers of your people!" When the person is about to die, his defending angels try to save him – the sailors try to row back to the land – but the storm-wind is too strong and can only be assuaged when man is taken down into his grave. Throwing Jonah into the sea corresponds to burial in the grave. The belly of the fish is hell, as it says, "From the belly of hell I cried out" (Jonah 2:3). The three days and nights Jonah was in the belly of the fish corresponds to the first three days in the grave, when his innards burst onto his face and they say, "Take what you put inside yourself: you ate and drank all your days and did not give to the poor. You made all your days like festivals, while the poor went hungry and did not eat with you…" The judgment continues for thirty days with the soul and body being judged together. Afterwards the soul ascends and the body rots in the ground, until the time when God will revive the dead. "He has swallowed up death for ever" (Isaiah 25:8) – "And God spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out onto the dry land" (Jonah 2:11). And in this fish there are remedies for the whole world…

Chapter 3 Vv 1-2: "And the word of God came to Jonah a second time saying, Arise go to NINEVEH, that great city…" ARI points out that the Hebrew letters of the name of Y-O(=Vav)-Na-H are contained in the name of the city N-Y-Ne-Ve-H, with the addition of one extra Nun, signifying the 50 Gates of Binah=Imma. The gematria of Y-O-Na-H is 71, and with an additional unit for the whole word we have a total of 72=HeSeD=Hokhmah=Abba. Jonah's task was to bring Abba and Imma to Zivug in order to bring compassion into the world, which was under the dark shadow of severe Judgments owing to the wickedness of the people (ARI, Sefer HaLikutim, Jonah; see there for other amazing insights into Jonah ch's 1-2). The task of the prophet was to bring the people to repentance, which is rooted in BINAH. On Jonah himself the success of his mission would have a negative effect because he was prophesying that the city would be overturned after forty days if the people did not repent – and when they did, the city was not destroyed, making it seem as if his prophecy had not come about and was false. (But in fact, a prophet is proven false only if a good prophecy is not realized, not if a prophecy of doom does not come about since God may relent and overturn an evil decree but he does not overturn a good one, Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 10:4.) Despite the potential damage to his reputation, Jonah went about his mission, saying, "Another forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown (NEHEPHECHETH)" (v 4). The root HAPHACH means to turn something around. ARI comments that Jonah was actually prophesying that DIN, harsh judgment, would turn about into RAHAMIM, kindness (ibid.). V 5: "And the men of Nineveh believed in God and they called for a fast…" RaDaK comments that men from Jonah's boat – those members of the 70 Nations who converted – were there in Nineveh and they gave testimony over the wonders they had witnessed with Jonah in the boat. This was why the men of Nineveh BELIEVED Jonah and did what was required. RaDaK's comment once again points to the universal significance of the book of Jonah for all mankind, as suggested also by the following Midrash: V 6: "And the matter reached the king of Nineveh …" The Midrash tells: Rabbi Nehuniah HaKaneh says, You can learn about repentance from Pharaoh, who rebelled flagrantly against HaShem when he said "Who is HaShem that I should listen to His voice?" (Ex. 5:2) but later repented, saying, "Who is like You among the gods, HaShem?" (Ex. 15:11). God saved Pharaoh from death to tell the power of His might, as it says, "However, on account of this I have caused you to stand" (Ex. 9:16), and he became the ruler of Nineveh. The men of Nineveh were constantly plotting to harm each other and they were sunk in robbery and homosexuality. God sent Jonah to prophecy the destruction of the city. When Pharaoh heard, he rose from his throne and rent his garments and clothed himself in sackcloth and ordered all his people to fast for three days… However after forty days they went back to their evil ways and went to even further extremes than before, and the dead were swallowed up in the lowest pit of hell, as it is written, "Men groan from out of the city" (Job 24:12; Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer). V 8: "Let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence (HAMAS) that is in their hands". Today we are still waiting for the world to renounce HAMAS and everything that this evil concept and the Arab organization that bears its name represents. Our sages taught on this verse that the level of repentance the king demanded from the people of Nineveh was that even if someone had stolen a wooden beam and built it into the structure of his house, he was to pull down the house in order to return the brick (Ta'anis 16a). This actually is in accordance with

the strict law of the Torah relating to theft, but in fact, to avoid deterring people from penitence, the Rabbis mitigated this with their enactment that a thief could pay monetary restitution for the stolen beam to avoid having to pull his own house down (Rambam, Laws of Robbery and Lost Property 1:5). V 10: "And God saw their deeds…" The Talmud brings that on public fast days when a sage would address the people exhorting them to repent, he would quote this verse, saying, "Brothers, it is not the fasting and sackcloth that cause God to take pity but the repentance in the heart and good deeds… It does not say 'And God saw their sackcloth and fasting' but 'And God saw their DEEDS, for they returned from their evil way'" (Ta'anis 16a).

Chapter 4 Why did Jonah feel so bad when the people of Nineveh repented and averted disaster? Besides feeling that he was seen as a false prophet in the eyes of the nations, our sages taught that Jonah also feared that the repentance of Nineveh after only one warning would raise a serious accusation against Israel, who had many true prophets yet still did not repent (cf. RaDaK on Jonah 4:1). Verse 2 invokes the essence of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Exodus 34:6). Verse 3: Jonah asked God to take his life because he did not want to see evil befall Israel as a result of the accusation aroused by the repentance of Nineveh. His request is compared to that of Moses to "please blot me out of Your book" if God would not forgive Israel (Exodus 32:32, cf. Numbers 11:15, RaDaK on v 3). Verse 4 begins a new Parshah Sethumah – continuing, after a pause, from the previous section – in which God teaches Jonah a lesson in compassion. V 6: "And HaShem-Elokim appointed a castor oil plant (KIKAYON)…" The Midrash says of the KIKAYON: God brought up the KIKAYON over Jonah's head during the night, and in the morning 275 leaves came out (corresponding to the gematria of KIKAYON), each leaf a span and a handbreadth wide. There was enough room for four people to sit under the shade of the KIKAYON to take shelter from the sun, but God appointed a worm which gnawed through the plant from below so no moisture could rise up to the leaves, which dried, and the plant died and all the flies and mosquitoes there afflicted Jonah on every side until his eyes welled up with tears before God. He asked him, Why are you crying – do you feel pain over this plant that you did not cultivate, which you never fed with fertilizer and never watered, which came up in one night and the next night it was already dried up? Should I not have pity on Nineveh the great city? At that moment Jonah fell on his face and said, Govern Your world with the attribute of compassion" (Yalkut Shimoni). ARI (Sepher HaLikutim) states that the KIKAYON which protected Jonah alludes to the TZELEM – the encompassing levels of Hochmah, Binah and Daat that hover over and protect the soul in this world. Verse 10: "…and should I not be concerned for Nineveh in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people that cannot discern between their right hand and their left and also much cattle?" Rashi comments that those who cannot discern between one hand and the other are the children, while the "much cattle" (BEHEMAH RABBAH) refers to all the adults whose mentality is that of an animal (BEHEMAH) since they do not know Who created them.

Book of Micah Chapter 1 The prophet Micah was from the tribe of Judah from the city of Moreshah in the kingdom of Judah. Micah received Torah from Isaiah and was the youngest of the "quartet" of prophets (the senior two being Hosea and Amos) in the days of Uzziah, Yotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Pesachim 87a, see Tosafos there), immediately prior to the exile of the Ten Tribes and about a century and a half before the destruction of the First Temple. The prophecies of Micah include reproofs against the people of Shomron and Jerusalem over their sinful behavior to their fellow man, reproofs against the leaders and false prophets who deceived the people, prophecies of consolation about Mashiach, the future greatness of Zion, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount and the peace and tranquility that will then rule, God's complaints over the ingratitude of His people, His desire that the people should pursue justice and kindness, and the prophet's prayer for the people, concluding with his invocation of the 13 Attributes of Mercy in order for God to forgive Israel. Chapter 1 Verse 1: Micah's prophecy is directed towards all the people of Israel – the Ten Tribes (=Shomron) and Judah and Benjamin (Jerusalem). The intimate relationship that he sees between their respective sins is set forth in this first prophecy (vv 5, 9 etc.). V 2: "Hear all you peoples…" Micah is addressing the Tribes of Israel, each one of which is considered a "people" ('AM) in itself (Metzudas David). "Let HaShem God be witness against you…" Micah is saying that He will testify "that I prophesied to you in His name and warned you" (Rashi ad loc.). V 3: "He will tread upon the high places of the earth" – "these are the people who are exalted and arrogant" (Rashi). V 4: In the light of Rashi's comment on the previous verse, the erupting volcanic cataclysm described in this verse can be seen as a metaphor for the coming complete upset of the people's existing social order. V 5: "What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Shomron? And what are the high places of Jerusalem? Are they not Jerusalem?" Micah traces the source of the sins that are leading to the coming doom directly to the kings of Shomron and Jerusalem respectively. Shomron was the stronghold of the kings of Israel (the Ten Tribes), and it was they who promoted worship of Jeraboam's calves, while the Jerusalem-based kings of Judah were responsible for allowing the continuation of the altars in the "high places" (BAMOTH) in Judah. Both cults were fatal deviations from the Torah. (See RaDaK on this verse.) [Similarly today the ills that afflict secular Israel are closely bound up with the ills afflicting the more traditional Jews.] Vv 6-8: First the prophet describes the complete destruction that would befall Shomron and its idols – the Ten Tribes went into exile first. Micah's comparison of

Shomron to a harlot whose idols are the hire she received from her lovers follows similar metaphors in Hosea (1:2 etc.) and the other prophets. V 8: "For this I will wail and howl…" By the time of Micah, youngest of the "quartet" prophesying in the same period, the day of doom was coming ever closer. His phraseology here is reminiscent of the similar language found in Jeremiah, who came later and lived through the destruction of the Temple. V 9: "For her wounds are desperate, for it has come as far as Judah, it has reached the gate of my people to Jerusalem ". The prophet already sees beyond the exile of the Ten Tribes, because the disease has spread to Judah itself and to the very capital in Jerusalem. V 10: "Declare it not in Gath …" When David lamented the death of Saul and Jonathan, he too did not want the shame of Israel to be known to their enemies the Philistines (II Samuel 1:20). In the present verse, in which Micah begins to depict the mourning and exile that were destined to strike city after city in Judah, it is clear that foremost among the enemy forces encroaching on Judah 's territory were the Philistines. The English translations cannot do justice to the subtlety of the Hebrew in this and the following verses, where the prophet uses word-play on the names of the various towns of Judea to depict the horrors that were to strike each one. The name of the town OPHRAH in our verse is from the Hebrew root 'APHAR, "dust". It seems highly significant that the KSIV (written form) as opposed to the KRI (pronunciation) of HITHPALASHI, "roll about" [in the dust], is HITH-PALSHTI – apparently alluding to the Philistine (PELISHTI). Today, nearly two and a half millennia after Micah, we once again see a people whose self-selected name consists of exactly the same letters seeking to encroach on the land of Israel . Vv 11-15: The prophet sees into the future, watching the people of one Judean town after the other facing the terrible shame, degradation and horror of deportation and exile, in each case expressed through his wordplay on the names of the towns. Lachish (v 13) was the first Judean town to import Baal worship from the kingdom of Israel (RaDaK). "Therefore you will give presents to Moresheth Gath" (v 14): Gath had been taken from the Philistines by David, but now they would receive it back (see Rashi, RaDaK). "The houses of Achziv are a dried-up stream (ACHZAV)" (v 14): this Hebrew root denotes disappointment (no water!). Micah here prophesies how years in the future the Judean town of Achziv would be drawn after Pekah ben Remalliah, the second last king of Israel, but would be disappointed about having relied on him as he was killed (Rashi, Sanhedrin 102b). "I will bring against you a possessor (YORESH) against you who dwell in MORESHAH…" Here the prophet addresses the people of his own town (cf. Micah 1:1). Enemies are coming who will take possession of their land. V 16: "The eagle flies high above the other birds, and once in ten years it flies higher than ever until it reaches the upper atmosphere close to the sphere of fire, and because of the great heat its feathers come of its wings and fall off" (RaDaK). Likewise the prophet foretells how the land of Israel was to become "bald" when the Israelites would go into exile under Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar. And why??? The prophet has spoken about how the land would be possessed by others, and in the coming short Parshah Sethumah (ch 2 vv 1-2) he will explain the reason for this terrible punishment.

Chapter 2 Vv 1-2: "Woe to them that devise iniquity…" The wealthiest and most powerful were constantly practicing the most sophisticated forms of land-grabbing and selfenrichment at the expense of their fellow Israelites, and it was precisely because they robbed others of their land that all their land would be taken by their enemies, as prophesied in the previous chapter, MIDDAH KE-NEGED MIDDAH, "measure for measure". The Israelite king Ahab's seizure of Naboth's vineyard (I Kings ch 21) is the most glaring example of such land-grabbing. V 3: This verse begins a new Parshah Pethuhah following on directly from the previous one. Just as the wicked were devising (HOSHVEY) evil on their beds (v 1), God declares that He is "devising (HOSHEV) evil against all this family" (v 3). MIDDAH KE-NEGED MIDDAH. V 4: Those who lament when this evil strikes will cry out, "The share of my people has been exchanged…" – "the inheritance of my people has been given over to the enemy – how will He ever come back to me to restore to us our fields that this enemy shares out for himself, how will it ever be possible to return them to me?" (Rashi). Many in the present day may be asking the same question about the territories of the Holy Land that have been given over to Israel's enemies in exchange for a mirage of "peace" that has turned into a nightmare. V 5: "Therefore you shall have none that cast the line by lot in the assembly of HaShem". Those who have robbed others of their land will be punished by having no descendant who will measure out the land of his inheritance in God's land after the future redemption (Metzudas David). Behind the harshness of this prophecy lies the consolation that the rest of the people who did not rob others of their land will have their share in the land of Israel returned to their descendants in the time of the redemption. V 6: "You who preach, do not preach…" Micah addresses the true prophets, as if to say that the moral degradation has reached such a low that it is purposeless to prophecy any more since the people will merely insult them. V 7: The prophet quotes the people's mocking of his prophecies of doom: they ask if God's temper has become short and if He would do such a terrible thing. God answers that His words will benefit those who go straight. (See the comment on vv 12-13 below.) V 8: The people see God as an adversary – and they continue their blatant robbery, stripping innocent people who were going along quite securely of their very clothes, making them look like war returnees (Rashi). V 9: The theft of people's property is a catastrophe for their wives and children (see Likutey Moharan I, 69). V 10: The prophet tires of cataloging the people's sins, telling them to get up and go into exile already because this was not the MENUHAH (invigorating repose and tranquility) that God intended for the people of Israel in His land – to defile it with their bands of wickedness. V 11: Rejecting the words of the true prophet, the people would take any man walking in wind and falsehood and preaching for a glass of wine or liquor as their prophet and guide.

Vv 12-13: The two closing verses of this Parshah are susceptible to two quite opposite interpretations, as detailed by RaDaK. They can be explained as prophecies of the coming doom with the remnant of the people packed like sheep into cities under siege as the enemies break through until eventually the king – Tzidkiahu – ignominiously leaves Jerusalem , the divine presence having departed. On the other hand Targum Yonasan, Rashi and Metzudas David prefer to draw out the consolatory prophecy contained in the very same Hebrew words. (That two opposite prophecies can be contained in the very same words was explained earlier in v 7: "Are these His terrible doings? – [No], My words do good to him that walks uprightly".) The good news is that in the final redemption, "I shall surely gather the remnant of Israel …" They shall be like flocks for multitude, and their cities will resound with the sounds of their great populations. Their redeemer will break through the barriers and obstacles in order to straighten the path for them, and their king – Mashiach – will pass before them and God will pass by at the head of all of them (see Targum, Rashi, RaDaK).

Chapter 3 Chapter 3 verse 1 begins a new Parshah Pethuhah setting forth the sins of the leaders of the people on account of which they were to be punished with exile. Whereas the preceding verse (Micah 2:13) spoke of God at the HEAD of the people, the prophet now addresses the sinful temporal HEADS of Jacob and rulers of Israel, who should have known better than to act as they were acting: "Is it not for you to know justice?" Vv 2-3: The root of all their evil is that they are devouring each others' very skin and flesh, robbing and exploiting the people and consuming them like meat in a pot. The prophet will return to the theme of oppression and injustice by the wealthy and powerful in vv 9-11. V 4: When the coming trouble strikes, the sinners will cry out to God but He will not answer; rather, He will hide His face from them because of their evil deeds. V 5 begins a new Parshah Pethuhah taking the analysis of the evil of the people a stage further by exposing the venality of the false prophets who support the evil of the rulers by selling prophecies of peace and prosperity to those willing to pay them while declaring holy war against anyone who refused. The contemporary equivalent of these false prophets and soothe-sayers would appear to be the armies of spin doctors and hack media pundits whose job is to sell the policies of the very wealthy and powerful to the hypnotized public and pull a cloak over their wrongdoing and corruption. Vv 6-7: Micah foretells that when the coming doom strikes, the false prophets will be put to shame. Many of the official spokesmen and mainstream media commentators who were predicting in the early 1990's that Israel's Oslo agreement with the "Palestinians" would lead to a golden age of peace in the Middle East would also be put to shame if they were forced to re-read their words again in the light of the nightmare that has developed as a result. The same applies to those who promised that Israel 's "disengagement" from Gaza would lead to greater security.

V 8: Micah asserts that in contrast to the baseless prophecies of the false prophets, his own prophecies are full of the power and spirit of God. Unlike the false prophets, he will not flatter the corrupt rulers and cover over their wrongdoing. V 9: The prophet returns to castigating the rulers for their corruption. "If you see a generation that suffers from many troubles, go out and examine the judges of Israel, for all the troubles come only on account of the judges of Israel, as it says, "Hear this you heads of the House of Jacob and rulers of the House of Israel who pervert justice" (Shabbos 139a). V 10: "…they build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity" – "Each one builds his house with blood since they shed people's blood to take their money to build their own houses, and they build Jerusalem with money extracted through corruption, exploitation and deception" (Metzudas David). This is a prophecy that resonates with those familiar with the property market in various parts of presentday Israel with Jerusalem foremost among them. Many honest citizens are quite at a loss as to how to afford a house when prices are driven ever higher by powerful players who have amassed enormous wealth on the backs of others. Those same honest citizens note that while they themselves are pinched ever tighter economically as "the measure is reduced and the shekel price is increased" (Amos 8:5), the wealthy keep getting wealthier and bank profits have never been higher. V 11: This verse lists three sins, which were to be requited with the three punishments listed in the following verse (Shabbos 139a). The three sins are: (1) The heads (=the kings or Sanhedrin, RaDaK) take bribes in passing judgments and making their governmental decisions. [Recent revelations about corruption at the top levels of the Israeli government may be presumed to be merely the tip of an iceberg.] (2) The priests, whose function was to teach Torah and issue halachic rulings could be bought for a price and would rule accordingly. [Today it is the editors and columnists who decide what is right and wrong in favor of whoever pays them, and predetermine the public debate before it even begins.] (3) The prophets (the ideologues) divine for money. V 12: Therefore: (1) Zion shall be plowed like a field. This prophecy was realized with the destruction of the Temple – the Romans literally plowed up the Temple Mount. In case this was not enough, the prophecy has been realized again quite literally in our days with the extensive Arab excavations on the Temple Mount in recent years, in which many priceless archaeological relics have been barbarically destroyed. (2) Jerusalem shall become heaps of rubble. This too was realized when the Romans destroyed the city, and again when the Jordanians wantonly destroyed synagogues and other buildings in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem after its capture in the 1948 War of Independence. (3) The Temple Mount shall become like the high places of the forest. Anyone who has seen the Temple Mount from the Mt of Olives or aerial pictures knows that it has been planted with many trees, in flagrant violation of the Torah prohibition against planting any tree in the vicinity of God's altar (Deut. 16:21). A famous Talmudic passage tells how after the destruction of the Second Temple a group of sages passed by its ruins and, on seeing a fox emerge from the place of the Holy of Holies, broke down weeping, while Rabbi Akiva laughed. When his companions asked why he laughed, Rabbi Akiva answered that seeing the literal fulfillment of Micah's prophecy in our present verse gave him confidence that the prophecy of Zechariah will also be fulfilled that "old men and old women will yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem… and the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing…" (Zechariah 8:4; Maccos 24b).

Chapter 4 Verses 1-3: "And it shall be at the end of days…" Following the preceding prophecy of destruction, this sublime prophecy of consolation about the restoration of the Temple and how the nations of the world will stream to seek out God and His Torah is also found in Isaiah 2:2-4 with almost identical wording except for very minor changes. RaDaK comments (on v 1) that in saying that the Temple Mount will be "established on the top of the mountains and it shall be EXALTED ABOVE the hills" the verse does not necessarily mean that it will be literally higher than it was, but that the nations will exalt and give honor to the Temple Mount and come there to serve HaShem. We may presume that the Temple Mount will no longer be insulted by being called merely the "third holiest place" of a tradition that does not recognize the name of HaShem or Moses his prophet. Rather, the Temple Mount will be the central focus of the entire world, from which the Torah – the word of HaShem – will go forth to all parts of the globe. "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" (v 3). Despite the noble declared aims of the United Nations, the world is clearly still very far from the realization of this prophecy, as astronomical sums of money and resources continue to be poured into arms and armaments by nations great and small. We can only hope and pray that God will bring humanity to its senses before we destroy ourselves and the whole world. It is comforting that Micah here prophecies that eventually "they will not learn war any more" (v 3). V 5: "For let all people walk everyone in the name of his gods" – "all the nations will go to destruction for having worshipped idols" (Targum) – "but we shall walk in the Name of HaShem our God for ever and ever." Vv 6-7 make up a short Parshah Pethuhah continuing with the prophecies of consolation about the end of days, when God will bring in the scattered of Israel, who are as if limping in exile, being unable to move from their place (Metzudas David). V 8: The prophet promises Jerusalem – the center to which the "flocks" gather on the pilgrim festivals – that the former dominion will return: this is the original united kingdom of David as it was before the Ten Tribes split from Judah and Benjamin (Rashi, Metzudas David, RaDaK). V 9: There are varying interpretations of the Hebrew word TA-RIYI in this verse. Some render, "Why do you CRY OUT aloud", relating the root to TERU'AH as in the shofar blast. However, Rashi relates the root to REI'A, a "friend", rendering, "Why do you need to seek out friends and lovers, the kings of Egypt and Assyria, to help you?" The same question could be put to the rulers of Israel today: Why do you feel the need to rely on your peace treaty with Egypt and your backers in Washington when God is your King and advises you how to run your affairs – by following His Torah? V 10: The prophet compares the coming ructions of exile to the pain of a mother giving birth – but promises that after the exile will come redemption and restoration. V 11-14: Rashi and particularly RaDaK explain this passage as a prophecy of the ingathering of the exiles in the time of Mashiah. Verse 11 begins with the word

NOW as if to say, You can be quite confident that this prophecy will come to pass, even if it does so only after a long time, just as if it were happening NOW (RaDaK). "And now many nations are gathered against you, who say, Let her be defiled and let our eyes look upon Zion " (v 11). These "many nations" are Gog and Magog and the many nations that are with him (RaDaK). We see with our own eyes how in every international forum today the voices of the nations are raised in cries of accusation that Zionist Israel is "defiled", and they all wait for her downfall. "But they do not know the thoughts of HaShem…" (v 12). The nations do not understand that it is part of God's plan that they should feel compelled to come against Jerusalem, intending to plunder and destroy her – for this is how He draws them so as to gather in the Vale of Yehoshaphat where He will defeat them (Joel 4:2; Rashi on Micah 4:12). The nations will be like sheaves gathered in from the field – to be beaten and threshed. V 13: "Having compared the nations to sheaves, God tells Zion that despite her weakness after the exile, He will strengthen her and give her metal horns with which to gore the nations and brass hooves with which to trample them" (Metzudas David). V 14: "Now gather yourself in bands, daughter of troops – he has laid siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek." Rashi applies this verse to the Babylonians who were to destroy the First Temple because of Israel's sin of abusing their prophets and judges and striking them on the teeth. However, RaDaK applies the verse to the people of Jerusalem under siege from the forces of Gog and Magog, when "half the city will go out in exile" (Zechariah 14:2) and the enemies will publicly degrade the judges and leaders of Israel to the point that they will contemptuously strike them on the jaw. The public demonization of leading rabbis in our time – accompanied by the unscrupulous twisting of their words to imply the opposite of what they intended (=striking them on the jaw) may also be a sign of the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Verse 1 begins a Parshah Sethumah that continues until the end of verse 5. This very important section speaks of Mashiah and the defeat of Gog and Magog at the end of days. It is thus a continuation of the previous prophecy (Micah 4:814) which spoke about the restoration of the Davidic kingship and the war of Gog and Magog. V 1: The prophet addresses Bethlehem, (also called Ephrath, Gen. 48:7) – the family home of King David (I Samuel 17:58), from whose progeny there will emerge God's anointed Mashiah. RaDaK (ad loc., uncensored version) cites the Christian interpretation of this verse as a reference to their founder, said to have been born in Bethlehem. RaDaK shows that this interpretation is untenable since (1) he was never "ruler in Israel" as Mashiah will be – rather, the people ruled over him since they had him executed, Sanhedrin 43a; (2) the claim that "from ancient time, from days of old" to which Mashiah's "goings out" are traced refers to God is impossible because God is beyond time. Targum Yonasan renders "and his goings out from ancient time from days of old" as: "his [Mashiah's] name was declared from ancient time, from days of old" – i.e. from the beginning of creation it was foreordained that Mashiah will come at the end of days.

V 2: "Therefore He will give them up until the time when she who travails has brought forth…":God will give them into the hands of their enemies until the time when Zion travails and gives birth to her children" (Rashi). Micah 4:9 also characterizes the pangs of redemption as birth pangs. Since a woman gives birth after NINE MONTHS of pregnancy, the Rabbis learned from this verse that "The son of David will not come until the kingdom of wicked Rome has spread over the entire world for NINE MONTHS" and then "the remnant of his brothers" – i.e. the brothers of Mashiah, Judah and Benjamin (RaDaK), will return to the Children of Israel – i.e. they will be reconciled with the Ten Tribes" (Yoma 10a). V 3: This verse prophecies the strength and glory of Mashiah that will be manifested through the power of God, and the return of the exiles to the Land of Israel. Vv 4-5: "And THIS will be peace", i.e. this will be genuine peace as opposed to the sham that has gone by the name of "peace" until now. If enemies try to enter the Land, we shall raise against them "seven shepherds and eight princes of men". The rabbis stated that the "seven shepherds" are David in the center with Adam, Seth and Methuselah to his right and Abraham, Jacob and Moses to his left. The "eight princes of men" are Jesse, Saul, Samuel, Amos, Zephaniah, Tzedekiah, Mashiah and Elijah (Succah 52b). Rashi on our present verse states: "I do not know from where they learned this". "Mashiah will save us by destroying the land of Ashur and Babylon with their princes and rulers so that no more enemies shall go out of those lands to enter within our boundaries" (RaDaK). V 6 is a Parshah Pethuhah in itself. This verse is the beginning of the selection from Micah (5:6-6:8) that is read as the Haftara to Parshas Balak in the Book of Numbers. Balak's request to Bilaam to curse Israel is referred to in Micah Ch 6 v 5. "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from HaShem…" The "many peoples" are those who will gather against Jerusalem with Gog and Magog. (Metzudas David, RaDaK). "Israel will be among them like dew from HaShem, for the dew comes from God from heaven, and one who hopes in Him will not put his trust in any man to bring it to him but he will put his hope in HaShem alone since it is He Who causes the dew and rain to fall on the earth. So too in the salvation from the war of Gog and Magog, Israel will not hope in anyone except God, for He is their savior and there is no other savior besides Him, because they will be a small number of people while the nations gathered against them will be very many – who will be able to save them except Him? His salvation will come down to them in the same way that dew comes down upon the ground… and afterwards it will be 'like showers on the grass': just as the showers are more abundant than the dew, so God's goodness to Israel will continue growing" (RaDaK). Vv 7-8 are another Parshah Pethuhah prophesying how in the war of Gog and Magog when the nations will come against Jerusalem, Israel will stand up to them like the lion, king of the animals, and like a young lion among flocks of sheep (RaDaK). "Your hand shall be lifted up against Your adversaries, and Your enemies shall be cut off" (v 8) – "The five fingers of God's right hand are all for the sake of redemption. He will use His whole hand to destroy the children of Esau, who are His adversaries, and to cut off the children of Ishmael, who are His enemies, as it says, Your HAND shall be lifted up against Your adversaries…" (Yalkut Shimoni). Vv 9-14 make up a Parshah Pethuah prophesying how the defeat of the forces of Gog and Magog will come about not through horses and chariots (alluding to help from "allies" like Egypt, Rashi) but through the power of God alone. God will "cut

off the cities of your land and destroy all your fortresses" (v 10) because there will no longer be any need for fortified cities. After the coming of Messiah all the forms of witchcraft, divination and idolatry that used to be practiced will become defunct.

Chapter 6 Chapter 6 opens with a new Parshah Pethuhah (vv 1-8) followed by a Parshah Sethumah (vv 9-16). These are two sections of one prophesy which returns to the theme of God's "argument" against Israel over their ingratitude for His past kindness and mercy. The first section (vv 1-8) evokes God's kindness and forgiving attitude to Israel at the time of their entry into the Land of Israel, explaining that what He wants from the people is not multitudes of animal sacrifices but that man should practice justice and kindness and go modestly with God. The second section (vv 9-16) berates Israel for practicing the very opposite of this through their dishonesty in business and the oppression practiced by the wealthy, and he warns that God will punish them. Chapter 6 v 1: "Arise, contend before the mountains and let the hills hear your voice!" The "mountains" are the patriarchs, the "hills" the matriarchs (Rashi). Vv 2-5 express God's complaint against Israel, pointing to His historical kindnesses to them, for which they have shown nothing but ingratitude. The argument that Israel should have shown more gratitude after God's kindnesses to them is familiar from various passages in Hosea (e.g. ch 3; 7:13 etc.) V 5: "O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised and what Bilaam son of Be'or answered him." Balak wanted Bilaam to divine the moment of God's anger in order to take advantage of it to curse Israel, but Bilaam answered, "How shall I denounce when God has not denounced?" (Numbers 23:8). In other words, God showed complete forbearance to Israel in the wilderness and did not show anger despite their backslidings, bringing them from Shittim (despite their sin there with Pe'or god of the Moabites) to Gilgal, their first encampment after their successful entry into the Land of Israel. V 6-7: The prophet – speaking in the name of all Israel – asks what is the appropriate way to show gratitude to God for his kindnesses: surely not through abundant animal sacrifices (external rituals that do not cause people to improve their actual behavior). V 8: God has already told man what is good and what He wants from him: to practice Justice and Kindness and "to walk modestly with God" (=loving God with all one's heart and soul, which is a matter entrusted to man's heart, RaDaK). Vv 9ff: The prophet calls out to the sinful city rebuking the people for practicing the very opposite of what God asks, exploiting others and acquiring wealth through selling short and other forms of deception and malpractice. They will be punished for this behavior, yet the prophet knows that they will not heed his warnings, "for the statutes of Omri are kept" – they will continue to follow the practices instituted by the kings of Shomron, leading to inevitable doom.

Chapter 7 Vv 1-2: The prophet laments that he was chosen to prophesy in a generation in which no Tzaddikim are left. The "summer fruits" have been "gathered in" – the righteous have left the world. Micah outlived the other members of the "quartet" of

prophets of his time -- Hosea, Amos and Isaiah. He found himself left without companions in a degenerate age when everyone was scheming against everyone else. V 3: The prophet continues his reproof against the people over their moral degeneracy. The leaders demand bribes; the judges are interested not in justice but in pay-offs while the great and powerful – who should have enforced justice – abuse the victims of corruption and injustice, thereby thickening and strengthening the cords of sin (Metzudas David). Vv 4-5: The best of the people are prickly as thorns. It is impossible to trust in anyone. V 6: This verse is cited in Sotah 49b as typifying people's behavior BE-IKVASA D'MESHIHA, in the "footsteps" or threshold of Mashiah". Vv 7-8: In spite of seeing only negativity all around him, the prophet affirms that he will hope in God, confident that the redemption will come. He tells Israel's enemy not to rejoice, for in spite of Israel's fall, she will yet rise up. RaDaK states that this prophecy is addressed to wicked Rome, under whose rule Israel had been in exile for over a thousand years (by RaDaK's time), and who rejoices over her plight thinking her hope is lost. "Yet even though I sit in darkness, God is light to me." Verses 9-13 make up a Parshah Pethuhah prophesying the future redemption that will come when Israel's suffering for her sins is complete. The scales will then be turned against her enemies, who taunted her during the exile but who will be covered with shame in the end. "There shall be a day when they shall come to you from Ashur…" (v 12). The prophet says that while the nations mocked Israel saying that her hoped-for day of redemption would never come, that day is in fact guarded and treasured by God as the day on which their enemies will come to destroy them (Rashi). RaDaK explains that the locations given in v 12 all border on the Land of Israel, "which was [and is] surrounded by evil neighbors who did everything in their power to harm Israel ". On the other hand, Targum Yonasan interprets this verse as prophesying the ingathering of the exiles of Israel from Assyria and all the other lands of their dispersal. Targum renders "from MAZOR" as "from great HORMINI", which is usually identified with Armenia yet which is given in Targum on Jeremiah 51:27 as the Aramaic translation of ASHKENAZ= Germany (see RaDaK on Micah 7:12). V 13: "And the land shall be desolate because of those that dwell in it, for the fruit of their doings." – "This refers to the lands of the nations, who harmed Israel" (RaDaK). Verses 14-20 constitute a Parshah Pethuhah beginning with Micah's prayer to God to guide Israel as a shepherd leading his flock, with the people dwelling in their ancestral pastures throughout Greater Israel just as in the days of their earlier glory. V 15: "As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt I will show you wonders." Here God Himself answers the prophet, promising that the future redemption will be attended my miracles and wonders as striking as those of the Exodus from Egypt.

Vv 16-17: These wonders will be witnessed by the nations who will gather against Jerusalem with Gog and Magog, and they will be ashamed of all the might with which they thought to conquer Jerusalem (RaDaK). Vv 18-20: The prophet returns to praising God over the good destined for Israel. "Who is a God like You, Who pardons iniquity…" According to the strict line of Justice we are not worthy of all that goodness since we are full of sin – but "Who is like God, who forgives sin!" These three closing verses of Micah invoke God's Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which were revealed to Moses at Sinai. While the Thirteen Attributes as revealed to Moses (Exodus 34:6-7) are considered kabbalistically as their "outer vessels", the attributes as invoked by Micah allude to the flow of inner blessing that is drawn down to the lower worlds through these vessels (Zohar, Idra Rabba, Naso 130b). The Thirteen Attributes as invoked by Micah and the corresponding Attributes revealed by Moses are as follows: Micah 18-20: (1) Who is a God like You (2) who pardons iniquity and (3) forgives the transgression (4) of the remnant of his heritage? (5) He does not maintain his anger for ever, (6) because He delights in mercy. (7) He will again have compassion upon us; (8) He will suppress our iniquities. (9) And you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (10) You will show truth to Jacob, (11) love to Abraham, (12) as you have sworn to our fathers (13) from days of old. Exodus 34:6-7: [HaShem HaShem] (1) mighty, (2) merciful (3) and gracious, (4) long- (5) suffering (6) and abundant in love (7) and truth, (8) keeping kindness (9) to thousands, (10) forgiving iniquity (11)and transgression (12) and sin (13) but who will by no means clear the guilty…

Book of Nahum Chapter 1 Nahum the Alkoshi was so called after the name of his town or family. Seder Olam (ch 20) states that Nahum prophesied in the days of Menasheh king of Judah, who was the son of Hezekiah. The commentators suggest that Menasheh's name is not mentioned in the text as he was not a righteous king. Rambam in his introduction to the Mishneh Torah states that Nahum received Torah from the prophet Joel, who had received it from Micah, and that Nahum transmitted the Torah to Habakuk, who gave it over to Tzephaniah, who taught Jeremiah. The main theme of Nahum's prophecy is the overthrow of Nineveh, which was the capital of the empire of Ashur, Assyria. While the earlier kings of Judah and Israel suffered from the incursions of Aram, by the reign of Hezekiah Aram had been eclipsed by Assyria, which became the major "superpower" of the time and which under Sennacherib not only exiled the Ten Tribes but also laid siege to Jerusalem itself, threatening the very Temple, until the miraculous overthrow of his army as described in detail in II Kings chs 18ff. Thereafter Ashur continued to be a major center and Jonah was sent to prophecy against the sinful Nineveh. In the days of King Menasheh, Judea was subject to Assyria and had to pay her taxes, but Nahum prophesied that God would take vengeance and that Nineveh would be overthrown, as happened about a century after his time, when Nebuchadnezzar conquered the city and Babylon took Assyria's place as the major world empire. While the classical commentators explain Nahum's prophecies about the coming doom of Nineveh as referring to its overthrow by Nebuchadnezzar, Targum Yonasan also interprets the same prophecies as alluding to the future destruction at the end of days of all the nations that harmed Israel. As a prophecy of vengeance against her enemies, Nahum's message, although fearsome and doom-laden, is a consolation to Israel. Thus the name Nahum is from the Hebrew root NAHEM meaning to comfort. The form Nahum is adjectival (like BARUCH, RAHUM, HANUN) indicating that the bearer of the name is a source of comfort (just as RAHUM, from RAHEM, to show mercy, applies to He who is the source of all mercy). The opening verses of Nahum, following on as they do in our Bible texts from the closing verses of Micah, continue to describe God's attributes, focusing here on His vengefulness to His enemies (v 2). While verse 3 describes God as "long-suffering" or "slow to anger", it also describes Him as being "great in power". Rashi (ad loc.) explains that God has the power to take vengeance, and if He does not hurry to do so, this is because He is long-suffering – but in any event He will not acquit the wicked. Vv 3-5 evoke the mighty powers of God as manifested in nature in the storm winds that raise clouds of dust, in the drying up of seas and rivers, the destruction of the most fertile of areas and in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In the words of RaDaK (on v 4): "He has the power to overturn nature – all the more so does He have the power to give one nation sway over another so as to destroy it, which is in any case not contrary to nature". Thus the commentators interpret the references

to God's power over the forces of nature as metaphors for His overthrow of the nations. "He rebukes the sea and makes it dry…" (v 4) – "this is a metaphor for the nations, who are compared to water" (Isaiah 17:12; Rashi on Nahum 1:4). "…and He dries up all the rivers" (v 4) – "Here the prophet prophesies that God would make Nebuchadnezzar king in the days of Yeho-yakim and give over Assyria and all the other lands to the sword" (Rashi ad loc.). V 7: "HaShem is good, a stronghold on the day of trouble…" "Even when He exacts punishment from His enemies, His mercy does not move from benefiting those who fear Him, unlike a man of flesh and blood who when occupied with one thing is unable to direct his attention to something else" (Rashi). V 8 prophesies how Nineveh would be completely swept away. Vv 9-11: When Sennacherib laid siege to Jerusalem, his lieutenant Ravshakeh publicly blasphemed (II Kings 18:22ff), as if God had no power against Assyria, but Nahum prophesies that its overthrow will be swift and total. Vv 12-14 make up a Parshah Sethumah emphasizing how complete will be the overthrow of Assyria, to the point that it will never again be able to oppress Israel. "Though they are at peace and likewise many, even so they shall be cut down and it shall pass away…" (v 12). In its simple meaning this verse is saying that even if the Assyrians are all at peace – unified and of one accord – and constitute a great multitude, they shall still be sheared like wool and pass away, never again able to afflict Israel. Rabbinic Midrash turns the whole verse around, darshening homiletically that if a person sees that his livelihood is limited and all the more so if he is "at peace and likewise many" (=wealthy), he should "shear" his possessions and give charity and then he is assured that he will not see the face of hell. "It's like when two sheep have to cross through the water. If one of them has been sheared and the other not, the one that is sheared gets across but not the one that is covered in thick wool, which gets weighed down by the water" (Gittin 7a).

Chapter 2 V 1: Nahum's prophecy of the coming overthrow of Nineveh and Assyria is a consolation to Judah, who suffered greatly because of Sennacherib's overbearing haughtiness and his attempted capture of Jerusalem. "O Judah, celebrate your feasts…" – "You find in every place that Judah is first: when they encamped in the wilderness, Judah was in the east… And when the bringer of good tidings will come, Judah will be given the good news first, as it says, 'O Judah, celebrate your feasts'" (Midrash Tanchuma). V 2: "For the wicked one (MEIPHEETZ) shall no more pass through you, he is utterly cut off." – "This refers to Sennacherib, who scattered (HEIPHEETZ) the Children of Israel in exile" (Rashi, Metzudas David, RaDaK). V 3: The glory of Israel will be restored. Vv 4-6 graphically depict the onslaught of Nebuchadnezzar's warriors and chariots against Nineve. V 7: Nineveh was situated on the banks of the Tigris (Mosul in modern day N. Iraq). Once the gates to the river would be opened, the way into the city would be clear and "the palace was dissolved" (=the king would be terrified, Targum). Verse 8 describes the exile of the queen and her panic-stricken maids.

Vv 9-10 evoke the great power and wealth of Nineveh, all of which would fall to her enemies. Verse 11 evokes the devastation and terror that would come upon her inhabitants. Vv 12: "Where is the den of the lions…?" – "This is a lament over Nineveh whose kings were harsh and strong as lions" (Rashi). The kings of Assyria would go hunting for lions in the hills above the Tigris and took the lion as the symbol of Assyrian power. V 14: "Behold I am against you, says HaShem of Hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke… and the voice of your messengers shall no more be heard". The most notorious of Assyria's "messengers" was the blasphemous Ravshakeh (I Kings 18:28; Isaiah 36:13) but all his vauntings would prove to be empty.

Chapter 3 "Woe to the city of blood…" (v 1). The closing chapter of Nahum makes up one continuous Parshah Pethuhah reproving arrogant Nineveh for the sins that are leading to her doom. "It is full of lies and robbery; the prey does not depart." Nineveh's dominion was founded on deceit and robbery. Vv 2-3 evoke the cruel military power and force with which Assyria asserted her dominion over other peoples in order to build her empire. V 4: "Because of the harlotries of the charming and bewitching harlot…" – "The Assyrians knew how to seduce the hearts of the kings of the earth and join up with them, and in the end they would conquer and subject them" (Rashi). Vv 5-6: God will expose the shame of the harlot. V 7: The downfall of Assyria will be astonishing to the nations, but none will mourn for her because she harmed them all. V 8ff: "Are you better than No-Amon …?" The town of NO is Alexandria in Egypt, which is described as AMON, having the connotation of a foster-parent, as this was the city that fostered and produced the kings of Egypt (Rashi). Nahum was prophesying that Nineveh would meet the same fate as Alexandria, Kush (= Sudan?), Egypt, Phut (= Tunisia or possibly Somalia) and Loob (= Libya): all were exiled by Nebuchadnezzar, and so too would the people of Nineveh be exiled. V 11: "You too shall be drunken …" According to her greatness, Nineveh too shall drink the cup of poison and be hidden from the world as if she never existed (Rashi, Metzudas David). Vv 12-14: Prophesying how the population of Nineveh will fall to their captors like ripe fruits falling from a shaken tree, Nahum warns them to prepare water and build up the fortifications of the city for the coming siege. Verses 15-17 compare the great hosts of Assyria to various species of locusts, which mysteriously fly off and disappear. [According to the tradition that Nahum was the disciple of the prophet Joel, Nahum's metaphorical comparison of the Assyrians to swarms of locusts makes it plausible to interpret the prophecies in Joel 1-2 about the coming plague of locusts as foretelling the onslaught of the swarming nations against Israel in the end of days.]

V 18: "Your shepherds slumber, O king of Ashur…" It is when a country's leadership falls into complacency and "sleep" while the people are bent on the pursuit of leisure that the nation is ripe for God's vengeance to strike. V 19: "All who hear the report about you clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?" The prophet has explained the moral dimensions of God's overthrow of Nineveh and her empire in order to teach mankind a lesson about His way of dealing with the wicked and arrogant powers of the earth.

Book of Habakuk Chapter 1 Our text gives no indication of the identity of Habakuk's father, tribe or city. The Holy Zohar teaches that he was the son of the Shunemite woman born through the blessing of Elisha and later revived by him (II Kings 4:8-37; Zohar I, 7a). He was called Habakuk because "you will embrace (HOBEKETH) a son" (II Kings 4:16). This would place Habakuk in the time of Yehoram son of Ahab. However, Seder Olam states that Habakuk prophesied considerably later, in the time of Menasheh son of Hezekiah. In accordance with this, Rambam (Intro. to Mishneh Torah) states that Habakuk received Torah from the prophet Nahum and was the teacher of Tzephaniah. It could be that the Zohar is hinting at the provenance of Habakuk's soul while Seder Olam is telling us when he lived. HABAKUK'S ARGUMENT WITH GOD "How long shall I cry and You will not hear…?" (v 2). Habakuk was oppressed with the problem of why the wicked prosper while successfully oppressing and inflicting suffering on the righteous. This is a question that continues to vex us until today because it seems like an affront to faith and belief in a just God. Our sages teach that even in the reign of Menasheh, when Ashur was in the ascendant, Habakuk already saw prophetically that Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar would become the world power and treat all the peoples under their dominion with the utmost cruelty, especially Israel, whose Temple they destroyed. "For lo, I am raising up the Chaldees, a bitter and impetuous nation…" (Habakuk 1:6). Just as in recent generations the Holocaust and other evils have baffled even those who want to have faith in God's justice, so too in the time of Habakuk, the prospect of the impending doom that was being prophesied by leading prophets was baffling even to the believers of the generation. As Habakuk says (1:4): "Therefore Torah is slackened' – people see no more point in observance – "and justice does not go out triumphantly, for the wicked man besets the righteous so that justice goes out perverted (ME-UKAL)". Rabbi Nachman of Breslov points out that ME-UKAL is made up of the letters of AMALEK, who led the nations in barbaric attacks on Israel (Likutey Moharan II:5). Just as today, Habakuk's cry is over HAMAS (v 2) – violence, as exemplified in cruel terror attacks on innocent men, women, children and little infants. (It is enough to glance at some of the Tisha Be-Av KINOS, the mournful dirges recited in the synagogue annually on the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple, to get a glimpse of the bloodthirsty, sadistic cruelty of the Chaldean Babylonians as well as Israel's other persecutors through the ages.

Vv 5-9 evoke the specter of the rise of Babylon to world dominion, sweeping through country after country on a rampage of conquest, slaughter, robbery and plunder. V 10: As a world conqueror whose power-crazed arrogance dwarfed even that of Julius Caesar or Napoleon, Nebuchadnezzar would laugh at the many kings and rulers he was to capture. V 11: Seeing his great success, Nebuchadnezzar would be overcome by a spirit of madness that would make him attribute all his success to his false god (Rashi). The picture of Nebuchadnezzar that emerges from Daniel chs 1-4 confirms and complements Habakuk's evocation of the Babylonian ruler. V 12-13: After having described the menacing specter of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans as he saw it in his prophetic vision, Habakuk now defines the issue of faith which this is arousing in him. Granted that God is eternal and that we, the people of Israel shall not die – for we shall never be wiped out – and granted that God has only ordained and established the coming ascendancy of Babylon to judge and punish those who rebel against Him, the question remains: "You are of eyes too pure to behold evil and cannot look upon iniquity. Then why do You look upon them that deal treacherously and hold Your peace when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he?" People are often expressing the same bafflement when they ask where God was during the Holocaust and other evils. V 14: "You make man like the fishes of the sea…" – "Why are men compared to the fishes of the sea? To tell you that just as the fishes of the sea die as soon as they go up onto dry land, so people who separate themselves from the study of Torah and practice of the mitzvos immediately die" (Talmud Avodah Zarah 3b). Vv 15-17 express the conclusion of Habakuk's presentation of the challenge to faith. If the wicked conqueror enjoys such success and prosperity, sacrificing to and worshiping his own net and trap as if they were the gods who bestowed his ascendancy upon him, how will the wicked ever cease from their evil rampages against all the nations?

Chapter 2 "I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say to me and what answer I shall give to those who argue with me" (v 1, see Rashi). As spiritual leader of his people, Habakuk felt obliged to answer those in perplexity, who were raising with him the very arguments he set before God. The rabbis taught that Habakuk, like Choni HaMe-agel after him, traced a circle in the ground and declared that he would not move out of it until he received an answer from God (Ta'anis 23a). Of course only a complete Tzaddik is permitted to do such a thing! Vv 2-3: "And HaShem answered me and said, Write the vision… For there is still a vision for the appointed time…" God's answer was that the ascendancy of Nebuchadnezzar's dynasty would come to an end, and that another prophet would arise who would foretell exactly when this would be (Jeremiah 29:10). RaDaK points out that Daniel also foresaw and lived to witness the fall of Babylon, as well as being the channel of God's chastisement of Nebuchadnezzar over his arrogance. Habakuk's prophecy of how God's righteousness and justice will eventually be vindicated applies not only to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldees but to all the

wicked persecutors of Israel. "For there is still a vision for the appointed time, and it speaks concerning the end, and does not lie: though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not delay" (v 3). Phrases from this verse are included in the Thirteen Principles of Faith # 12: "I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Mashiah, and even though he tarries, even so I will wait every day for his coming." V 4: "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright in him…" Even though the oppressor may remain incorrigibly arrogant, "…the just shall live by his faith". The rabbis said that 613 commandments were given to Moses, King David reduced them to eleven basic principles, Isaiah to six, Micah to three… Amos to one… And Habakuk based them all on one foundation: "The just shall live by his FAITH" (Maccos 23b). Verse 5 begins a new PARSHAH SETHUMAH which amplifies the general answer given to the prophet in vv 2-4 by showing him visions of the downfall of Nebuchadnezzar's dynasty and the taunting parables which the nations will invoke against him. V 5 alludes to the drunken intoxication of Nebuchadnezzar as well as that of his grandson Belshazzar, who drank from the Temple vessels, only to be killed on the same night by Darius the Mede, who conquered Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had a voracious appetite for conquest, but in the end all the nations he conquered would sing dirges over the destruction of his empire. V 6: "Woe to him that increases that which is not his…" In the coming sections (vv 6-20) the word "Woe" (HOY) is repeated five times like a chant in a dirge. Each HOY introduces a new aspect of the reproof against the wicked Babylon (vv 6, 9, 12, 15 and 19). "Woe to him that increases that which is not his" (v 6). This is a reproof that could also justly be directed not only against Babylon but also against former colonial powers like Britain, France, Italy, Holland etc. as well as the neo-colonial powers that still continue to ravage weaker nations and plunder their wealth and resources under the guise of "development programs" and other noble-sounding projects. Vv 7-8: Just as Babylon ravaged other nations, so the time would come when she would be ravaged, "…because of the blood of ADAM (=Israel, Ezekiel 34:31) and the violence done to the land (of Israel), to the city (=Jerusalem) and all its inhabitants" (v 8, see Rashi). Vv 9-11: If a person steals, it is bad for his house and dynasty, for even a stolen brick or wooden beam built into the structure of the house cry out that they were acquired through crime (RaDaK on v 11). Vv 12-14: Building an empire on blood and iniquity are a futile endeavor, for eventually God's glory will be revealed to all the world and everyone will see that His Justice rules (cf. Isaiah 11:9). Vv 15-18: The Talmud relates that Nebuchadnezzar would get the exiled kings he held in captivity in Babylon very drunk and then make sport and sodomize them (Shabbos 149b). This expresses the Babylonian method of pretending to be very friendly and getting their victims to feel so relaxed that they would reveal their most sensitive secrets (cf. II Kings 20:12ff). MIDDAH KE-NEGED MIDDAH, "measure for measure", Babylon's shame would also be revealed in the eyes of all and she too would drink the cup of poison. "Because of the blood of ADAM (=Israel) and the violence done to the land (=of Israel), to the city (=Jerusalem) and all that

dwell therein" (v 18, Rashi ad loc.). Of what use then would be Nebuchadnezzar's idols? Could it be that the bloody carnage in Iraq in recent years, which is still increasing, may not also be an expression of God's vengeance for the crimes of Babylon? "Woe to him that says to the wooden idol, 'Awake!' to the dumb stone, 'Arise!' Can it teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver and there is no breath at all in it. But HaShem is in His holy Temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him" (vv 19-20).

Chapter 3 HABAKUK'S PRAYER "This prayer is constructed in the same way as one of the psalms, and thus the phrase 'upon Shigyonoth' (v 1) is like 'A Shigayon of David' (Psalms 7:1) and the phrase 'To the Menatze'ah ("conductor") on my stringed instruments' (v 19) is like similar phrases in Psalms, and the word Selah (v 9) is also not found anywhere else in the Bible except in this prayer and in the Psalms. The subject of the prayer is the suffering of Israel in this exile. The prayer relates the miracles and mighty deeds performed by God for Israel from the day He redeemed them from Egypt, and the prophet prays and tells prophetically that He will do likewise during this exile and when they go out from the exile and in the war of Gog and Magog" (RaDaK on Habakuk 3:1). "Prior this prayer, earlier in Habakuk's prophecy, he said, 'Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to behold mischief?' (Hab. 1:3). For the prophet saw Hananiyah, Misha-el and Azariah entering the fiery furnace and being saved, and he saw Rabbi Hananiyah ben Teradyon burned in the fire. When he saw this he complained, 'They were righteous and pure and so was he – then why will he be burned while they will be saved?' The Holy One blessed be He then revealed Himself to him, saying 'You are complaining against Me? Is it not written, "A God of truth without iniquity" (Deut. 32:4)? Habakuk immediately said, 'I spoke mistakenly' – 'A prayer of Habakuk the prophet over SHIGYONOS' (from the root SHEGAGAH, an unintentional sin)." (Midrash Shoher Tov 90). In the light of the classical commentaries (Targum Yonasan, Rashi, Metzudas David, RaDaK), it can be seen that Habakuk's prayer contains allusions to the Exodus from Egypt, the Crossing of the Red Sea, the Giving of the Torah, Israel's entry into the Land and the miraculous overthrow of the 7 Canaanite Nations as well as the subsequent Exile, the final Ingathering of the Exiles and the defeat of the forces of Gog and Magog at the gates of Jerusalem. In Diaspora communities where the festival of Shavuos commemorating the Giving of the Torah is celebrated for two days, the Haftara of the second day of the festival is read from Habakuk 2:20-3:19. V 2: "O HaShem, I have heard the report of You …" Rashi explains: "I have heard the report of You from of old – how you always exacted punishment from those who angered You – yet you show patience for this villain (=Nebuchadnezzar, who was to cause Israel so much suffering, as expressed in the previous chapter). Now, during the years of trouble that we are in today, arouse and restore Your earlier work when You exacted punishment from our enemies, and make it known during these years now. And even when you show anger to the wicked, remember to show mercy to Israel."

Vv 3-5: Now the prophet begins to recount God's earlier feats which he previously asked Him to renew. Habakuk starts with the giving of the Torah: "God comes from Teiman and the Holy One from Mount Paran …" Teiman was the firstborn of Eliphaz son of Esau (Gen. 36:11) while Ishmael "dwelled in the wilderness of Paran" (Gen. 21:21). Esau (=Seir) and Ishmael are similarly mentioned in Moses' evocation of God's revelation at Sinai (Deut. 33:3). These verses are the foundation of the Midrash that prior to giving the Torah to Israel, God offered it to the children of Esau and Ishmael but they refused because the Torah forbids bloodshed and robbery etc. on which both live (Avodah Zarah 2b etc.). V 6: "He stands and shakes the earth…" Targum Yonasan and Rashi explain this verse as alluding to the earthshaking ructions with which God punished the sinful generations of the Flood and the Tower of Babel, while Metzudas David and RaDaK explain it as alluding to the way God drove out the Canaanite nations. "His ways (HALICHOS) are as of old (OLAM)" – "These wonders came about because all those who run and govern the world, the angels above and those below, all belong to God to execute His will" (Metzudas David). "For this reason He does with them according to His will – to raise up one and cast down another, to drive out one and give to another their inheritance. It says 'His ways are of old' (HALICHOS OLAM) because the world (OLAM) is governed through the journeying of the spheres, stars and planets" (RaDaK). The phrase HALICHOS OLAM LO is quoted at the end of the daily morning prayers (TANYA D-VEI ELIAHU etc. – learn halachos every day, don't read the word as HALICHOS but as HALOCHOS). V 7: Kushan was one of the first oppressors of Israel in the period of the Judges (Judges 3:8). Targum explains the verse as saying that because of their sins Israel were afflicted with Kushan, but when they repented they were saved from the Midianites by Gideon. V 8 alludes to the miracles of the splitting of the River Jordan when Israel entered the Land and the splitting of the Red Sea. Vv 9-10: God reveals His "bow" in order to fulfill His oath to the patriarchs to benefit the Twelve Tribes in giving them eternal possession of the Land of Israel. He revealed His power through the miracles of Arnon (Numbers 21:13-15) and the splitting of the Jordan. Vv 11-12: God made the sun and the moon stop for Joshua (Josh. 10:13) and performed other miracles to drive out the seven Canaanite nations. V 13: "Just as you went out to save Your people when they entered the land of the seven nations, so You are destined to go forth in the future to save Your anointed Mashiah. Just as you saved them then, so you will take them out of exile and bring them back to their land. Your Mashiah refers to Mashiah ben David. Then you will smash the head of the forces of the wicked Gog…" (RaDaK). Verse 14 begins a new Parshah Pethuhah – the closing section of Habakuk's prayer, which continues until the end of the book. While Rashi interprets v 14 as a reference to the miraculous overthrow of Sennacherib's armies when they came against Jerusalem, RaDaK explains it as further amplification of the destined defeat of the forces of Gog and Magog. "You have pierced with his own shafts the head of his warriors who come out as a storm wind to scatter me" – "With the shafts of Gog himself You shall pierce the head of his warriors, who are called P'RAZAV because they will come in a great multitude spreading out everywhere around Jerusalem (cf. Ezekiel 38:11; Zechariah 2:8),

and God will send tumult among them and they will all take sticks in their hands and smash each others' heads … They will be destroyed just like the Egyptians, who came to consume Israel, the 'poor one', in a place where they thought God does not see" (RaDaK). V 16: "When I heard, my belly (=heart) trembled…" – "The prophet is saying that He heard prophetically of the trouble in which Israel will be placed on the day of Gog's coming…" (RaDaK). "…that I shall rest only to encounter a day of trouble" – "Because I thought I would be able to rest in my Land after having returned there from exile, and now my rest has turned into a day of trouble" (RaDaK). In recent generations, the many Olim to Israel who hoped that their settling in the Land would be for MENUHAH, rest and recreation, have likewise been filled with profound unease to say the least as they come to realize that Israel is now under actual assault from the forces of Gog and Magog in the guise of the "Palestinians", Hezbullah, "Al Qaeda", Iran, the multinational forces of the U.N. etc. etc. etc. V 17: "But the empire of Babylon shall not endure… the kings of Medea will be killed, the warriors of the idolatrous nations will not succeed, Rome will be destroyed…" (Targum Yonasan). The world is currently witnessing the steady destruction of Babylon (= Iraq ), while Medea (= Iran ) would appear to be next in line. "This verse speaks metaphorically of the nations that will gather against Jerusalem with Gog and Magog, saying that they will not succeed but they will be destroyed and any who escape without getting killed will be afflicted with a plague in their limbs etc. (cf. Zechariah 14:12; RaDaK on Habakuk 3:17). V 18: "The prophet says in the name of Israel, When the camp of Gog is destroyed, then I will rejoice in God's salvation." (RaDaK). V 19: "He makes my feet like deers…" "We find here not KA-AYALIM (the masculine form) but KA-AYALOTH (the feminine form). Why? Because the legs of the females are more steady than those of the males!!! KA-AYALOTH – like TWO deers, Deborah and Esther" (Midrash Shoher Tov 22). The redemption comes about through the righteous WOMEN! "To the MENATZE'AH on my stringed instruments" – "I will make pleasant melodies and the MENATZE'AH, the Levite Temple musician, will play the corresponding song on his instruments" (Rashi).

Book of Tzephaniah Chapter 1 The opening verse of the prophecy of Tzephaniah traces his lineage to Hezekiah: according to the biblical commentator Ibn Ezra, this was King Hezekiah of Judah. Tzephaniah received the Torah from Habakuk and was the teacher of Jeremiah. As stated in verse 1, Tzephaniah prophesied in the time of Josiah, who was the last righteous king of Judah a generation before the destruction of the First Temple. Our sages teach that Tzephaniah was a Tzaddik and the son of a Tzaddik (Megillah 15a) and they counted him with eight "princes of men" together with Adam, Jesse, Saul, Samuel, Elijah, Amos and Mashiah (Succah 52a). Prophesying at the same time as Tzephaniah were Jeremiah and Huldah the Prophetess. According to our sages, Tzephaniah prophesied in the synagogues and study halls, Jeremiah in the streets and markets and Huldah to the women. The destruction of the Temple was very imminent and God sent prophets to all the people in the hope that they would repent and avert the decree, but each person went his own way and did not pay attention, and the prophecies of doom were fulfilled. Tzephaniah's prophecies are mainly about "the Day of HaShem" – the harsh Day of Judgment that was coming on account of the people's idolatry and corruption – and Tzephaniah appeals to the people to repent. He also speaks of God's vengeance on the nations surrounding the Land of Israel, and prophesies that a remnant of Israel will finally dwell securely in the Land and God will rejoice in them and all will know and recognize His greatness. Vv 2-3 prophecy the ravage and devastation of the Land, which will affect the people and the very animals, birds and fish (the ecology) as well as the "stumbling blocks" of the wicked" – i.e. their idols (Rashi). Vv 4-6: God's hand is stretched out specifically over Judah and Jerusalem, and specifically over the idols and their priests and ministers, those who worship the heavenly hosts and swear by God but back up their oaths by invoking their "king"=idol (Rashi), and those who have fallen away from God's Torah or who have failed to search Him out. Vv 7-8: "The Day of HaShem is near…" God is preparing a "sacrificial slaughter" and sanctifying the "guests": it is "holy war" (Jihad). This is the punishment of the princes and governing classes "and ALL WHO WEAR FOREIGN APPAREL". [In the early days of the State of Israel, the political leadership went Israeli-style in shirtsleeves and without neckties, but today almost all the males go in the best tailored suits and expensive ties though rarely with any head covering, while female political fashion has become the height of chic.] V 9: "And I will punish all who leap over the threshold…" Yonasan translates this as "all who follow the customs of the Philistines" (see Rashi; cf. I Samuel 5:5). "They fill their masters' house with violence (HAMAS) and deceit".

Vv 10-11: "The sound of crying from the Gate of the Fish… from the Second Gate… from the Hills… from Makhtesh". Rashi brings the simple PSHAT that the Gates are those of the Fish and Fowls in Jerusalem while Makhtesh refers to the Kidron valley east of the Temple Mount, but he also brings the Midrash (from Psikta Rabasi) that the Gate of the Fish is Akko (the port town of Acre, the "key of the Land of Israel"), the "Second Gate" is Lod (which was the second city after Jerusalem and a major center of learning in the time of R. Akiva and is a thriving town until today), "the hills" allude to the town of Tzippori (Sepphoris) in the hills above Tiberias (Megillah 6a), while Makhtesh (=a bowl) refers to Tiberias itself, which is in the "bowl" or "navel" of Israel. All these have historically been locations of strategic importance. V 12-13: From God's "search" through Jerusalem "with lamps" our sages learned out that the search for Chametz (leaven) on the eve of the 14 th of Nissan in preparation for the Pesach festival of redemption must be conducted with a candle (Pesahim 7b). This verse shows that purpose of God's search is to punish the people who are the Chametz of the nation, those who "are settled on their lees [living in tranquility and at ease, like wine on its lees, Metzudas David], who say in their hearts, HaShem does not do good [to the Tzaddikim] or evil [to the wicked, Rashi]". The real Chametz is thus APIKORSUS, the belief that there is no judgment and no Judge. Those who embrace this will be devastated. The positive message of this verse is that just as Chametz is removed but everything that is not Chametz remains, so God will remove the wicked but save the righteous. Vv 14-16: In these verses alone the DAY of HaShem is mentioned EIGHT TIMES besides the four mentions earlier in verses 7, 8, 9 and 10. This emphasizes the imminence of the coming doom. V 17: "And I will bring distress upon ADAM" – "this means Israel, who are called ADAM" (Rashi). There can be no mistaking against whom Tzephaniah's reproof is directed: you and I should take careful note. "They will go like the blind": The apparent blindness on the part of many Jews both in Israel and the Diaspora as to what is going on today in the world around us is also very noteworthy.

Chapter 2 V 1: "Gather yourselves together and assemble together O unfeeling nation…" The rabbis darshened the phrase HITHKOSHESHOO VA-KOSHOO as meaning "search for your own flaws and those of others in order remove them" (Sanhedrin 18a, Rashi, Metzudas David, RaDaK). Targum Yonasan says the nation is "unfeeling" (LONICHSAF) because they do not yearn to return to the Torah. V 2: The prophet calls on the people to repent before the day of doom arrives. V 3: The very essence of repentance is to practice justice and to cultivate humility. "When Rabbi Ami would reach this verse he used to break down in tears: 'Seek out justice, seek out humility…' – and after all this, 'PERHAPS you will be hidden [and not die] on the day of God's anger'!?!" (Hagigah 4b). V 4: "For Gaza shall be forsaken and Ashkelon shall be a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon-day…" It might appear from a simple reading of the text that the abandonment of Gaza etc. takes place on the day of God's anger. Israel's ignominious retreat from Gush Katif (Gaza) and the continuing daily missile bombardment of the Israeli towns of Ashkelon and Ashdod etc. certainly seem indicative of God's anger. However, in biblical times Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron were Philistine towns, and Rashi (on v 4) explains Tzephaniah's prophecy of

their future devastation as a promise to Israel that if they will follow the path of repentance explained in the previous verse, God will punish their wicked neighbors, the Philistines, Ammonites and Moabites, as the coming verses elaborate. It would be very beneficial for present day Israel to imbibe this message. Vv 6-10 thus detail the overthrow of the Philistines, Ammonites and Moabites one after the other, and how the remnant of Israel will take possession of their lands. In the case of the Philistines, the verse states that this will take place "in the EVENING" (v 7). Similarly, the future redemption from the hordes of Gog and Magog is described as taking place "towards the EVENING" (Zechariah 14:7). These verses explain that the nations are punished for their arrogant taunting of Israel and because "they have magnified themselves against their border" (v 8). Metzudas David explains the latter phrase to mean that "they took from the land of Israel to expand and add to their own boundaries". This is exactly what the Arab nations sought to do in 1948, 1967 and 1973 etc. and are still trying to do today – not without the tacit support of the British, who had already subtracted vast chunks of territories from the lands they originally promised in 1917 as the Jewish national homeland and handed them to their Arab protégées. V 11: The destruction of the nations and their gods will bring them to fear HaShem. V 12: The commentators indicate that the KOOSHIM mentioned in this verse (and in Tzephaniah 3:10) as a people who come not from Africa, as many believe, but rather from beyond the rivers of India (the Indus??? see Rashi on this verse and Targum Yonasan on Tzeph. 3:10). This would conform to the opinion in the Talmud that KUSH mentioned in Esther 1:1 was adjacent to India and not in far off Africa (Megillah 11a). It was to Kush that the Ten Tribes were exiled. Vv 13-15: The catalog of nations to be destroyed when God redeems Israel climaxes with Ashur – who took the Ten Tribes into exile – and their capital city of Nineveh.

Chapter 3 V 1: Having suggested to Judah that if the people will repent, God will wreak vengeance on their enemies, the prophet now returns to his reproof against the "filthy polluted oppressing city" – the sinful Jerusalem. Vv 2-4: But the people have not accepted the reproof. The rulers and judges are self-seeking and corrupt; the false prophets are worthless and treacherous while the priests have polluted the sanctuary and violently perverted the Torah. Unfortunately these criticisms hold until today. The latter-day equivalent of the priests who have perverted the Torah would be those "rabbis" of varying complexions who blatantly or subtly corrupt the true message of the Torah. Vv 5-7: Despite the backslidings of the people, God has been just and has done no iniquity. He has repeatedly destroyed great nations hoping that Israel would see and draw out and apply the moral to themselves in order to avoid a similar fate so as not to lose all the goodness God has bestowed upon them, "but they rose early and corrupted all their doings" (v 7). V 8: "Therefore wait for me, says HaShem, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them my indignation, all my fierce anger." RaDaK applies this verse to the war of Gog and Magog, as if God is saying, "Wait until that day, when I will

smelt and purify you, because you will not imbibe the lesson until the day I arise for the prey, the day of the coming of Gog and Magog, against whom I shall come forth to take the prey and plunder them" (RaDaK on v 8). We would be well advised not to wait until then to repent. V 9: "For then I will convert the peoples to a purer language…" – "These are the peoples who will remain after the war of Gog and Magog: I will turn their original language into a pure language, so that they will no longer bring the names of other gods on their lips but all will call on the Name of HaShem" (RaDaK; cf. Zechariah 14:9). V 10: "From beyond the rivers of Kush come my suppliants, the daughter of Putzay…" Targum Yonasan explains that "my suppliants" refers to the exiled Children of Israel, who call on God's name and He answers them, while the "daughter of Putzay" alludes to how Israel were scattered (PATZATZ) in their exile. Vv 11-12: The Day of God will not bring destruction to Israel but rather their cleansing from their previous arrogance so that they will again be fit to celebrate on God's holy mountain – in the Temple. V 13: "The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity…" This famous, beautiful verse expresses the high standards of behavior to which Israel will adhere in the time of the redemption, so that "they shall feed and lie down with none to make them afraid". Vv 14-15 are a short PARSHAH PETHUHAH calling on the redeemed Zion and Israel of the future to rejoice wholeheartedly in God's salvation. Vv 16-17 begin the closing section of Tzephaniah, prophesying the future security that will replace our present fear: God Himself will rejoice. V 18: "Those that were far away from the festive assembly do I gather…" Rashi (ad loc.) explains this to mean that God will destroy those who took themselves away from His appointed seasons and did not keep His Sabbaths and festivals. It follows that one of the main keys to redemption is observance of the Shabbos and festivals. In the words of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, "If only Israel would observe two Shabbosos they would be redeemed immediately" (Shabbos 118b). V 20: "At that time I will bring you in and at that time I will gather you…" This verse is read in the early part of the daily morning service at the climax of the passages accompanying the first recital of the Shema following the BIRKHATH HASHACHAR (morning blessings), prior to the sacrificial readings and P'sukey DeZimra. Metzudas David states that the two expressions "bring you in" and "gather you" refer respectively to the Ten Tribes, who did not return when the Second Temple was built, and to the people of Judah, not all of whom returned at that time. In the final redemption they will all return without exception. This is surely an excellent thought with which to start the prayer service each morning!

Book of Haggai Chapter 1 Haggai was one of the last prophets of Israel. The identity of his father and tribe are unknown, but he was called MALACH HASHEM, God's "emissary" (Haggai 1:13). He was a member of the court of Ezra the Scribe together with Zechariah and numerous other prophets and sages, who are known as the Men of the Great Assembly. Some say that Haggai received Torah from Ezekiel, but Rambam says that he and the other members of Ezra's court received Torah from Baruch ben Neriah, the student of Jeremiah (Mishneh Torah, Introduction). Haggai is said to have been one of the prophets who was with Daniel when he saw his vision of the angel (Daniel 10:7; Sanhedrin 93b). It is also said that the Targum of Yonasan ben Uzziel on the prophets was received from the mouths of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi (Megillah 3a). Verse 1: "In the second year of Darius the king…" This is Darius king of Persia, who ruled after Ahashverosh, who was killed by one of his servants one year after the Purim miracle. According to Midrash Vayikra Rabbah (13) Darius was the son of Queen Esther. He came to the throne in the year 3406 (=354 B.C.E.). Haggai's prophecy in the second year of Darius' reign came eighteen years after the first wave of Jewish exiles had returned from Babylon to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubavel son of She'altiel and Yehoshua ben Yehotzadak the High Priest, as narrated in Ezra ch's 1ff. They initially had the blessing of Cyrus king of Persia to rebuild the Temple and they laid the first foundation of the new House, but Cyrus subsequently retracted his permission. Throughout the 14 year reign of his successor Ahashverosh, the building of the Temple was stalled as a result of the letters of denunciation he received from the Jews' adversaries under the leadership of the sons of Haman. The Purim miracle at the end of the reign of Ahashverosh opened the way for the building of the Second Temple, which was resumed in Darius' second year because of the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah that the time was ripe, as we see in our present text (cf. Ezra 5:1). "…in the sixth month on the first day of the month…" The prophecies contained in the book of Haggai were all delivered in a four month period beginning on 1 st Elul, a most significant date in the Torah calendar as it marks the start of the days of compassion and repentance culminating in the High Holidays. Haggai's prophecies were directed particularly at Zerubavel and Yehoshua the High Priest, who as leaders of the people were being called upon to take the initiative in acting on the divine call to rebuild the Temple. V 2: "This people say, The time has not come for the House of HaShem to be built…" Haggai's prophetic mission came at a time when the returnees from Babylon had fallen into deep despair. From the time of their return to Jerusalem they had been faced with unremitting opposition from their adversaries to any move to build the Temple , and they had all but given up, wondering if it would ever be rebuilt. Instead they put their focus on restoring and rebuilding their land, which had been devastated for over seventy years since the Babylonian conquest. There is a strong resemblance between the feelings of the people of that time and those of many in

Israel today, who after the first exhilaration of the great influx of returnees after almost two thousand years of exile have encountered so many insuperable obstacles to the establishment of a true Torah state that they find it impossible to conceive how the complete redemption of the people in the land will ever be able to take place. Verse 3: God's answer to the people through His prophet is a resounding YES! Now – when everything seems completely hopeless – is precisely the time to rebuild the Temple. "Is it the time for you to dwell in your well-timbered houses whilst this House lies waste?" The same question might well be addressed today to the many whose primary concern is to build and decorate their own magnificent private mansions. Vv 5-6: The people of the time were faced with a phenomenon that is all too familiar today. No matter how much effort they put into their livelihood, they always ended up with pathetically little to show for it. Through the prophet, God asks the people to reflect why this is so. "Consider your ways… You have sown much and bring in little…" (This is the opposite of how it should be: normally one sows a small amount of seed and reaps a large harvest.) "He that earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes." This will certainly resonate with everyone who has to pay income tax, social security, city taxes, health and education bills, water, electricity, gas and an unending list of other expenses. The rabbis explained that the reason for sowing much and harvesting little was because without the Temple the mitzvah of bringing the BIKKURIM ("first fruits") was in abeyance. The reason why people ate but were not satisfied was because there were no MENACHOS ("meal offerings"). The wine did not lift anyone's spirits because the Temple wine libations were defunct, while people's clothes did not provide genuine warmth because the priestly garments were not in use in the Temple (Rashi on v 6). Vv 7ff: In this new Parshah Pethuhah, God challenges the people to ponder deeply the economic and ecological woes that are afflicting them as long as each one runs to his own house while God's House lies in ruins, and to see the turnabout that will take place as soon as they will start rebuilding the Temple. V 8: God tells the people to start gathering the materials for the new Temple "so that I may be glorified" – VE-EKAVDA. In the Hebrew scroll this word is written HASEIR, i.e. lacking the final letter HEH that Hebrew grammar requires for the first person singular. The lack of this HEH (=5) in relation to God's glory in the coming Second Temple was taken to signify the five elements that were present in the First Temple but lacking in the Second: the Ark of the Covenant, the Urim VeThumim (prophetic spirit coming through the High Priest's breastplate), fire from Heaven on the Altar, the Shechinah and Holy Spirit (Yoma 21b; Rashi on v 8). Vv 9-11 depict the lack of blessing in the ecology and the produce of the land as a result of the absence of the Temple. "If the nations of the world knew how much they suffer when Israel sin, they would post two soldiers by the side of each one to guard him from sinning" (Midrash Tanchuma). Unfortunately the nations are mostly unaware of this, and instead vent their frustrations through anger and anti-Semitic outrages against the Jews. V 12: The greatness of Zerubavel and Yehoshua and the remnant of the nation who were with them lay in the fact that they did indeed heed the prophet's reproof and went into action.

V 13: As soon as the people began to stir, God assured them through his "emissary" or "angel", Haggai, that "I am with you". Vv 14: "…and they came and performed work in the House of HaShem…" The commentators explain that this work was in PREPARATION for the building – hewing stones and sawing beams to provide the materials (Rashi; Metzudas David). V 15 opens a new Parshah Pethuhah because a new chapter was starting in the history of the people with the beginning in earnest of preparations for the rebuilding of the Temple. Yet this verse is a continuation of the previous Parshah in the sense that it tells us the day on which these preparations started – on the 24 th Elul, another most significant date in the Torah calendar as it is the anniversary of the beginning of the six days of creation (according to the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, Rosh Hashanah 8a).

Chapter 2 V 1: "In the seventh month on the twenty-first day of the month…" This prophecy came on the seventh day of the festival of Succoth, "Hoshana Rabbah" – one day before the conclusion of the Tishri festival season. Since the actual building of the Temple was set to commence little more than two months later on 24 Kislev (Haggai 2:10), it was necessary to spur the people to throw all their energy and enthusiasm into the preparatory work of assembling the required materials. V 3: Faced with the devastation all around them in the aftermath of the exile and the opposition of the adversaries, the task of restoring anything of the true glory of Solomon's legendary Temple must have seemed completely daunting (cf. Ezra 3:12f). Vv 4-5: God urges the people to keep strong in their faith "according to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt" – this refers to the Torah. If the people were to keep the Torah, seeing as God's spirit was standing in their midst – i.e. in their prophets – they had nothing to fear (Rashi). V 6-7: Since the rise of Assyria, Israel had become accustomed to living under the shadow of colossal empires, but God promises that He will now throw the world into ferment. This is interpreted as a prophecy of the destruction of the Persian empire (which came in the thirty-sixth year of Darius' reign with his defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great), and the overthrow of Greek dominion over the Jews under the Hasmoneans (Rashi on v 6). V 8: "The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine…" – "Rabbi Meir says, A person always teach his son a clean, easy craft and beg mercy from Him to whom and possessions belong, for poverty is not the result of one's profession wealth the result of one's profession by only because of Him to whom belongs, as it says, The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine" (Kiddushin 82b).

should wealth nor is wealth

V 9: "The glory of this latter House shall be greater than that of the former…" Some said that this is because the Second Temple, particularly as embellished by King Herod, was physically grander than the first, while others said that it is because the Second Temple stood for 420 years while the first stood only for 410 years (Bava Basra 3a). "This LATTER House…" Since the building was ready to go up in front of them, it would have been sufficient to refer to it simply as THIS House. The apparently redundant word ACHARON (="latter" or "last"), thus alludes to the Third Temple (may it be built quickly in our times), which will be the greatest of all.

V 10 begins a new Parshah Pethuhah with a new prophecy that was delivered in same year on 24 Kislev. This was when the work on the actual building of Temple began – appropriately this was on the eve of what would later become Festival of Hanukah, the celebration of the re-inauguration of the Temple by Hasmoneans after the overthrow of the Greeks.

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Vv 11-14: Just as the work of physically rebuilding the Temple commenced, it was necessary to show the priests who would be responsible for conducting all the services that they had to have complete mastery of all the complex Torah laws which they involved. God instructed Haggai to "test" the priests in order to show them that they needed to "brush up" on their Mishneh! A full understanding of Haggai's two questions to the priests and the various ways they were interpreted by the commentators requires a detailed knowledge of the laws of TUM'AH and TAHARAH (ritual impurity and purification). Each of the main sources of TUM'AH is called an AV ("father"), such as a dead lizard (SHERETZ), a lump of carrion meat (NEVELAH), spit of a leper (ROK), etc. while something that was originally pure but became defiled by one of the above is known as a VLAD ("child" or "derivative"). The laws of Tum'ah involve a kind of domino effect whereby an AV causes the VLAD it touches to become a RISHON (first degree derivative), while the RISHON causes the food it touches to become a SHENI ("second derivative"). If a SHENI comes in contact with priestly Terumah or sacrificial Kodoshim food, it turns them into a SHELISHI ("third derivative"), which in turn has the power to render Kodoshim (but not Terumah) a REVI'I ("fourth derivative"). Haggai's first question to the priests (v 12) was precisely whether one of the kinds of AV TUM'AH listed above had the power to cause such a domino effect to the fourth degree. His second question (v 13) was about the what domino effect caused by TEMAY NEFESH, i.e. blood, flesh or bones from a dead human body, which is called AVI AVOS HA-TUM'AH ("the father of the fathers of impurity"), because its ritual impurity is so intense that it causes even what it touches to become an AV. What exactly Haggai was asking and whether the priests did or did not know the correct answers are subjects of extensive discussion by the commentators (see Rashi, Metzudas David and RaDaK on these verses). RaDaK concludes his discussion by saying that even if the priests did know the correct answers, the lethargy they had displayed until now in rebuilding the Temple meant that anything they offered on the Altar would be considered ritually impure. This may be seen as a dig at those who are willing to study the Temple laws in great depth but show no enthusiasm about doing anything to actually rebuild it. Vv 15-19: The prophet challenges the people to take careful note of how from the very day that they would start to throw themselves fully into the building of the Temple God would send blessing and prosperity. Vv 20ff are a prophecy addressed to Zerubavel, who was not only the governor of the Persian imperial province of Judea but also heir to the kingship of David, which had very nearly been wiped out completely since two out of the last three kings of Judah had left no heirs – Yeho-yakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled and tortured to death, and Tzidkiyahu, all of whose sons were slaughtered in front of his eyes. The last surviving member of the Davidic dynasty, Yeho-yakim's son, King Yechoniah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile in Babylon prior to the destruction of the Temple, also had no heir and was unlikely to have one since he was cruelly imprisoned in solitary confinement in a deep narrow pit. Eventually Nebuchadnezzar's wife prevailed upon him to agree to let Yechoniah's wife be lowered down by rope into his prison pit cell, but she then discovered that she had

a flow of blood, which meant that relations were forbidden. Yechoniah had been wont to ignore the laws of NIDDAH and ZIVAH when free in Jerusalem prior to his captivity, but, chastened by his sufferings in exile, he had repented and now heroically refused to have relations. His wife was hauled up again and mercifully was allowed to purify herself from her flow, after which she was once again lowered down… And through their coming together standing in this cramped dark pit, the House of David was saved from extinction (Vayikra Rabba 19:6). The child born of that union was She'alti-el, father of Zerubavel. Prior to Yechoniah's repentance, Jeremiah had prophesied that even if he was as close to God as His very signet ring on His right hand, He would cast him away (Jeremiah 22:24). But after his repentance, God restored his seed and promised that He would make Zerubavel "like His signet ring" (which a person normally never removes). "For I have chosen you" – "I have chosen the seed that will issue from you to be King Mashiah!" (Metzudas David).

Book of Zechariah Chapter 1 V 1: "In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius…" Zechariah's first recorded prophecy came in the same period as Haggai was prophesying that the time had come to rebuild the Temple. Haggai had prophesied at the beginning of Elul, the sixth month of that same year, and again on 21 Tishri, the seventh month, telling the people to start preparing building materials. To reinforce the message of restoration and revival, Zechariah prophesied in Heshvan, the eighth month. Haggai then prophesied again on 24 Kislev, when the work of the actual building began, followed by Zechariah two months later on 24 Shevat (Zech. 1:7). "…Zechariah the son of Berechyah the son of Iddo the prophet…" From the fact that the names of Zechariah's father and grandfather are given in the text, it is inferred that they too were prophets. Some identify Iddo with Iddo mentioned in Nehemiah 12:16 as one of the priests, which would mean that Zechariah was the leader of his priestly family. Together with the other Men of the Great Assembly, Zechariah received Torah from Baruch ben Neriyah, the student of Jeremiah (Rambam, Introduction to Mishneh Torah). Zechariah was also called Meshullam since he was complete (SHALEM) in his deeds. The meaning of Zechariah's prophecies is very hidden. Their mysterious imagery bears comparison with the visions of Daniel, for both lived at a time when the power of prophecy was declining owing to the exile, and for this reason they were unable to clarify the full meaning of their visions (Metzudas David on Zech. 1:8). In the words of Rashi: "Zechariah's prophecy is very obscure, for it contains images similar to a dream that should be susceptible to interpretation, but we will not be able to attain the true interpretation until the Righteous Teacher (Mashiah) will come" (Rashi on Zechariah 1:1). The fourteen chapters of Zechariah make up four separate prophecies: (1) Zech. 1:1-6; (2) Zech. 1:7-6:15; (3) Zech. 7:1-11:21; (4) Zech. 12:1-14:21. The themes of his prophecy are the restoration of Jerusalem and the repentance required on the part of the people in order to establish the new Temple; the destiny of the people in the Second Temple era and thereafter until the end of days, the war of Gog and Magog and the final redemption. Vv 2ff: "God was greatly displeased with your fathers…" The prophet opens with reproof, recalling the sins of the fathers of the present generation, which had caused the destruction of the First Temple. His second prophecy (Zech. 1:7ff) alludes to the future history of the Second Temple and the restoration and consolation of Jerusalem, but before he can comfort the people and give them hope, he must first chastise them in order to make them think about God's ways, which are "measure for measure". Before they could embark on the work of building of the new Temple they had to repent and understand that they must not return to the sinful ways of their fathers. Zechariah's message is highly relevant to the many today who have left the path of loose or even non-existent attachment to Judaism with which they were brought up and seek to

embrace the authentic Torah pathway. Vv 5-6: "Your fathers – where are they?" Zechariah asks the people to reflect on what happened to the generation of the destruction. The people could retort that the prophets who had reproved them were also no longer alive (Sanhedrin 105a), but Zechariah points out that nobody can live forever and that all the dire prophecies of destruction had been fulfilled. Verse 7 begins a new prophecy which falls into ten sections running until the end of Chapter 6. V 8: "I saw in the NIGHT…" The fact that the vision of the prophet was "in the night" indicates that the power of prophecy was diminished, for the era of prophecy was coming to an end (Metzudas David). "…and behold a man riding on a red horse…" – "This 'man' was an angel while the RED horse alludes to the fact that retribution would be exacted from the Kasdim (Babylonians) and from Medea and Persia with the sword and with blood, as it says below (v 15), And I will show great anger to the nations that are at ease" (Rashi on v 8). "…and he was standing among the myrtle bushes that were in the glen…" RaDaK (ad loc.) explains that the myrtles, which have a fragrant scent, symbolize Israel, who have the fragrance of the mitzvoth. The man was "standing by them" to help them and take them out of exile, which is the METZULAH ("glen"). "…and behind him were horses, red, faint-colored [or mixed-colored] and white." Metzudas David (on v 11) explains that the horses were sent by God and allude to the world empires. They are symbolized by horses to allude to their great speed and multitude… The red ones allude to Babylon (symbolized in Daniel 2:38 by gold, which is red-colored)… The fainter/mixed-colored horses allude to the two empires of Medea and Persia … while the white ones allude to Greece, perhaps because they customarily wore white garments. In this vision He did not show him the fourth empire – that of Rome – because their rule came only after the destruction of the Second Temple and as yet He had not spoken to him about this; later on, after having spoken to him about it, He also gave him allusions about the fourth empire. Vv 9-11: In answer to the prophet's request for the interpretation of the vision, the angel channeling him prophecy tells him that he will show him its meaning. In verse 10 the angel on the red horse amidst the myrtles begins to give the answer, which is amplified in verse 11. The horses – the empires – have taken over the world and are dwelling in peace [not unlike today, where Europe, America, Russia and China etc. enjoy relative peace while Israel suffers from constant harassment and wars]. V 12: The tranquility of the nations prompts the angel of God speaking in the prophet's mouth to ask why God does not show mercy to Jerusalem: UD MOSAI – "until when???" V 13-17: This cry of pain to God over the suffering of Jerusalem prompts God's reply of comfort and consolation: God promises that He will return to Jerusalem and rebuild His Temple while the nations that live in tranquility will face His anger for having caused Israel unwarranted suffering.

Chapter 2 Verse 1 opens a new section of Zechariah's second prophecy. The four "horns" again symbolize the four main empires that have dominated Israel through history – Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome – just as an animal's horns are emblematic of its power and

pride (Metzudas David; cf. Daniel 7:7 & 11, 8:3ff etc.). Vv 2-4: The four empires come to scatter Judah and treat them without mercy, but the four "craftsmen" (HARASHIM, carpenters, experts at cutting hard wood and tough horn) will exact vengeance from them. Vv 5-8: An angel is coming to measure the city of Jerusalem, as if to indicate the future greatness it will attain. "The Holy One blessed be He wanted to give a measure to Jerusalem… but the ministering angels said, Master of the World, You have created many great cities in Your universe belonging to the nations of the world and you never put limits on their length and breadth. Will You give a measure to Jerusalem, where Your Name dwells, where Your Temple stands and where there are many Tzaddikim??? God immediately said to the angel that was supposed to measure Jerusalem, Run, speak to that lad (=Zechariah) saying ' Jerusalem shall be inhabited like unwalled towns because of the multitude of men and cattle that shall be in it'" (Bava Basra 75b). In our time we are witnesses to the fulfillment of this prophecy. Jerusalem is now the largest and most populous city in Israel and has spread far beyond the old walled city, with extensive beautiful suburbs on the surrounding hills. Animals too can quite literally be found in the city (such as donkeys and horses, not to speak of cats and dogs), or it could be that the reference to "men" and "animals" here is similar to that in Jonah 4:11 as explained there by Rashi (see our commentary on Jonah 3-4). V 9: "For I will be to her, says HaShem, a wall of fire round about…" – "Said the Holy One blessed be He, I must pay for the fire I kindled: I set Zion on fire… and in the future I will build it with fire" (Bava Kama 60b). This verse is quoted in the NAHEM prayer that is recited in the Tisha b'Av Minchah afternoon service. Vv 10-11 call on the exiles of Israel to come home. Vv 12-13: God will take vengeance on the nations, "for he that touches you touches the apple of his eye". Verse 13 introduces a section of Zechariah (from here until ch. 4 v 7) that is familiar as a Haftara read TWICE every year – on the Shabbos of Hanukah and also as the Haftara of Parshas BeHa'aloschah (the third parshah of Numbers, read in mid-summer shortly after the festival of Shavuos). The prophet comforts the people with the promise that many nations will come to recognize God and serve Him and that God will again inherit Judah as His share and restore Israel and Jerusalem. Speedily in our times!!! Amen.

Chapter 3 Verse 1 opens a new section of the lengthy prophecy that began in Zechariah 1:7 about the dawning age of the Second Temple and the coming empires until the end of days. YEHOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST "And He showed me Yehoshua the High Priest…" As High Priest, Yehoshua was the most important mover in the enterprise of building the new Temple second only to Zerubavel the "king". Outwardly there seemed to be reasons to question the ability of either of them to be granted success in this holy venture, but the prophet's vision penetrates beneath the surface appearance. "And the adversary (SATAN) was standing at his right hand to thwart him." The accusing forces had a hold because Yehoshua's sons had taken foreign wives who were unfit to be married to Cohanim (priests), as we learn from Ezra 10:18 (see Rashi on Zechariah 3:1).

The accusation against Yehoshua in the higher world gave force to Sanvalat and the other adversaries in this world who had been working to thwart the rebuilding of the Temple, as described in Ezra (see RaDaK on Zech. 3:1). Verse 2: "And God said to the adversary, God rebukes you…" Because of the great power of this verse to quell the forces of evil, it is customarily recited together with other "verses of mercy" with the "bedside" Shema prior to going to sleep for the night. "Is this not a brand plucked out of the fire?" The Talmud tells that in Babylon Yehoshua had been cast into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar together with two false prophets (Ahab ben Kolayah and Tzidkiyahu ben Maaseyah cf. Jeremiah 29:21), and that although Yehoshua was saved when the other two died, the fire did singe him on account of his sons being married to foreign women (Sanhedrin 93a). Vv 3-4: Yehoshua's dirty clothes are symbolic of the stain caused by his sons' marriages. Yet the angel before whom Yehoshua stood in this celestial judgment told the angels standing before him to remove the dirty clothes (and his sons did divorce their wives and repent, Ezra 10:19), showing that sin can be rectified and that the soiled garments can be replaced with "festive garments" – merits – a very important lesson as the new Temple was about to rise out of the ruins of the first. V 5: "Then I said, Let them put a pure mitre on his head…" The prophet tells us that he prayed for Yehoshua: the mitre on his head alludes to the crown of the priesthood that he attained as an inheritance for his offspring after him since they separated from their foreign wives (Metzudas David). V 7: On the threshold of the Second Temple period, God warns the High Priest to follow sincerely in the pathway of the Torah, promising him that if he does, "I will give you pathways among these standing". Targum renders: "I will revive you at the resurrection of the dead". V 8: "Hear now, Yehoshua… for behold I will bring My servant Tzemach". The root TZAMACH means "sprout". Rashi (ad loc.) interprets this as a promise to magnify Zerubavel, who although heir to the kingship of David was in the eyes of the Persian court merely the governor of Judea, a small figure, but God would give him favor in the eyes of the king so as to be able to rebuild the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. RaDaK (ad loc.) adds that TZEMACH also refers to King Mashiah, and that in addition to the salvation that occurred in the time of Zerubavel, this is a prophecy that God will bring another even greater salvation in the time of Mashiah. RaDaK notes that the tradition that the name of Mashiach is Menachem is based on this verse because the gematria of Menachem is the same as that of Tzemach. V 9: "For behold the stone I have laid before Yehoshua; upon one stone are seven facets." Targum and Rashi interpret the "stone" as referring to the foundation of the Second Temple: this is a prophecy that the Temple was to expand seven times the extent of the existing foundation. Metzudas David (ad loc.) adds that this is also a prophecy that the foundation of the Third Temple has already been laid in the sense that it has already been decreed that it will be built, and that it will be inaugurated by a descendant of Yehoshua the High Priest. "And I will remove the sin of that land in one day" – "On the day they begin to rebuild the Temple blessing will come into the fruits" (Rashi).

Chapter 4 Verse 1 is a continuation of the section Zechariah's lengthy prophecy that started in the

previous chapter. The prophecy now rises to a new level in which the spiritual sources of the power of Zerubavel the "king" and Yehoshua the High Priest are revealed. In Zech. 3:1-10 the angel channeling the prophecy to Zechariah did not speak to him directly but only showed him what was going on in the celestial court. But now "the angel that talked with me CAME BACK", speaking to Zechariah directly and "rousing" him as from a sleep – i.e. bringing him to a new spiritual level. THE GOLDEN MENORAH Verse 2: The seven branched Temple candelabrum as described in detail in Exodus 25:31-40 is the source of spiritual light that emanates to the whole world. In his vision of the Menorah, Zechariah saw above it a bowl (GOULAH="fountain" cf. Joshua 15:19) from which oil was flowing into the seven lamps (i.e. the cups holding the oil and wicks). Each of the lamps was individually supplied with oil from the GOULAH-bowl through seven small channels of its own (Rashi, Metzudas David). The Midrash associates the seven lamps with the seven shepherds of Israel , the seven days of creation and seven very fundamental mitzvoth etc. (Yalkut Shimoni). On the kabbalistic plane they allude to the seven lower Sefiroth, each of which contains aspects of all of the others. Rashi states that this verse alludes to the light that will shine in the future, which will be forty-nine times as great as the light of the creation. V 3: "And there were two olive trees by it…" Only later in the prophecy (vv 11-12) do more details emerge about how oil was produced from these olive trees to fuel the Menorah. Rashi on v 3 explains that just as in an olive press, the many berries from the olive branches mentioned in v 12 were being squeezed by themselves into the golden "spouts" (TZANTROTH) which are mentioned there, and that it was from these spouts that the oil flowed into the GOULAH bowl or fountain which was supplying the pipes leading down into the lamps. V 6: In answer to the prophet's request for an explanation of the vision, the angel tells him that it is a sign to reassure Zerubavel. Just as the olives grew and the oil was produced all by themselves in every respect (with no need for effort or intervention), so the building of the Temple would be completed not through the might and strength of its builders but through God's spirit (Rashi ad loc.) V 7: "Who are you, the great mountain before Zerubavel? Become a plain!" On one level the prophet was addressing Tathnai governor of the Persian provinces west of the Euphrates and the other adversaries of the Jews who had been stalling the building of the Temple, saying that they would not be able to stand before Zerubavel. Metzudas David (ad loc.) states that the "great mountain" refers to Gog king of Magog. "Do you think that you are a great mountain that will stand in front of Mashiach so that he will not be able to get across? It is not so. In the face of Mashiach you will be like a plain that he will cross quite easily – Gog will have no power to hold back Mashiach!" "And he shall produce the headstone of it" – "King Mashiach will bring forth a great stone to place as the foundation of the future Temple" (Metzudas David). Vv 8ff: A new section of this prophecy now elaborates further on the significance of the vision of the Menorah, promising that Zerubavel will succeed in building the new Temple . V 10: "For who has despised the day of small things…" When the foundations of the Second Temple had first been laid, those who remembered the glory of the First Temple were disappointed and discouraged (Ezra 3:12), but they would rejoice when they would see Zerubavel's building arise. For "The eyes of HaShem rove to and fro through the

whole earth" – God sees what humans do not see, and He knows that Zerubavel is fit to build this Temple (Rashi). Vv 11ff: The prophet asks for further explanation of the vision of the Golden Menorah, and specifically about the two olive trees standing by it, since these are the source of the spiritual power emanating from it. The angel answers him that they allude to the Priesthood and the Kingship (the High Priest and the King are both anointed with the anointing oil, which is perfumed olive oil) and these are the foundations of the Temple, as embodied in Yehoshua the High Priest and Zerubavel the "king". They "stand by the Lord of the whole earth" because they are ready to do His will.

Chapter 5 In the previous visions concerning Yehoshua the High Priest and the golden Menorah, the prophet received great lessons about the leaders who were to build the new Temple and the spiritual source of their power. Now, in the vision of the Flying Scroll (Zechariah 5:1-4) and the Eiphah-measure (Zech. 5:5-10) the prophet receives lessons about the social justice that must be the foundation of the new order, because it was theft, deception and oppression that caused the exile. THE FLYING SCROLL Vv 1-2: "And I looked, and behold a flying scroll… its length twenty cubits and its breadth ten cubits." The scroll came forth from the Holy of Holies in the Temple through the entrance of the Temple vestibule (OOLAM) which was ten cubits wide and twenty cubits high. In other words, this moral lesson that theft, deception and false oaths bring punishment in their wake is bound up with the very essence of the Temple concept. The presence of the Holy Temple demands appropriate standards of conduct between men, particularly in their business dealings with one another. This scroll of reproof is the same scroll that the prophet Ezekiel saw (Ezekiel 2:9-10). The sages of the Talmud stated that the entire Torah was written on this scroll. The Hebrew word in verse 2 that is translated as "flying" ('APHAH) also has the connotation of "folded" or doubled over, which means that the surface area of the scroll was in fact twenty by twenty cubits. We learn from verse 3 (MI-ZEH… MI-ZEH…) that it had writing on both sides. If the scroll were sliced into two leaves, the total surface area would come out to be doubled again, i.e. twenty by forty cubits = 800 square cubits. Isaiah 40:12 asks, "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and meted out heaven with the SPAN…?" Since God measures heaven (=the created world) with a span, which is a half cubit, 800 sq. cubits consist of 3,200 square spans. This means that the entire world is only 1/3,200 the expanse of the Torah (Talmud Eiruvin 21a, Rashi on Zech. 5:1). V 3: "Then he said to me, this is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth…" The curse – the punishment for the sins enumerated in this verse – is "going out" over the earth because the scroll was going forth from the Temple. One side (MI-ZEH) of the scroll (one aspect of the reproof) is directed against every thief; the other side (MI-ZEH) is directed against everyone who swears falsely. They are two sides of the same reproof because although theft in itself is less serious than taking God's name in vain through a false oath, theft brings a person to lie and swear falsely (RaDaK on v 2). V 4: "I have taken it forth, says HaShem of hosts…" Previously individuals who stole and swore falsely had not been punished, but now God has drawn forth the reproof in the form of the flying scroll and shown it to the prophet, to indicate that the nation has now been warned and that once their measure is complete they will suffer collectively for

these sins (Rashi on vv 3-4). THE EIPHAH MEASURE The EIPHAH is one of the standard Torah units of measure of weight (cf. Exodus 16:36 etc.). Estimates of the modern equivalent vary between 24.8-43.0 kilograms. The Torah explicitly forbids "double standards": "You shall not have in your house an EIPHAH and an EIPHAH, one big (for measuring what one buys) and one small (for measuring what one sells)" (Deut. 25:14). Vv 5-6: The EIPHAH-measure is going forth to reprove those "whose eyes are in all the land" – who are looking everywhere to see what they can steal and how they can reduce the weight of what they sell while raising the prices. They will be punished "measure for measure". Vv 7ff: "And behold, the leaden cover was lifted and there was a woman sitting in the midst of the EIPHAH…" The wicked woman represents the nation whose people behaved unjustly in business. The woman is now punished by being enclosed in the EIPHAH-measure – she is punished with the very same measure she meted out to others! A heavy lead lid closes her in: this represents the heavy weight of exile that punishes the sinners by keeping them trapped and silenced. RaDaK (on vv 7-8) explains that this woman represents the Ten Tribes, who were all part of one kingdom and went on the same wicked path, as a result of which they were sent into a long exile. [The Talmud in Yoma 69b and Sanhedrin 64a darshens this verse in a radically different way as teaching that in the time of Zechariah the sages sought to eliminate the evil inclination by closing it up in a lead container in order to silence it, until they realized that all desire to procreate would dry up, so instead they released it but blinded its eyes so as to reduce the impulse to worship idols and contravene the incest laws, and indeed these sins were less rampant in the time of the Second Temple than they had been in the time of the First.] Vv 9-11: "And I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold there were two women coming forth, and the wind was in their wings…" Again, these women were coming forth from the Temple to give reproof. RaDaK interprets these two women as representing the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who went into exile in Babylon. Even though by the time of Zechariah's prophecy many of the exiles had returned to Jerusalem with Zerubavel, many others still remained in Babylon. "And they carried the EIPHAH-measure between the earth and the heaven." This is not the same EIPHAH as in verse 8, which was closed in under a heavy lead lid to make it sink into the earth (alluding to the lengthy exile of the Ten Tribes). The EIPHAH of verse 9 borne by the women with wings like a stork's was hanging in mid-air, indicating that the exile of Judah and Benjamin was only temporary until they returned to their land (RaDaK). Nevertheless, as a result of their sins, many still remained in exile in the land of Shin'ar = Babylon (Rashi; Metzudas David).

Chapter 6 THE VISION OF THE FOUR CHARIOTS Following the previous section of this long prophecy evoking the exile of the Ten Tribes to an unknown land and of Judah and Benjamin to Babylon as a result of their sins, the new section (ch 6 vv 1-8) is a vision of four chariots representing the four major powers that

have oppressed and exiled Israel throughout history until today: Babylon, Medea-Persia, Greece and Rome-Ishmael. V 1: The chariots come forth from between two mountains of bronze, symbolizing the great strength of these powers, since they are God's agents (Rashi). V 2: The horses of the first chariot are red, signifying Babylon (cf. Daniel 2:38; gold is red-colored). The horses of the second are black, signifying Medea-Persia, who "blackened the faces of Israel in the days of Haman" (Rashi). V 3: The horses of the third chariot are white, signifying the Greeks, who customarily wore white garments. The horses of the fourth are B'RUDIM, "grizzled" or "blotched" (as if with lumps of white hail, BARAD) and AMUTZIM, "ashen". These signify Ishmael and the Romans, who are from the children of Edom and who rule together with Ishmael. The "blotched" horses allude to Ishmael, for they contain whiteness and radiance since their extraction is from Abraham and they hold to some of his instructions since they are circumcised, while the "ashen" horses allude to the Romans, who burned the Temple and turned it into ashes (Metzudas David). RaDaK, who makes similar identifications to those of Metzudas David, adds that the white blotches signifying Ishmael/Rome indicate that they consider themselves faithful to the Torah of Moses which is white as hail, yet they mix it in with many other beliefs… V 5: "These are the four winds of the heavens…" – "These are the guardian angels of the powers that rule over the four directions of heaven" (Rashi). "They are going forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth" – "They came before Him and He gave them permission to rule" – (Rashi). Verse 6 makes no mention of the chariot with red horses – Babylon – because their rule had already come to an end by the time of Zechariah (Rashi). The black horses – Medea and Persia – went northwards to conquer Babylon. The white horses – Greece – went after them: Alexander of Macedon ( reece ) defeated Darius of Persia. The blotched horses – Ishmael – went and entrenched themselves in the south, which was where Ishmael dwelled (Metzudas David). In verse 7, the ashen horses – Rome – go forth to walk to and fro throughout the earth, "for they rule over the earth with Ishmael" (Metzudas David). V 8: "See, those who go out to the land of the north have relieved My spirit in the land of the north" – God is pleased that Medea-Persia have gone to the north, Babylon, and exacted His vengeance from her (Rashi). CROWNS FOR THE HIGH PRIEST AND KING-MASHIACH Verse 9 begins a new Parshah Sethumah which runs until the end of this chapter (Zech. 6:15), concluding the lengthy prophecy that began in Zechariah 1:7 evoking the era that was beginning with the building of the Second Temple and the powers that would rule the earth thereafter until the end of days. In this closing section of the prophecy Zechariah receives instructions from God to take silver and gold from some of the wealthy returnees to Jerusalem from Babylon in order to make two crowns. One of them is explicitly made to place on the head of Yehoshua son of Yehotzadak, the High Priest, one of the two main leaders and builders of the Temple (v 11). Our text does not state explicitly for whom the second crown is intended, but this may be inferred from verse 12, where Zechariah is instructed to tell Yehoshua about the great destiny of Zerubavel, from whose progeny will come the Mashiach=Tzemach (cf. Zechariah 3:8), who will build the future Temple. Zerubavel himself was never crowned

king, but already on the threshold of the Second Temple era, Zechariah was told to prepare the crown for Mashiach, who will build the Third Temple , which will stand forever (Metzudas David). "…and the counsel of peace shall be between them both…" The Temple will be built when the temporal and spiritual leaders – represented by the king and the priest – will see eye to eye. V 15: "And they that are far off shall come and build…" – "This refers to the future Temple, for then the scattered exiles of Israel (=the Ten Tribes) and Judah will come from far off and build God's Sanctuary, and then you will know that HaShem of Hosts sent me to prophecy these things and that I have not spoken from my own heart… This will come about in your days IF YOU LISTEN TO GOD'S VOICE TO GO IN HIS WAYS!!!" (Metzudas David).

Chapter 7 A HALACHIC QUESTION Vv 1-3: "And it was in the fourth year of King Darius…" With this begins a new prophecy that runs until the end of Chapter 11 and consists of 21 sections or paragraphs of a few verses each. The previous prophecy (Zechariah 1:7-6:15) had come to Zechariah two years earlier in Darius' second year, when the building of the Second Temple was just beginning. Now, nearly two years later, with the building work still in progress, came a new prophecy prompted by a halachic question that had been addressed to the priests of the new Temple and the prophets (=Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi) by leading members of the community of Jews that still remained in exile in Babylon. Since the destruction of the First Temple seventy years earlier they had each year been marking its anniversary on the ninth day of the fifth month (=Av) with the fast of Tisha b'Av, and they wanted to know if they should still continue to do the same now that the Temple was being rebuilt. "For they still did not believe that the building work would succeed because of the adversaries who had succeeded in holding it up for many years, and even though they had now heard that the building work was again in progress, they lacked faith and were unwilling to come up out of exile from Babylon because they did not believe that the Temple would be completed and be able to stand against those adversaries" (RaDaK). Somewhat similarly, many Jews in the Diaspora today also wonder if they should make Aliyah to Eretz Israel considering that the country is beset by enemies from outside and within, and they question whether the steadily increasing ingathering of exiles that has been witnessed over the last few centuries until today is really the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies. Just as such doubts are very discouraging to those who have settled in the national homeland in order to rebuild and restore its glory, so the niggling halachic question about whether it was still necessary to fast on Tisha B'Av was also very discouraging to the brave pioneer returnees from Babylon to Jerusalem who were working hard to rebuild the Temple against fierce opposition from the gentiles all around. Vv 4ff: The prophecy is not even addressed directly to those in the community of Babylon who had put the actual question (who, having remained in exile, were as if excommunicated by God), but rather to "all the people of the Land" (v 5) – i.e. the

inhabitants of Jerusalem, whom it was necessary to encourage in order to rid them of any doubts about the matter (Metzudas David). Before coming to the specific answer to the question (which does not come until ch 8 vv 18-19), the prophet begins with a rebuke designed to show that the question essentially missed the point. The people were asking what they should do on Tisha b'Av as if fasting were a religious duty that somehow benefits God. The prophet tells them that the reason why they had to fast was only in order to repent of their own sins, which had led to the destruction of the First Temple and the exile: fasting in itself was no more pleasing to God than their eating and drinking, which was only for their own pleasure and benefit. [The prophet's answer also contains another implicit rebuke, because the people had only asked whether they should continue fasting on Tisha b'Av, whereas Zechariah (v 5) also adds the fast of seventh month (=Tishri), which was established to commemorate the assassination of the Babylonian-appointed Jewish governor of Judea, Gedaliah son of Ahikam, which spelled the end of the last vestige of Jewish independence there after the destruction of the First Temple. Here Zechariah teaches that the death of a Tzaddik is as disastrous as the destruction of the Temple – Metzudas David.] The real point is not to carry out a ritual fast but rather to be aware of the sins that caused the destruction of the Temple in order to correct them from now on: these were the sins for which all the "first prophets" in the time of the First Temple had reproved the people prior to the destruction. They were the very opposite of the pathway of true justice and kindness to one another that Zechariah beautifully depicts in vv 9-10. Vv 11-14: In order to succeed in building a new Temple that would endure, the people had to take to heart that it was precisely because of the earlier generations' refusal to listen to the voice of the prophets and follow the Torah sincerely that the destruction and exile had come about. The people themselves were responsible for turning the "pleasant land to desolation" (v 14).

Chapter 8 Vv 1ff: Beneath the surface of the halachic enquiry sent by the Diaspora community in Babylon lay an implicit lack of faith in the Temple rebuilding project. The prophetic response is a most emphatic rejection of any notion that God has somehow abandoned Zion and Jerusalem: "I have been zealous for Zion with great zeal…" V 3: "I have returned to Zion and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem …" Zechariah's prophecies of the glory of Jerusalem were addressed to encourage those who were rebuilding the Second Temple. Many aspects of these prophecies were indeed fulfilled for lengthy periods during the Second Temple era, which saw great blessing in the Land (v 12) and many prominent converts to the Torah, such as Queen Helene (Yoma 37a etc. cf. Zech. v 21f). Yet eventually the Second Temple was destroyed, leading to a possible question as to whether Zechariah's prophecies also relate to the Future Temple. As if to answer this, Metzudas David comments on verse 3 that God's promise to return to Zion with the building of the Second Temple was conditional on the people's willingness to heed the message of the prophets (cf. Zech. 6:15) and that if they were to do so, the complete redemption would come about in their days. This implies that each generation has the ability to bring about the complete redemption if they rise to the challenge and repent sufficiently, but if not, the final redemption is deferred, though not forever, and when it comes, all the promises in the prophets will be fulfilled. V 4: "Thus says HaShem of Hosts…" This and similar phrases are repeated again and

again in the coming verses of consolation (6 7 9 11 14 & 17) in order to strengthen the consolation, for no matter what, the promised goodness will come (RaDaK). "Old men and women shall YET AGAIN dwell in the streets of Jerusalem …" – "the phrase YET AGAIN ('OD) emphasizes that the future redemption will indeed come. The old men and women will be in the streets because they will not be homebound on account of weakness (Metzudas David). V 5: "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets." Streets in many present-day neighborhoods of Jerusalem testify to the fulfillment of this prophecy nearly 2,500 years after it was delivered. V 6: "In time to come God will bring the evil inclination and slaughter it in front of the righteous and the wicked. To the righteous it will seem like a tall mountain, while to the wicked it will seem like a thread no wider than a hairsbreadth. The righteous will weep saying: How were we able to conquer such a tall mountain? The wicked will weep asking: Why couldn't we overcome this thread of no more than a hairsbreadth? And the Holy One blessed be He will also be in wonderment with them, as it says, 'If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, it will also be marvelous in My eyes'" (Succah 52a). Vv 9-13: God encourages those building the Temple by pointing to the fact that from the time of the commencement of the work the previous lack of blessing and peace had been reversed, and in future prosperity will reign. Vv 14-17: The prophecy emphasizes that the foundation for success lies in truth between man and man in their mutual dealings: everything depends upon justice. Vv 18-19: The prophecy could only specifically address the Babylonian community's question about whether to continue fasting on Tisha b'Av and the other fast-days commemorating the destruction of the Temple after having first corrected their various misconceptions. The actual answer is a resounding affirmation that with the rebuilding of the Temple, what were once fast-days will turn into festivals. The fast-days enumerated in verse 19 are the four mandatory public fast-days in the Torah calendar besides Yom Kippur. The "fast of the fourth (month)" is 17 th Tammuz commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem and other calamities. That of the fifth month is Tisha b'Av commemorating the actual destruction of the Temple. The fast of the seventh month (3 Tishri) commemorates the assassination of Gedaliah son of Ahikam (II Kings 25:25), while the fast of the tenth (10 Teves) commemorates Nebuchadnezzar's laying siege to Jerusalem. Vv 20-23 prophecy how after the future redemption of Israel many nations will come to seek out HaShem in the Temple in Jerusalem. "And ten men from all the languages of the nations shall take hold and seize the corner of the garment of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you…" (v 23). Since there are seventy nations, the verse teaches that seven hundred men will take hold of each corner, and since there are four corners, each Jew will have 2,800 men hanging onto his Tzitzith! (Talmud Shabbos 32b). This requires merit.

Book of Malachi Chapter 1 Malachi was the last prophet of Israel. His name is from the word MAL'ACH meaning a "messenger" or "angel", and the YUD at the end means that he is "My" (i.e. God's) special messenger. Malachi prophesied at the beginning of the Second Temple period together with Haggai and Zechariah, but unlike in the case of their prophecies, no date is included in that of Malachi. Nor are their any indications in the text about his identity. The opinion of Rav Nachman in the Talmud is that Malachi was a pseudonym for Mordechai (who according to this opinion was called Malachi, "my agent," because he was "second to the king" Esther 10:3). However the opinion of R. Yehoshua ben Korchah is that Malachi was Ezra (Megillah 15a). Targum Yonasan (on Mal. 1:1) likewise identifies Malachi with Ezra, although other sages considered that he was a separate prophet (Megillah ibid.). He was a member of the Great Assembly and came up to Jerusalem from Babylon, where he had learned Torah from Baruch ben Neriyah, the student of Jeremiah (Rambam, Intro. to Mishneh Torah). The identification of Malachi with Ezra seems particularly plausible since the major focuses of Ezra's work included the separation of the returnees from Babylon from their foreign wives and the re-establishment of the priesthood on firm foundations. Both themes figure prominently in the prophecy of Malachi. Yet the fact that his identity and date were perhaps intentionally left obscure gives his message a timelessness that makes it as relevant today as ever, since his was the very last prophetic message to Israel. With Malachi everything has come full circle, because the first prophet who came to reprove Israel after the death of Joshua was also anonymous and was simply called God's MAL'ACH or "messenger" (Judges 2:1) although the sages identified him with Pinchas (Seder Olam 19; Targum Yonasan, Rashi and RaDaK on Judges 2:1). Indeed Ezra was a direct descendant of Pinchas (Ezra 7:5). Malachi 1:1-2:7 was chosen by the sages as Haftara to Parshas Toldos (Genesis 25:19-28:9) which tells of the birth of Jacob and Esau and how Jacob took the birthright and the blessings from his brother. In Malachi's prophecy, God reproves the descendants of Jacob for failing to live up to their mission. V 2-5: "I have loved you, says HaShem, yet you say, How have You loved us…?" The prophet introduces his reproof against Israel with a reminder that God has shown unique love for the descendants of Jacob, giving them preference over those of Esau-Edom, to whom God will never grant lasting ascendancy, because no matter how they may build and rebuild, He will always pull them down. It is a fact that Mt Seir, the region south east of the Dead Sea which God gave as an inheritance to Esau (Deut. 2:5), is today largely barren and unpopulated. V 6: "A son honors his father and a servant his master; if then I am a father, where is My honor, and if I am a master, where is the reverence due to Me…?" Having in the previous verses demonstrated God's fatherly love for the descendants of Jacob,

the prophet now chastises them for failing to respond by showing Him the proper respect and reverence. "…says HaShem of hosts to you, the priests, who despise My Name…" Ostensibly this prophecy is addressed to the COHANIM priests, who officiated in all the sacrificial rituals in the Temple. Yet Malachi's reproof also applies to the entire people, since God's call to Israel was that "you shall be to Me a kingdom of COHANIM" (Exodus 19:6). Vv 7-9: While the prophet's reproof is ostensibly directed against the disparaging way in which the priests conducted the Temple services, offering blemished animals on the altar, we should also take it as a criticism of the way we often offer our prayers today in the Synagogue, speaking casually and absent-mindedly to God in a way in which we would never dare address a high government official whose patronage we require. If this is the way we pray, what kind of an answer can we expect? V 10: The priests considered they deserved a reward for their smallest acts of service in the Temple – opening the doors, kindling the altar fire… Don't many also feel they deserve some kind of "reward" for their prayers and acts of devotion, as if they are doing God a great favor with them? Vv 11-14: "For from the rising of the sun to the place of its going down, My Name is great among the nations, and in every place offerings are burned and presented to My Name…" Throughout the world, from east to west, even the idolaters acknowledge that there is one supreme God over all the powers they worship. This makes our disparaging and blemish-ridden service of God an even greater desecration of His Name since God has revealed His unity, transcendence and immanence to us more than to any other nation. The sages also darshened verse 11, "in every place offerings are burned and presented to My Name", as referring to those Torah scholars who engage in the study of Temple laws even in exile: they elicit God's favor just as if they had actually offered sacrifices (Menachos 110a, Rashi on Mal. 1:11).

Chapter 2 Vv 1-3: Following on directly from the reproof in the previous chapter, Malachi now warns the priests of the curses that will come upon them if they fail to heed his call to serve God with the proper respect. V 3: "…I will spread dung upon your faces…" – "This is addressed to those who abandon the Torah and celebrate every day as a festival… Three days after a person has been laid in the grave his belly bursts and spews out its contents on his face and says, Take what you put inside me" (Shabbos 151b). Vv 4-7 depict the behavior and attitudes that God asks from the priests by evoking the personality of the founding fathers of the priesthood, Aaron and Pinchas, with whom God also established His covenant (Numbers 25:12). "The law of truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and righteousness and turned many away from sin" (v 6). "Rabba bar bar Hannah said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: What does it mean when it says, 'For the priest's lips should guard knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger (MAL'ACH) of HaShem of Hosts'? It means that if the teacher is like an angel of HaShem of hosts, they should seek Torah from his mouth, and if not,

they should not seek Torah from his mouth" (Hagigah 15b). The clear message that cries out from this verse is that it is not sufficient for the Torah scholar to be sharpminded and know a lot. He must LIVE the Torah he teaches! Vv 8-9: If Torah teachers stray from practicing the path they are teaching, they will come to be despised. V 10: "Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each man against his brother by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" (v 10). Taken in its simple, obvious sense, this verse has a message for all of us. The commentators also interpret this verse as an introduction to the second main theme of Malachi's reproof – his criticism of those who had taken foreign wives, particularly those who already had Israelite wives whom they subsequently treated as less than second best. The prophet points out that all the Israelite souls are hewn from one source and are thus brothers, making their sin of taking foreign wives and betraying their Israelite wives even worse (Metzudas David, RaDaK). While all the commentators take the reproofs against intermarriage and marital faithlessness at face value, they can also be seen as reproofs against the people for betraying their own priceless national heritage by dallying with foreign cultures and traditions. Vv 11-12: The penalty for taking foreign wives is that the issue of such marriages will be cut off from the Torah tradition and from the priesthood. V 13 deals with a sin that is considered even more serious than that of those who were unmarried and took foreign wives. This is the sin of those who did so when they already had an Israelite wife, thereby betraying her. "Because the Israelite women became blackened with hunger during the exile and became disgusting in the eyes of their husbands, who would leave them at home like widows in their husbands' lifetimes while treating the foreign woman as the mistress. The Israelite women would come before God's altar crying, asking how they had sinned and what crime their husbands had found in them…" (Rashi). This verse is the source of the tradition that when a husband divorces the wife of his youth, the very altar sheds tears (Sanhedrin 22a). V 15: "And did not he who was one do this even though he had the residue of the spirit? And what did the one seek? The seed of God!" The commentators interpret this somewhat obscure verse as an interchange between the people and the prophet. The people challenge the prophet's warning against taking a second, foreign wife by citing the case of Abraham, who was "one", i.e. unique and alone in his time (cf. Ezekiel 33:24), who took Hagar (who was from Egypt) when already married to Sarah. The prophet answers that Abraham only did so because Sarah was childless and he sought a successor who would teach the world about God (cf. Targum Yonasan, Metzudas David on v 15). V 16: If a person hates his wife he should either come clean with her and divorce her, or else remove the hatred from his heart (cf. Rashi ad loc. & Gittin 90b). V 17 begins a new Parshah Pesuhah which continues without a break until Malachi 3:12. The conventional chapter break after the present verse is artificial and disrupts the continuity of the new section (cf. Metzudas David on Malachi 3:1). With this verse the prophet introduces a new element in his reproof – a criticism of the people who question God's justice when they see the success of the wicked in this world. Either they say that everyone who does evil must be good in God's eyes since He apparently shows them favor, or else they think there is no sense at all in the way the world is run and ask, Where is the God of justice? Such thoughts have

led many to abandon their faith, and we are therefore in great need of Malachi's answer in the closing sections of his prophecy in the coming chapter. * * * The passage in Malachi 1:1-14 and 2:1-7 is read as the Haftara of Parshas Toldos Genesis 25:19-28:9 * * *

Chapter 3 The closing chapter of Malachi gives the prophet's answer to the doubts and questions with which the people "wearied" God as expressed in the last verse of the previous chapter, Malachi 2:17: considering the apparent success of the wicked, either God approves of them or else, where is the God of Justice? (As indicated in the commentary on the previous chapter, the conventional chapter break after Malachi 2:17 violates the continuity of the new Hebrew parshah which begins with that verse and continues until Malachi 3:12.) The book of Job could be described as an "in-depth" analysis of all the issues bound up with the above questions, which are also addressed in the other "wisdom" literature (Psalms and Proverbs) and in certain other biblical passages. But here in Malachi it is the prophetic answer to these questions that is given: in essence, this is that the apparent success of the wicked in this world is only temporary until God's terrible Day of Judgment, when they will be destroyed, while the righteous will be vindicated and rewarded. Chapter 3 verse 1: "Behold I shall send My messenger (MALACHI) and he shall prepare the way before Me…" Rashi (ad loc.) states that God's messenger comes to destroy the wicked, while the "Master Whom you seek" is the God of Justice, and the "messenger (or angel) of the Covenant" comes to avenge the Covenant. Metzudas David (ad loc.) states that the "Master whom you seek" is King Mashiah, while the "angel of the Covenant" is Elijah the prophet, who, like Pinchas (Numbers 25:11), was zealous for God's Covenant (I Kings 19:10 etc.) when the kingdom of Ephraim banned the practice of circumcision. Vv 2-3: "For he will be like a refiner's fire and the washer-man's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…" He who comes to prepare the way for the God of Justice separates out all impurity and removes the stain of the evil doers from the world. "And he will purify the children of Levi…" The ultimate restoration of the Temple as a place of true service of God depends on the purification of the Levites and priests who will minister in it. V 4: "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to HaShem as in the days of old and as in former years." Sifri darshens: "as in the days of old" – as in the days of Moses, "and as in former years" – as in the days of Solomon; Rabbi Judah the Prince says, "as in the days of old" – as in the days of Noah, "and as in former years" – as in the days of Hevel (=Abel), when there was no idolatry in the world. In the end everything will return to its pristine purity. The passage from verse 4 until the end of Malachi, the central theme of which is the future Judgment and Redemption, is read as the Haftara on Shabbos HaGadol, the Shabbos immediately preceding the Pesach festival. V 5: "And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against false swearers and against

those who oppress the hireling in his wages…" – "When Rabbi Yohanan would come to this verse he would weep, saying, Is there any remedy for a servant whose master is coming near to judge him and is quick to bear witness against him? Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai said, Woe to us because the verse equates light sins (holding back a hireling's wages) with the most serious (adultery and sorcery)" (Hagigah 5a; Rashi ad loc.). "For I, HaShem have not changed…" – "Even though I am patient and slow to anger, My original attitude has not changed so as to love evil and hate good" (Rashi). "…and you, children of Jacob, have not been consumed" – "Even though you die in wickedness and I have not exacted punishment from the wicked during their lifetimes, you have not been consumed, and I have left the souls for Me to exact punishment from them in Gehennom" (Rashi). Vv 7ff: God calls for the people to repent in order for Him to return to them. The specific sin that is singled out as requiring the people's repentance is the entire nation's failure to pay their MA'ASER and TERUMAH tithes to the Levites and Priests respectively, whose task is to minister in God's Temple and teach His Torah. The people's failure to pay these tithes is the cause of the curse that is causing agricultural and economic depression, whereas God promises that if they will pay them, "I shall pour you out a blessing until there will not be sufficient room to receive it" (v 11) until Israel will be a "land of delight" (v 12). Providing proper support for the nation's spiritual ministers and teachers is the very key to national prosperity. Vv 13-15: "Your words have been strong against Me…" The people's lack of faith in God's justice, as expressed in Malachi 2:17, is now elaborated. Just as today, many people saw the apparent success of those who acted with brazen impunity and inferred that it was pointless to serve God and observe the Torah code. "They have even tested God and been saved!" V 16: Without responding directly to this lack of faith, God points to those who are God-fearing and who speak differently in quiet conversation with each other, agreeing not to be drawn after the ways of the wicked even though God does not hasten to punish them. "And God listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him…" Not a single good thought, word or deed is ever forgotten. Everything is recorded in God's book, and in the end the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked punished. These quiet, thoughtful private conversations at the "grass roots" level of the nation among the God-fearing are the very key to redemption. V 18: "Then you shall return and see the difference between the righteous and the villain, between the one who serves God and the one that did not serve Him." One cannot make inferences about God's justice from the apparent lack of justice in this world: only on the Day of Judgment will His true justice be fully revealed. V 19 opens a new PARSHAH PESUHAH, and in some Biblical editions this makes up a separate chapter, Malachi 4:1-6. The prophetic reply to people's doubts about God's justice is that they will be answered decisively on the terrible Day of Judgment, when those who were flagrantly evil will be consumed. Vv 20ff: "But to you who fear My name a sun of righteousness shall shine with healing in its wings…" The same day that burns like an oven for the wicked will prove to be a day of healing for the righteous – they will be saved from all evil and will rejoice wholeheartedly (RaDaK).

V 22: "Remember the Torah of Moses My servant…" In his closing words, the last prophet of Israel calls on the people to remember and follow God's law, which is called by the name of Moses because he sacrificed himself totally for the sake of the Torah. The sin of the golden calf and subsequent breaking of the Tablets of the Law, which took place in the Hebrew month of Tammuz, brought forgetfulness into the world. The initial Hebrew letters of the prophet's plea to remember Moses' Torah – ZICHRU TORAS MOSHE – are the same letters that make up the name of the month of TaMuZ! V 23: "Behold I shall send you Elijah the prophet…" – "Rabbi Yehoshua said, I have a tradition from Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai going back to Mt Sinai that Elijah will not come to defile or purify, reject or draw near, but only to reject those who forcibly pushed their way forward and to bring close those who were forcibly pushed away… The sages said, he comes not to reject or draw near but to make peace among them, as it says, And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers" (Eduyos 8:7). Speedily in our days! Amen! * * * Malachi 3:4-24 is read as the Haftara on Shabbos HaGadol, the Shabbos immediately preceding the festival of Pesach * * *

Book of Proverbs Chapter 1 V 1: "Proverbs of Solomon son of David king of Israel." Unlike the prophets of Israel, King Solomon needs no biographical introduction since the outer details of his life and times are described in full in I Kings chs 1-11 and II Chronicles chs 1-9. It is the inner soul and the unfathomable wisdom of Solomon that are revealed in his three works contained in the Kesuvim or holy "writings" – Song of Songs, which he wrote in his youth, Proverbs (MISHLEY), which dates from his maturity, and Koheles (Ecclesiastes), which he composed in his old age. The initial MEM of the opening word of MISHLEY is written large in the Hebrew text to indicate that Solomon fasted 40 days in order to attain Torah wisdom like Moses, who fasted 40 days and nights (Yalkut Shimoni). The English word "proverb" is an attempt to render the Hebrew word MASHAL. The word "proverb" suggests a succinct, pithy and memorable saying that teaches deep wisdom. Much of MISHLEY is indeed made up of such sayings: Proverbs chs 1-9 are a lengthy prologue to the work, while almost all of the rest of the book from chapter 10 onwards is made up of such "proverbs" in the usual English sense of the word. However the Hebrew word MASHAL does not only have the connotation of a "proverb" in this sense but also means a metaphor, graphic likeness or image that facilitates deeper understanding and insight into the NIMSHAL, some subject or concept that is elucidated through being compared to or represented by the metaphoric image. "All his words are similes and metaphors: for example, he compares the Torah to a good wife while idolatry is compared to a harlot" (Rashi on Proverbs 1:1). V 2: "To know wisdom (HOCHMAH) and instruction (MUSSAR) and to apprehend words of understanding (BINAH)". The Spanish rabbi and moralist Rabbenu Yonah of Gerondi (d. 1263), author of the moralistic classic Shaarey Teshuvah, "The Gates of Repentance", explains in his commentary on Proverbs that HOCHMAH, "wisdom", is the defining trait of the righteous Tzaddikim who follow the way of truth, and it is this trait that will be explained in this work. MUSSAR, "instruction" or "reproof" (lit. chastisement) comes to castigate the wicked and explain the loss and damage they cause. BINAH, "understanding", comes when one attains an understanding of the ultimate meaning or intention of something that is said and the thought that lies behind it. V 3: "To RECEIVE the instruction of wisdom…" It is not enough to KNOW wisdom. The point is to receive, accept and APPLY the lesson in practice (Rabbenu Yonah). "…justice (TZEDEK) and judgment (MISHPAT) and equity (MEISHARIM)" – "TZEDEK means going beyond the letter of the law; MISHPAT means judging truthfully following the line of justice; MEISHARIM means knowing how to act rightly and intelligently in those areas where there is no clear legal decision or obligation" (Rabbenu Yonah). Vv 4-5: Application to the pursuit of wisdom will benefit even the simple and foolish, while the wise will gain ever greater wisdom.

V 6: "To understand MASHAL and MELITZAH…" – "When studying each verse, one must pay attention to understanding the two pathways of the MASHAL (here this means the object being elucidated through the metaphor), and the MELITZAH (=the rhetorical phraseology or stylistic device through which it is expressed). It is necessary to understand what it is that is being compared to the metaphorical image used, but one must also not disregard the stylistic device or metaphor itself – this too must be understood. Thus when it says, 'to save you from the strange and alien woman' (Prov. 2:16) this is a metaphor for the idolatrous vanities of Egypt . One must also understand why he used the metaphor of a harlot…" (Rashi). V 7: "The fear of HaShem is the beginning of knowledge…" – "Until this point, Solomon explained his purpose in writing this work. Now the book proper begins" (Rashi). The very foundation of all wisdom and knowledge is to teach oneself to fear God. V 8: "Hear, my son, the instruction of your father…" Rabbenu Yonah explains that success in the service of God is founded on four prerequisites, which are explained one by one in the coming passages. (1) One must chose good guides and teachers and be willing to listen to their reproof (vv 8-9). (2) One must avoid all fellowship with evil people (vv 10-19). (3) One must understand that God requites evil and rewards righteousness and set oneself to fear God (vv 20-33). (4) One must toil and struggle to attain wisdom and avoid all extraneous, empty, alien "wisdom" (Prov. 2:1-22). Vv 10-19 warn against joining those who seek to make great gains at others' expense because they do not understand that they are walking straight into a trap that will destroy them. V 20: "Wisdom cries outside, she utters her voice in the streets…" Wisdom calls to us from everywhere, seeking to draw us near. We must understand that it would be a fatal error to reject the call of wisdom, for those who do "will eat the fruits of their way and be filled with their own devices" (v 31). This is the sage's answer to the very same doubts that the prophet Malachi (ch 3) addressed when he said that although God is long-suffering, He will eventually exact retribution from the wicked, showing that He is the God of true Justice. CHAPTER 2 The moralistic philosophy of Proverbs is rooted in a worldview that sees man as a free agent living in a dangerously deceptive world from which God has purposely obscured the truth in order to make it necessary for man to strive to attain it through toil and effort, thereby earning his reward. Caught in a confusing maze in which the most likely-looking paths turn out to be blind alleys and worse, man desperately needs true guidance, which is precisely what Proverbs offers. In verses 1-4 the voice of wisdom calls to the young, inexperienced "son", appealing to him to heed the message. He must dedicate all his faculties to the pursuit of the right and left columns of the kabbalistic tree – HOCHMAH-wisdom (v 2) and BINAH-understanding (vv 2-3) – in order to attain the center-column attribute of DA'ATH ELOKIM, the "knowledge" of God (v 5). This is more than merely cognitive knowledge: DA'ATH has the connotation of deep attachment. It is necessary to seek out and cultivate these attributes with the same eagerness that people seek out wealth and treasure (v 4). Verses 5ff set forth the benefits conferred by Godly wisdom. "For HaShem gives wisdom; from His mouth is knowledge and understanding" (v 5). The wisdom that

King Solomon urges us to seek is great because it has been given from the mouth of God Himself, and this is why we should strive to acquire it (Rashi on v 5). This wisdom confers protection (v 8) and unlocks the secrets of God's justice (v 9). V 12: Only the wisdom of the Torah can save us the evil path of those who skillfully use language to turn everything around so that truth looks like falsehood and vice versa: "these are the EPIKOURSIM who deceive Israel into abandoning their faith and turn the Torah into something evil" (Rashi ad loc.) V 16: Likewise the Torah saves from the "strange woman, the alien woman who makes her words smooth and slippery". This "strange woman" is the personification of heresy and atheism. "It would make no sense to say that he is merely talking about a literal adulteress, for what kind of praise of the Torah would it be to say here that it saves you from the strange woman but not from any other sin? This must refer to heresy, which causes people to cast off the yoke of all the commandments" (Rashi). V 19: "None who go into her return again, they will not attain the paths of life". Rabbi Nachman explains that it is in the intrinsic nature of the conundrums of heretical philosophy that they can never be resolved, and those who try to unravel them simply get sucked in and sink without ever being able to reach any conclusion (Likutey Moharan Part 1 Torahs 62 & 64). Vv 20-22: The wisdom of the Torah brings a person to keep to the ways of the righteous, who "will dwell in the LAND" (v 22) – "the world to come" (Rashi) – when the wicked are cut off and cast into hell.

Chapter 3 Until this point, King Solomon has explained the four preconditions for true service of God. As discussed in the commentary on Chapter 1, these are (1) choosing good teachers; (2) keeping one's distance from wicked people; (3) attaining fear of God through being aware of the reward for righteousness and the punishment for sin; (4) pursuing true wisdom while eschewing heresy as set forth in Chapter 2. Now, in Chapter 3, King Solomon explains what serving God means and the great blessings of long life and peace that it brings. V 3: "Kindness and truth will not abandon you…" – "He begins by emphasizing the qualities of kindness and truth…Kindness means setting oneself to make every effort to show kindness to people and to benefit them with one's possessions and through physical effort, to make them feel good and to seek out peace, goodness and honor for them while being careful not to harm them whether by deeds or words. With this trait one banishes cruelty, selfishness, hatred, jealousy and pride… Truth means not calling evil good or good evil, not using flattery to ingratiate oneself with people, giving honor to the righteous while despising the wicked and judging people fairly without favoritism…" (Rabbenu Yona). Vv 5ff: Perfect trust in God means that one does not put one's trust in man nor in one's own powers and intelligence. "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" (v 6): this famous verse teaches that the essence of trust in God is to seek Him out in all the different aspects and details of our lives: it is through this interactive "partnership" with God that all our paths become blessed.

Vv 8-10: Service of God not only brings spiritual benefits but actual physical health and material blessings.

Chapter 4 As mentioned in the commentary on Proverbs ch 1, the first nine chapters of the book are a kind of extended prologue consisting of a series of discourses that set forth the wise path in life and exhort us to follow it. Then from chapter 10 onwards, most of the rest of the book is a weave of "proverbs" in the usual English sense of the word – one-sentence sayings of wisdom each of which is a perfectly chiseled epigram. These proverbs are collected one after the other in verse after verse, chapter after chapter, with in many cases no discernible thematic relationship between them. However, in these early chapters of the book, each discourse is a continuous whole in the sense that one verse leads into the next developing the overall theme of the discourse, while a logical thread can be discerned in the sequence of the discourses. These vary in length from a few verses to a whole chapter. They return again and again to the same underlying themes, exploring them in different ways and with different images. This is characteristic of MUSSAR, moralistic teaching, since its purpose is to drum home the message and to reinforce it with constantly renewed encouragement and exhortation. The worldview and spiritual psychology of Proverbs are elaborated and explained at length in Kabbalistic literature as well as in the literature of Rabbinic MUSSAR and HASHKAFAH ("outlook", "worldview"). Proverbs has a unique style of its own, with a distinctive vocabulary and a system of cantillation (trope) that is different from all of the other books of the Bible except Psalms and Job. Even so, the fundamental structure of each verse is the same as it is throughout the Bible. Every verse divides into two parts, with a rest or pause in the middle (ETHNAHTAH). The second part of the verse is normally an expansion or elaboration of the first, or sometimes its antithesis. This fundamental verse structure is an expression of the underlying thought pattern of the Torah, which proceeds from Chochmah (the start, initial statement or "thesis") to Binah (the explanation and elaboration, or sometimes the "antithesis"). Not only does every phrase and verse have its simple meaning, which Biblical translations strive to render; the Hebrew letters and words also carry multiple levels of overtones and allusions as well as mathematical equations and divine names and attributes that no translation can convey. Chapter 4 vv 1-19 are a discourse on the theme of giving honor and devotion to the pursuit of Torah wisdom and keeping away from the path of the wicked which is its negation. This discourse is the third and last in the series that began in the previous chapter devoted to the overall theme of practical service of God, starting with faith and trust (Proverbs 3:1-20) and going on to practical fulfillment of the commandments of the Torah (3:21-35). These three discourses on the service of God came after earlier discourses explaining the four prerequisites for serving God: choosing good teachers (1:8-9), avoiding evil influences (1:10-18), being aware of the reward for righteousness and the punishment for evil (1:20-33) and pursuing wisdom (2:1-22). There the pursuit of wisdom was presented as the prerequisite for serving God, while in the discourse in our present text it is itself an act of service.

Ch 4 v 1: "Hear, you children, the instruction of a father…" The Torah commands each father to teach the Torah diligently to his children (Deut. 5:7) because the entire transmission of the Torah from generation to generation depends on this. Here, we are all the children, while King Solomon acts as the mouthpiece for the loving Father of all of us -- the Holy One, blessed be He (Rashi on Proverbs 4:1). "The prophet prophesies and speaks as the emissary of the Holy One blessed be He, and he acts as His mouth" (Rashi on v 2). V 3: "For I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother…" – "If you say that Solomon hated people because he warns against robbery and sexual immorality, things which people crave, he therefore says, 'I was my father's son, tender and the only one…' to show that his father loved him greatly yet still gave him this reproof, emphasizing that he is warning all of us only out of love" (Rashi on vv 3-4). V 5-7: This loving father now urges us to acquire wisdom and understanding, which are the only truly enduring acquisitions we can gain from this world. Rashi (on v 7) explains that the acquisition of CHOCHMAH-wisdom is the first stage: one must acquire, accept and internalize information from one's teacher. The next stage is then to apply one's own intelligence, BINAH-understanding, in considering and analyzing this information in order to "understand one thing from another". Vv 10ff encourage us to be mindful of the great benefits that accrue from gaining wisdom, including length of days. Wisdom is not a one-time acquisition: gaining wisdom is a pathway (vv 11-12). First and foremost it requires persistence and constant application (v 13). One must therefore be constantly on guard against getting sidetracked onto the pathway of the wicked, which is antithetical to that of wisdom (vv 14-19). Verses 20-27 make up a new section on the theme of ZEHIRUS, "caution". In the words of Rabbenu Yonah: "Our sages said that study brings a person to practice (Kiddushin 40b) and practice brings one to caution. Therefore Solomon started with a section speaking about the pursuit of wisdom, study (2:1-22) and afterwards arranged three sections dealing with practice: (1) faith and trust in God in all areas of life, Proverbs 3:1-20; (2) keeping the commandments of the Torah, 3:21-35; (3) honoring the Torah and those who teach it while distancing oneself from evil companions, 4:1-19. Now he turns to the subject of caution, arranging it in four sections. (1) Caution in keeping the commandments of the Torah, Proverbs 4:2027; (2) Caution in preserving one's fear of heaven intact, 5:1-23; (3) Caution in avoiding monetary loss, 6:1-4; (4) avoiding the opposite of caution, which is laziness and lethargy, 6:5-11. His way in this book is to first teach about every desirable trait and every pathway to reverence, and then afterwards to speak disparagingly about the opposite of the trait in question in order to keep you well away from it." The present section (4:20-27) exhorts us to caution in keeping the positive commandments of the Torah and avoiding infringement of its prohibitions. We are urged to devote all of our faculties to this mission: these verses mention the ears, the eyes, the heart, the mouth, the lips and the legs. Each limb of the body must be directed to the pursuit of the commandments.

Chapter 5 This chapter is a discourse in two parts (vv 1-6 & 7-23) on avoiding the "strange woman", who symbolizes the evil inclination in all aspects and in particular heretical beliefs, which provide a rationalization for everything that is contrary to the Torah.

This "strange woman" is the very opposite of the archetypal God-fearing "Woman of Valor" whose traits are delineated in the closing chapter of Proverbs (ch 31). The "strange woman" is seductive and alluring, holding out the promise of every kind of pleasure and satisfaction through the use of slick, tempting language. "But her end is bitter as wormwood…" (v 4). "Her feet go down to death…" (v 5). This verse teaches that those who fall victim to her seductions will loose the life of this world and the next. The verse is also adduced in the kabbalistic writings as alluding to the way in which lower levels ("feet") of the aspect of the attribute of MALCHUS are clothed in and sustain the realm of evil (SITRA ACHRA=death). Vv 7ff explain the terrible consequences of falling prey to the allure of the "strange woman". Those who do so give all their strength to "others" (v 9) – these are the false gods to whom people devote their lives, while the "cruel one" to whom they give over their precious years is the angel appointed over hell, who punishes them for ever after for having spent their time in vain. All their energy is sapped by strangers and aliens, and all they are left with in the end is the terrible pain of regret and contrition (v 11), asking why they did not listen to their true guides and teachers (vv 12-14). V 15: "Drink waters out of your own cistern…" Rather than turning aside to the "strange woman", one must remain faithful to the source of life that God has given as one's share – the Torah, which is "the wife of your youth" (v 18 see Rashi). This is the true antidote to the seductive heresies and temptations that surround us. The Torah is "a loving hind and a pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy you at all times and be ravished always with her love" (v 19). Vv 11ff: Even when one trusts in God, not everything goes well all the time! When seeking to attain wisdom and serve God, one must understand that suffering is an inevitable part of the pathway, "for HaShem reproves those that He loves…" (v 12). V 12: "For its merchandise is better than merchandise of silver…" – "In every kind of exchange that people make in business, one person takes this and the other person takes that. But when a person says to his friend, You teach me your chapter and I will teach you my chapter, each one of them ends up with both chapters in hand!" (Rashi). Vv 17-18: These very beautiful evocations of the great benefits of Torah wisdom are recited in the synagogue after the public Torah reading as the scroll is returned to the ark. Vv 19-20: "HaShem founded the earth with Wisdom and established the heavens with Understanding; with His Knowledge the depths were split asunder and the clouds drop down the dew." These verses allude to deep kabbalistic secrets of the creation, showing that the wisdom we are exhorted to seek out is the inner wisdom of the Creator Himself. Vv 21ff: "My son, let them not depart from your eyes…" The pursuit of this wisdom requires unremitting application, but this is worth it because of the perfect security and divine protection which it brings. Vv 27ff set forth the principles with which one who would serve God must govern his conduct towards his fellows. "For the crooked person is an abomination to God, but His secret is with the righteous" (v 32). God deals with all MIDDAH KE-NEGED MIDDAH, "measure for measure".

Chapter 6 Our chapter is made up of three sections each warning against a specific type of flaw or evil, followed by another section listing some of the worst offenses in God's eyes and then a discourse on the Torah as the general remedy against the "woman of evil" who tempts man to sin. Vv 1-5: "My son, if you are guarantor for your friend, if you have struck your palms for the stranger…" On the simple level this section gives advice to one who has already borrowed from someone or entered into some financial obligation, telling him not to rest until he has paid what he owes. On the allegorical level, Rashi explains that at Sinai every Israelite became a "guarantor" for the "friend" =God, and is therefore under an obligation to keep the Torah. After receiving the Torah it is a most serious offence to have "struck your palms" (=shaken hands) with "the stranger", i.e. to backslide and turn from His ways and attach oneself to the heretics to go in their ways. The advice is to humble oneself before Him like a doorstep (that everyone treads on) and to send many "friends" (advocates) to pray to and placate Him on our behalf. Just as one puts oneself in a dangerous position on the material plane if one fails to repay one's debts (in accordance with the MASHAL, simile/metaphor of having borrowed), so one stands to loose greatly on the spiritual plane if one does not repent of one's sins after having been chosen by God to receive the Torah (this is the NIMSHAL, the subject of the comparison). In this case the evil has already been done – the situation is BEDI-AVAD, "after the event" – but it is still possible to repair. One must do so swiftly. As to not shaking hands with and entering into a commitment to "the stranger", the Chassidim say that there is only one promise that it is permitted and indeed imperative to break, and that is a promise one has made to one's evil inclination to do something wrong! Vv 6-11: "Go to the ant, you sluggard…" Here King Solomon develops the counsel of alacrity with which the previous section ended, preaching against another evil – that of laziness, inertia and apathy, which can cause a person to loose all the great riches he stands to gain from serving God in this world. The Midrash brings a beautiful story about how King Solomon went traveling with his entourage on a flying carpet and, on landing, squashed many ants. Bending down to listen to the queen of the ants' complaint, the king was deeply chastised on hearing that everything in creation has something teach us, including even the humble little ant. Vv 12-15: The concept of the "base" man – ADAM BELIYA'AL – is just about the worst in the moralistic vocabulary of the Torah (Deut. 13:14, I Samuel 25:25, I Kings 21:13 etc.). Here it is applied to the person who speaks evil, LASHON HARA, about others, both with his mouth and through the hints he makes with his eyes, feet, fingers, etc., thereby sowing discord among people. Rashi (on vv 13-14) explains that this section is also speaking about the heretics who seduce people into idolatry, thereby sowing discord between man and his Creator. Vv 16-19: "There are six things which HaShem hates and seven which are an abomination to Him…" Rashi (on v 16) explains that the "seven" is the seventh abomination. The written text (KSIV) says TO'AVOS in the plural but the prescribed reading (KRI) is TO'AVAS, which is the singular possessive, the "abomination of His soul". This implies that the seventh is as bad as all the first six together. The six are (1) high eyes – pride; (2) a tongue of falsehood; (3) hands that shed innocent blood; (4) a heart that dwells on thoughts of criminality; (5) legs that run to do

evil; (6) a false witness. The seventh, which is as bad as all of them put together, is one who sows discord between brothers through evil speech. Vv 20-26: These verses teach that steadfast devotion to Torah and its commandments is the general remedy against all evil, and particularly against the "woman of evil", who is the worst enemy of the soul. Rashi (on v 24) emphasizes that this can only be interpreted allegorically as referring to heresy and idolatry. Among these beautiful verses containing King Solomon's praises of the Torah are some that are very famous and widely quoted in Torah literature. V 22 is darshened in Pirkey Avot 6:10 as alluding to how the Torah protects one even in the grave and when one wakes up in the world to come. Vv 27ff: "Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?" The sin of going with the wife of a friend (v 28) is taken literally by Rashi and also as an allusion to going after idolatry, which is set apart for heathens and not for you (see Rashi ad loc.). Adultery/idolatry is much worse than stealing, which a person resorts to because he is hungry. Even so, he has to pay back heavily: how much more will the idolater/adulterer have to pay a heavy penalty for a sin which there was no need to commit.

Chapter 7 Again King Solomon urges us to bind and attach ourselves to the Torah, and to make Torah CHOCHMAH-wisdom and BINAH-understanding integral parts of our lives, as familiar to us as our closest relatives and dearest friends. The Torah is the only true protection against the allurements of the "strange woman", which are the main subject of this chapter. "For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice…" The wise Solomon looks out at the world and tells us what he sees: "And I saw among the simple ones (PETHA'IM), I discerned among the youths, a young man (NA'AR) void of understanding…" (v 7). It is mainly to the PETHI, "naïve, gullible" and the NA'AR, lit. "youth" that Solomon's MUSSAR, moralistic reproof, is addressed. This is because the villain (EVEEL, KH'SEEL, BELIYA'AL etc.) and the scoffer (LEITZ) are normally so bent on their evil that their ears are closed to reproof. The PETHI and NA'AR on the other hand are still innocent – too innocent, because they are inexperienced and easily seduced. They do not understand that the smiling face of evil is a deceptive front concealing its real essence and the long term destruction it brings. Vv 19-20: "For the man is not in his house, he has gone on a long journey; he has taken a bag of money with him…" Rashi says that the husband not being in the house alludes to how the Holy One blessed be He has withdrawn his Indwelling Presence (through the destruction of the Temple and Israel's exile) and has given all the good (of this world) to the nations. Rashi says that the "bag of money" he has taken refers to the good people whose lives He has taken. In the light of Rashi's explanations, we can understand better how the evil inclination needles the exiled Israelites to turn astray from the Torah when they see the great material success of the nations in a world where the Shechinah is concealed and where innocent people apparently suffer and die.

Vv 22f: Bitter is the end of anyone who goes after the "strange woman", and this is why the "children" should listen to the warnings of the loving Father not to go after her. V 26: "For she has cast down many wounded, and many strong men have been slain by her." In case some women take offense because the evil inclination is repeatedly personified as a "strange WOMAN", let it be noted that the Talmud clearly and explicitly darshens this verse as referring to MALE Torah scholars who are not fit to teach and rule yet still tell people what to do, thereby killing them spiritually (Sotah 22b). May the Almighty lovingly guide us to the true Tzaddik so that we will not go astray!

Chapter 8 Following the vivid depiction in Chapter 7 of the allurements of the "strange woman" and the long-term havoc and destruction she wreaks, Chapters 8 and 9 round off the long "prologue" of the Book of Proverbs with a progression of four sections in praise of Torah wisdom: Proverbs 8:1-21; 8:22-31; 8:32-36 and 9:1-18. Chapter 8, v 1: "Does not wisdom call and understanding put forth her voice…" God has created this world of trial in which we live as a mixture of good and evil, and He has given us the freedom to choose between them. While the "strange woman" accosts us at every turn with her allurements, as we learned in the previous chapter, true Torah wisdom also "stands at the top of the high places by the way" and "cries out at the gates…" If only we were to open our eyes, we would see that God's Torah also calls to us from every direction and out of every situation in which we find ourselves in life – except that most people are deceived by the superficial appearance of this world and fail to penetrate to the truth that underlies it. V 4: "To you O men, I call…" The wisdom of the Torah beckons to each and every one of us to draw closer. V 5: "O you simple (PETHA'IM), understand prudence, and, you fools (KHESSEELIM), be of an understanding heart". The PETHI is the simple gullible person who is open to the allure of evil because he is inexperienced and knows no better. The KHESSEEL is one who has already succumbed to the desires of his heart. Wisdom calls out to both categories, because both can be redeemed – as opposed to the scoffer (LEITZ), on whom reproof is wasted (see below, 9:7-8). Vv 10-11: "Receive My instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies…" Even those who have material wealth often do not enjoy it, and they certainly cannot take it with them when they leave this world. But Torah wisdom is a treasure of inestimable value since it not only benefits those who gain it in this world but also accompanies and sustains them in the world to come. V 12: "I am wisdom, I dwell with prudence…" – "once a person has learned Torah, prudence enters into him in ever matter" (Rashi). V 15: "Through me kings reign and princes decree justice…" Torah wisdom is the foundation of good government, if only the rulers would follow it! V 17: "I love those who love me and those who seek me early shall find me". The Hebrew word for "shall find me" is YIMTZA-OON'NEE. It is written with an extra

letter Nun (which has the mathematical value of 50) to indicate that those who seek Torah wisdom can attain the 50 Gates of Understanding (Rashi). V 21: "That I may cause those who love me to inherit substance…" The Hebrew word rendered as "substance" is YESH, meaning that which exists. YESH consists of a Yud (=10) and a Shin (=300). Based on this verse, the sages teach that "God will give each and every Tzaddik 310 worlds" (Sanhedrin 100a). This verse concludes the discourse that began in 8:1 speaking about the benefits that Torah wisdom confers. Verse 22 opens a new section (PARSHAH PESUHAH) in which the Torah herself speaks to us directly in order to explain her position of supreme importance in the scheme of God's creation. "HaShem created me as the beginning of His way…"Seven things were created before the world was created: the Torah, Teshuvah (Repentance), the Garden of Eden, Gehennom (Hell), the Throne of Glory, the Holy Temple and the name of Mashiah" (Pesachim 54a). V 30: "Then I was by him as a nurseling (AMON)…" The surface meaning is that even before creation, the Torah was, as it were, God's favorite child. The Hebrew text alludes to the level of KETER, the Crown, because the Hebrew for "I was" is EKYEH, the divine name associated with KETER (cf. Exodus 3:14). AMON has exactly the same Hebrew letters as OOMAN, a "craftsman". Thus the Midrash teaches: "The Torah here says, I was the craftsman's tool of the Holy One blessed be He. Normally in this world when a king of flesh and blood builds a palace, he does not build it out of his head but consults a craftsman (OOMAN), and even the craftsman does not build it out of his head. He uses plans and diagrams in order to know exactly how to make all the rooms and corridors… So too the Holy One blessed be He looked into the Torah and created the world…" (Bereishis Rabbah 1). Based on our verse, this Midrash is the source of the idea that the Torah is the "blueprint" of creation. Verse 32: "And now, children, listen to me, for happy are those who keep my ways". The logical conclusion arising out of the preceding sections explaining the benefits of Torah wisdom and its august place in the scheme of creation is that we should heed the call of wisdom and do everything in our power to acquire it. V 34: "Happy is the man who listens to me, waiting daily at my gates…" The key to acquiring this most precious acquisition is to set aside regular study time every day. It is certainly worth it, "for he who finds me has found LIFE!!!"

Chapter 9 In parallel with the "strange woman", who has readied and bedecked her home and prepared a feast of love for those she seeks to entice (chapter 7 vv 14-18), Torah wisdom has also "built her house" and prepared a feast of "meat" and "wine" for those who have the good sense to go into her (chapter 9 vv 1ff). V 1: "Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars…" The Talmud (Shabbos 115a) identifies these seven pillars with the 7 days of creation (= the seven lower sefirot, which all emanate from HOCHMAH-wisdom). The Talmud (ibid.) also identifies them with the seven books of the Torah (the book of Numbers is considered to consist of 3 books, because the two verses in Numbers 10:35-36 are considered as a whole book in itself dividing what proceeds from what follows).

Another interesting midrash from Yalkut Shimoni on this and the following verse darshens them as alluding to the War of Gog and Magog: "her house" is the Holy Temple; the "seven pillars" allude to the seven year duration of this war; the meat and the wine (v 2) allude to the "meat of the warriors and blood of the princes of the earth" that Israel will then consume (Ezekiel 39:18), while the "maiden" whom wisdom sends out to invite everyone to the feast (v 3) is Ezekiel, whose prophecy about the War of Gog and Magog is more detailed than those of the other prophets. V 3: "She has sent forth her maidens…" – "Adam and Eve; another explanation: Moses and Aaron" (Rashi). Wisdom speaks to us in many ways, calling and appealing to us to heed her message. Vv 4ff: "Whoever is simple (PETHI), let him turn in here…" As discussed earlier, the wisdom of the Torah is a lifeline for the innocent and gullible. V 7: "He who reproves a scorner brings shame on himself… Do not reprove a scorner lest he will hate you…" It is futile to try to reprove the wicked and the scoffers, because they are set in their ways and not only will they not listen; they are also likely to turn on the one offering the reproof and tell him that he too is blemished. "This is a warning that it is forbidden to speak to those who seduce others from the straight path, not even to reprove them or to try to bring them to the Torah" (Rashi). Vv 13ff: The lengthy "prologue" to Solomon's collected one-verse proverbs (which begin in chapter 10) ends with a final warning about the Woman of Folly, who also sits in a most prominent position in town seeking to entice the same simple, innocent gullible passers-by to whom true Torah wisdom seeks to throw a lifeline. "Stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant" (v 17) – "the taste of relations with an unmarried girl is not the same as the taste of another man's wife" (Rashi). What the simple fool does not realize is that "the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell" (v 18). May God help us to come to our senses and realize where we are in this world!

Chapters 10-11 "The proverbs of Solomon…" (Chapter 10, v 1). From here until the end of the book, the greater part of the text consists of one-verse proverbs or at times short series of verses elaborating on a single idea. Sometimes an overall theme can be discerned in consecutive proverbs, yet often there is no specific relationship between one proverb and the next: each is a jewel in itself. We have no information about how or why these proverbs were arranged as they are, but a very interesting clue as to how they have come down to us in their present form is contained much later in the book in Proverbs 25:1: "THESE ALSO are the proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied (HE'TEEKOO)." This verse introduces another seven chapters of proverbs. Metzudas David comments on the above-quoted verse: "It would appear that the material from the beginning of the book until this point [i.e. until ch 25] was copied over and available in everyone's hands, whereas from this point until the end of the book the only copies were in the hands of Hezekiah's officers, who copied these words from scrolls of Solomon that were available to them. This is why the text says 'these ALSO are Solomon's proverbs' i.e. even though they were not available to everyone, nevertheless these too are his words which Hezekiah's officers copied, and they can be trusted as to the fact that these words came from the mouth of

Solomon." [Hezekiah became king 13 generations or 235 years after the death of King Solomon.] About a century and a half ago it became fashionable for a certain breed of Biblical "scholars" who in rebellion against traditional rabbinic explanations of the Bible to indulge in what they called "Biblical criticism" in which they tried to cast aspersions on the divine origins of the Bible (and, by implication, on its binding nature) by claiming that different parts of various books were written by different human authors and later redacted into their present form. However, nowhere in any of the classical rabbinic commentators is there the faintest hint that the authors of the Biblical books were anyone other than as stated in the text in each case or as handed down in rabbinic tradition, and there is no reason whatever to distort the literal meaning of the text or, for example, to take the above-quoted verse as explained by Metzudas David in any other way except literally. Rashi on the above-quoted verse in Proverbs 25:1 comments that the word HE'ETEEKOO, rendered as "copied", also has the connotation of "they STRENGTHENED", noting that when Hezekiah became king [after a lengthy period of rebellion against the Torah under previous kings] he established centers for students in every city until eventually a check was made from Dan to Beersheva and not a single ignoramus was found (Sanhedrin 94b). It would make perfect sense that a highly innovative revivalist Torah leader like Hezekiah would reveal new materials that had previously been handed down only among the inner circle of the House of David, in order to strengthen Torah observance in his kingdom. We may infer that the redaction of Proverbs took place in two stages: the greater part of Solomon's proverbs were arranged in his lifetime, presumably at his behest, and copied by scribes for circulation among the people, while later on in the time of Hezekiah, supplementary materials were added from private royal manuscripts thereby giving the work the form in which we have it today. How should we study this treasury of wise epigrams and aphorisms? In the absence of a continuous "story-line" it can be hard to take in, absorb and internalize verse after verse of such wisdom. It is somewhat like touring a vast museum of dazzling treasures: even with the best will in the world, one's eyes are likely to glaze over after a time. Moreover, practically every single verse is accompanied by an enormous wealth of rabbinic midrash, commentary and explanation dating from Mishnaic and Talmudic times until the present day. Each verse of Proverbs provides topics for lengthy consideration, discussion and debate, and may be susceptible to interpretations that go in radically different directions. Each of the four standard levels of Biblical interpretation (PaRDeS) can certainly be applied to Proverbs: (1) PSHAT, the "simple" or "literal" meaning; (2) REMEZ, the "allusions" to various Torah ideas, historical events, etc.; (3) DRASH, the teachings that are derived from the verse through the hermeneutical methods of Torah interpretation (such as the 13 Rules of R. Ishmael or the 32 Rules of Rabbi Eliezer son of R. Yose HaGlili as printed at the end of full editions of Talmud Bavli Brachos); (4) SOD, the "secret", "mystical" or "esoteric" dimension of the words, which consist of divine names and numerical formulae, etc. – for the entire Bible was written through prophecy and holy spirit. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that in studying any part of the Torah, the essence of the mitzvah is simply to read the words in order one after the other trying to gain a general understanding without seeking to master every last detail. He also taught that wherever one is studying in the Torah, one's primary purpose should be to derive practical guidance in order to improve one's character and

behavior. Thus he taught that one should always try to find oneself in each text – to see how it relates to one's own issues and concerns. Precisely because of the tremendous wealth of wisdom collected in Solomon's proverbs, one must expect that it cannot all be assimilated at one time. At different junctures in life, different sections, verses and phrases will become more meaningful. It often happens that a certain phrase or idea may seem very strange and incomprehensible, until life brings one to a certain point where suddenly its truth shines out in a flash of illumination. In order to prepare for such moments, we would do well to learn a lesson from the humble ant, who spends the entire summer working hard dragging heavy grains for storage until the winter, when she can relax, eat and enjoy the fruits of her labors (see Proverbs 6:8). Almost all the proverbs in our present text, Chapters 10 and 11 consist of a single verse devoted to one idea, the first half of the verse stating a thesis and the second half its antithesis. The mode of thought is that of oscillation between holistic HOCHMAH-wisdom and analytic BINAH-understanding. It is precisely the contrast between the thesis and antithesis that throws light on the meaning of each one, thereby generating the synthesis – DA'AS, "knowledge", "comprehension". The overall theme of the proverbs in chapters 10 and 11 is the contrast between the character, attitudes and behavior of the Tzaddik (the righteous person) and those of the Rasha (the wicked villain) and their respective destinies in God's order of Justice, where goodness is rewarded in the world to come while evil is punished in Gehennom. The mind of the Tzaddik is characterized by the qualities of HOCHMAH ("wisdom"), BINAH and TEVUNAH (different aspects of "understanding") while the Rasha is KHESEEL and EVEEL, both of which mean "foolish", lacking in DA'AS. The Tzaddik is generous and forgiving, while the Rasha is mean and selfish. The Tzaddik blesses; the Rasha curses, insults and disparages. The Tzaddik is straight and honest; the Rasha is deceptive and treacherous. The Tzaddik is pure and sincere, the Rasha stubborn and crooked. In accordance with their respective characters and behavior, the Tzaddik is rewarded with long life and wealth in the world of Truth, while the Rasha faces bitterness, disaster and death when the bubble bursts and the emptiness of his fantasies is revealed. Ch 11 v 31: "Indeed, the Tzaddik is recompensed on earth…" – "even the Tzaddik pays the price in this world for a sin he commits" (Rashi) – "…how much more so the wicked and the sinner!" – "Then why should the wicked man trust that all will be well for him just because he is successful for the moment? If even the Tzaddik is punished, how much more so will the wicked man be punished either in his lifetime or when he dies" (Rashi).

Chapter 12 Each of the proverbs in these chapters stands independently, with no single theme or progression of thought binding them all together. Each aphorism opens up a world of thought in itself. A full commentary would require a discussion of every verse in turn with an analysis in each case of the MASHAL (the metaphor or image) and the NIMSHAL (the subject that is elucidated through the comparison). Such commentaries have already been provided by the classical Torah commentators (Targum Yonasan, Rashi, RaDaK, Ibn Ezra, RaLBaG, MaLBiM, etc.), but to give a digest of their discussions and of various comments by the rabbis of the Talmud and Midrashim on each verse would be well beyond the scope of the present study notes, which will instead offer some brief comments on selected verses, leaving students to familiarize themselves with the actual Biblical text and to draw personal

lessons and messages from those verses that speak to them particularly at this time. Chapter 12 verse 1: One who loves true knowledge of God (DA'AS) will love reproof because he has the humility to understand that he must constantly correct his own misconceptions, where as one who hates being criticized and corrected will not grow in wisdom and will therefore remain a BO'AR, a "fool", or more literally, an "animal" who lacks the exalted human faculty of DA'AS. As in the previous chapters, the main overall theme of most of the proverbs in our present text is the contrast between the thought patterns, ways of speech and deeds of the righteous TZADDIK and those of the wicked RASHA. The Tzaddik pursues justice while the Rasha is full of mischief and deceit (v 3). The wicked use words to trap and kill others, while the righteous seek to save them and promote peace (v 6). Since God rules the world with absolute justice, it is only fair that he should give endurance to the Tzaddikim and overthrow the wicked (vv 3, 7, etc.) V 8: "A man should be commended according to his intelligence (SECHEL)…" The rendering of SECHEL as "intelligence" somewhat makes it seem as if high marks are given to those with high IQ, because in our highly sophisticated society dominated by ”experts", intelligence is associated in the minds of many with quick, sharp thinking whether for good or bad. But in the vocabulary of Torah literature, SECHEL refers to the triad of mental faculties known kabbalistically as holistic HOCHMAHthinking, analytic BINAH-thinking and their synthesis, DA'AS, the knowledge of God. Since God Himself is totally beyond our intellects, the only way to "know" Him is with simplicity and sincerity, through faith. This is why "…he who is of a perverse heart shall be despised" – because one who allows himself to be dominated by the perversity of the evil inclination in his heart looses his holy good sense. V 9: "The righteous man knows the soul (NEFESH) of his animal…" – Rashi (ad loc.) comments that "he knows what his animal and his family need". The Tzaddik's "animal" would allude to his physical body whose nature, requirements and purpose as the servant and agent of his own higher soul (NESHAMAH) the Tzaddik fully understands. He lives on the spiritual plane but understands the material plane. "…but the kindnesses of the wicked are cruel". This can be understood on many levels. For example, "lovingly" plying one's family and children with candies and junk food can be extremely cruel in the long term. Also, those kindly "rabbis" of recent centuries who sought to "sweeten" Judaism for their congregations by "easing the burden" of Torah and changing or abandoning many of its most precious observances have proved in fact to be exceedingly cruel both to the lost souls of their congregants and to the entire people of Israel, whom they have left divided and largely bereft of a true, unifying tradition. Another form of "kindness" that is really extremely cruel is the failure to condemn and punish many crimes and acts of terror, or even to justify them on psychological or ideological grounds. It is this misplaced "kindness" of the wicked that has led to the rampant crime and terror in the world today. V 11: "He that tills his land shall have plenty of bread…" Rashi comments that besides the obvious simple truth of this proverb, it also teaches that one who constantly reviews his Torah studies will not forget them. [This is the reason for the two-chapter-a-day Bible study cycle, which enables us to cover the entire Bible in one year and review it each year thereafter, thereby becoming ever more familiar with all facets of this life wisdom.]

V 14: "From the fruit of the mouth of a man shall he be satisfied with good…" – "From the reward for the work of the mouths of those who engage in Torah [repeating their studies orally out loud day by day] they eat the good in this world while the principal endures for them in the world to come" (Rashi). "…and the recompense of man's hands shall be handed to him" – the rewards God gives in the world of truth are strictly in accordance with our efforts in this world. V 15: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but the wise man listens to advice." The fool likes to decide everything for himself according to his own ideas, but in order to get through this mixed up world we need guidance from a source of truth that stands beyond it – the Torah. V 16: Fools vent their anger on the spot, but the wise are more prudent. V 19: "The lip of truth shall be established forever." Living as we do in a world of rampant falsehood, this should be very comforting to us. V 21: "No evil shall befall the just…" God protects those who truly and sincerely follow the Torah, saving them from coming to sin even though this is all too easy in the complex, fast-moving world we live in. V 23: "…the heart of fools declares their folly" – "they declare their folly in a loud voice" (Rashi). One who possesses DA'AS TORAH, "knowledge of the Torah", can rapidly discern the folly of those who do not understand the true nature of this world and its purpose: their words, their behavior and their very gait all cry out folly. V 24: "The hand of the diligent shall RULE…" – "shall become rich" (Rashi). The riches, of course, are spiritual. Everything depends on diligence and effort. V 25: "Anxiety in a man's heart dejects it." The Hebrew word rendered as "dejects it" is YASH'CHENAH, the pi-el form of the root SHACHAH, to come down low. The sages of the Talmud darshened this as (1) YA-SICHENAH, "he should put it out of his mind", or (2) YA-SICHENAH, "he should TALK ABOUT IT to others" (Yoma 75a). In fact, good talk therapy with an honest friend or true counselor helps remove anxiety from the heart.

Chapter 13 V 1: "A wise son hears his father's instruction." Rashi comments that it is because the father gives instruction and reproof that the son becomes wise. V 2: "A man shall eat good from the fruit of his mouth…" The first part of this verse is almost identical to Ch 12 v 14, "a man shall be SATISFIED with good from the fruit of his mouth", although the second part of the verse is different. There are also other cases where part or all of a verse recurs in more than one place in Proverbs. V 3: "He who guards his lips keeps his life…" Guarding and sanctifying our faculty of speech is one of the most important keys to spiritual success in life. V 4: "The soul of the sluggard desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be richly supplied." Many people have dreams and wishes, but only through diligence can they be made actual and far-off goals turned into practical achievements.

V 7: "There is one who seems to be rich yet lacks everything, and one who seems to be poor yet has great wealth." Here is another verse pointing to the paradoxical nature of this world and God's way of running it: many things are very different from the way they seem on the surface. V 13: "He who despises the word shall be punished, but he who fears the commandment shall be rewarded" – "When a person despises one of the teachings of the Torah, he ends up being snatched as a surety for it" (Rashi). V 18: "Poverty and shame come to one who refuses instruction (MUSSAR)…" Again and again Solomon drives in the message that we must submit ourselves to the reproof and moralistic teachings of the Torah (cf. vv 20 & 24 etc.). Mussar literature, whether in the form of the moralistic classics ("Path of the Just", "Gates of Repentance" etc.) or Chassidut (Likutey Moharan, Tanya etc.) should be part of the regular diet of every Torah student.

Chapter 14 V 1: Only by employing the wisdom of Torah in one's life can one build a structure that will endure to eternity. V 2: One who truly reveres God behaves correctly. Going crookedly is an affront to God. V 3: The fool hits out at everyone with his stick of arrogance. V 4: "Without oxen the crib is clean [i.e. the owner's house is empty of produce] but an abundance of produce comes through the strength of the ox" – "That is to say, in a place where there are no Torah sages, the teachings available are not in accord with the halachah" (Rashi). V 6: "A scoffer seeks wisdom but it is not there…" – "When he needs it, he does not find it in his heart" (Rashi). V 7: Keep your distance from fools. V 9: "Amends pleads for fools, but among the upright there is good will" – "The fools are the sinners: only by making amends and paying the penalty can they conciliate God. His will is to the upright" (Rashi). V 10: "The heart knows its own bitterness, and with its joy no stranger can meddle" – "Each person knows the toil and effort with which he labors in the Torah, and therefore no stranger will have a share when he receives his future reward" (Rashi). V 12: "There is a way that seems right to a man but its end are the ways of death" – The pathos of our condition in this benighted world is that we cannot see what the consequences of our choices will be, particularly in the very long term. This is why we require the guidance of God's Torah, since He sees to the end of everything. V 13: The laughter of this world cannot last for ever. V 17: He that is soon angry acts foolishly…" One of the most important virtues of the upright is patience and long-suffering, which can save us from much trouble.

V 19: "The evil bow before the good" – "At the end… in time to come" (Rashi). V 20: "Even by his own neighbor, the poor man is hated, but many are the friends of the rich man" – "The 'poor man' is someone who is ignorant of Torah, who does not know how to act in the proper way, and he is hated even by his close friends" (Rashi). V 23: "In all labor there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to deficiency" – Work and action, not mere words!!!

V 24: The true "wealth" of the sages is their understanding of the Torah (Rashi). V 26: Not only does one's fear of God give personal security; it also protects one's very children. V 27: The reason why fear of God is the source of life is because it warns the person to avoid the snares of death – sins and transgressions (Metzudas David). V 28: "In the multitude of the people is the king's glory…" – When many people carry out a mitzvah together, this brings God great glory (Talmud Yoma 70a). V 29: More in praise of patience and forbearing, which save us from folly. V 30: "A tranquil heart is the life of the flesh; but envy is the rottenness of the bones" – This verse is one of the foundations of the psychosomatic wisdom of the Torah, teaching that good, positive attitudes are conducive to physical health. V 31: To oppress the weak is an insult to their Maker. V 32: "…the upright has hope even in his death" – "When he dies he is assured that he will come to the Garden of Eden" (Rashi). "Charity elevates a nation (= Israel, Rashi) but the kindness of the peoples is a sin" – "because they take from one to give to another" (Rashi).

Chapter 15 V 1: "A soft answer turns away wrath…" This is a lesson to imbibe. V 3: God is watching everything; there is no escape. V 4: "A soothing tongue is a tree of life…" The way we speak can have a decisive effect on our own health and that of those around us. V 6: "In the HOUSE of the righteous is much treasure but in the REVENUES of the wicked is trouble." Rashi's comment on this verse illustrates the level of REMEZ, "allusion", in the text. On the first half, Rashi writes: "The Temple [=the House] that was built by David, the righteous Tzaddik, is a great treasure and a tower of strength". On the second half, darshening the Hebrew word rendered as "revenues" – TEVOUAH from the root "to BRING IN", Rashi writes: "…but through the BRINGING IN of the idol that King Menasheh brought into the Temple, it was spoiled".

V 8: "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to God" – God does not want perfunctory outward expressions of service, He wants the devotion of the heart. V 11: If everything in hell and destruction are revealed to God, how much more is it certain that He knows what is in people's hearts (Rashi). V 13: "A joyous heart makes the face cheerful" – Again, the soul and the mind influence the health of the body. Vv 15-17: True happiness in life depends not on material prosperity or the lack of it, but on people's ATTITUDES. V 22: "For want of counsel purposes are frustrated; but in the multitude of counselors they are established" – the true counsel that all need is that of the Torah. V 24: "The path of life (ORAH HAYIM) goes upward for the wise…" The authors of the Arba Turim / Shulhan Aruch chose the phrase ORAH HAYIM for the title of the first of the four sections of these foundational codes of Torah law as it applies in our times. ORAH HAYIM deals with the laws of the prayers and blessings of daily life and the laws of Shabbos and the festivals. Numerous other phrases from Proverbs were also chosen as the titles of famous Torah classics. Thus in the present chapter, verse 7, SIFTHEY HACHAMIM, "the lips of the wise", is the title of the most important super-commentary on Rashi, and verse 30, ME'OR EYNAYIM, "the light of the eyes" is the title of an important Chassidic work by R. Menachem Nachum of Tchernoble. V 25: "HaShem will pluck up the house of the proud; but He will establish the border of the widow". If a person sees an idolatrous temple, he should recite the first phrase of this verse; if one sees the houses of Israel in a state of habitation, he should recite the second part of the verse (Talmud Berachos 58b). V 27: Unjust gains sully a person's house. One who hates free gifts and wants only what he works for shall live. V 30: "The light of the eyes rejoices the heart; and a good report makes the bones fat." More on the mind-body connection!

Chapter 16 V 1: "The preparations of the heart are man's, but the answer of the tongue is from HaShem." When we arouse ourselves from below (HIS'ORERUS D'L'TATA) and strive to order and better ourselves, this evokes an arousal from Above (HISORERUS D'L'EIYLA). V 2: "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but HaShem weighs the spirits." It is very hard for a person to acknowledge that his attitudes and behavior may be wrong. But God knows the truth as to who is good and who is not (Rashi), for He is INSIDE the spirit/soul of each person. The Hebrew word rendered as "weighs", TOKHEIN, is from the root TOKH, which means "within" (Metzudas David). V 3: "Commit your works to God" – pray to Him about everything you need, and this will give a sound basis to all your thoughts, ideas and plans (Rashi).

V 4: God made everything to reveal His might and glory – even the evil day that befalls the villain reflects glory on God. V 7: "When God is pleased with a man's ways, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" – including his own wife!!! (Bereishis Rabbah 54). If a person wants domestic harmony, the key is for him to put all his effort into serving God. V 10: "There is a magic (KESSEM) on the lips of a king; in judgment his mouth will not err." The "king" is the sage, when he sits in judgment. If he is a true sage, God gives him intuitive understanding of where the truth lies. KESSEM here is a kind of power of divination, the ability to guess right. V 11: "A just balance and scales are God's: all the weights of the bag are His work." The merchants of old had bags containing a variety of weights in order to measure out different quantities. God has every kind of weight and measure, to pay each person exactly according to his behavior (Rashi; Metzudas David). V 14: "The wrath of the King is like messengers of death, but a wise man will pacify it." Every Jew needs to be connected to a true sage, who through his great humility has the power to appease God and bring atonement (cf. Likutey Moharan I, 4). V 17: "The highway of the upright (MESILLAT YESHARIM) is to depart from evil…" The phrase Mesillat Yesharim, "Path of the Just", was chosen by the outstanding sage Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto (1707-47) as the title of his outstanding moralistic classic on the path of ascent to true service of God. V 18: "Pride goes before destruction…" This was so in the case of Haman in ancient Persia , and it will be so in the case of the latter-day Hamans now governing the same country. V 20: "He who gives heed to the word will find good…" – "One who considers his words carefully and weighs his pathways will find good" (Rashi). "…and happy is the one who trusts in God" – "When he weighs his pathways and sees that he has the opportunity to perform a mitzvah that involves some danger or monetary loss, if he trusts in God and does good, he will succeed" (Rashi). V 24: "Pleasant words (=words of Torah, Rashi) are like honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones." – We have the power to influence the health of our bodies through the very words we speak. V 28: "A froward man sows strife, and a whisperer separates a leader (ALOOPH)." When a person distorts the meaning of what was said, he stirs up strife among people (Metzudas David). Rashi interprets the "leader" as God: as a result of a person's complaints, he separates the Ruler of the world from himself. V 31: The practice of charity lengthens one's days (Rashi). V 33: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its whole disposition is from God" – Man may cast lots, but it is God who determines the outcome and the share that each will receive. Thus when the Land of Israel was divided among the tribes, it was done through casting lots, and thus each tribe received their proper portion.

Chapter 17

V 1: Rashi comments on this verse: "It was better for the Holy One blessed be He to destroy His Temple and His city so as to be at peace from Israel's sins, because they used to offer the sacrifices of strife in His House." V 2: "A servant that deals wisely shall have rule over a son that deals shamefully, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brothers." Rashi says that the "servant who deals wisely" is the GER TZEDEK ("righteous convert"). He is better than a home-born villain! And in time to come the converts will have a share of the inheritance among the Children of Israel (cf. Ezekiel 47:23). V 3: "The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but God tries the hearts." The tests that God takes people through can be a refining through fire. V 8: "When a person comes before God and placates Him with words and returns to Him, this is a precious stone and a pearl in His eyes, and in whatever the person asks of God, He will give him success" (Rashi). V 9: It is better to overlook the bad things people may do to one and not to try to take vengeance, because by constantly harping on their evil he causes God – who commanded us not to nurse a grudge or take vengeance – to depart from him (Rashi). V 15: "One who justifies the wicked, and one who condemns the righteous, are both an abomination to God." Both ills are also very prevalent in the public media today. V 16: What use is it for a person to acquire the wisdom of the Torah if he does not intend to observe the Torah and studies only to acquire a name for himself? (Rashi). V 17: Rashi's rendition of the verse is: Always show love to friends in order to acquire people who will love you, for in a time of trouble, your friend will be "born" and become a brother who will help you and take a share in your sorrow. V 18: Agreeing to be a guarantor in some financial transaction is not considered wise. Rashi interprets the handshake as that of someone who "shakes hands" with the heretics in order to go in their ways when he has already made a guarantee to God (in the Sinaitic Covenant) to observe His commandments. V 19: "…One who exalts his gate seeks destruction." "Exalting one's gate" means speaking arrogantly (Rashi). V 22: "A merry heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." This is the Torah path of healing in a nutshell. V 24: "Wisdom is before one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth." Rashi comments: The fool says, "Wisdom is not available near at hand, because it is very far from me. How will I ever be able to learn all thirty chapters of the Mishnaic order of Damages (the 3 Bavas), the thirty chapters of Tractate KELIM (the tractate on purity and impurity of vessels), the twenty-four chapters of Tractate Shabbos…?" But for the wise man it is something easy. Today he studies two chapters and tomorrow another two, and says: This is what those who were before me always did. V 26: "The Holy One blessed be He never said to wipe Israel from the Land, for it is not good in His eyes to punish all of them" (Rashi).

Chapter 18 V 1: "He who is separated will seek his own desire; in all sound wisdom he will be revealed." Rashi: "One who is separated from the Holy One blessed be He so as not to guard His commandments chases after the desire of his heart and his evil inclination. And in the end his shame will be revealed among the sages. Our rabbis darshened that this refers to Lot, who separated himself from Abraham, but in the end, his shame is revealed in the synagogues and study halls, for 'The Ammonite and Moabite [ Lot's descendants] may not enter the assembly' (Deut. 24:4)". V 2: The fool does not desire true understanding but only the fantasies produced by his own heart. V 4: "The words of a MAN's mouth are deep waters" – Rashi: Where the word ISH (=man) is used in the Bible, it refers to a man of great might. "A flowing brook, a fountain of wisdom": Rabbi Nachman of Breslov took great pride in the fact that the initial letters of the last four Hebrew words of this verse are an acronym of the name Nachman: Nachal Nove'a Mekor Chokhmah! V 5: "It is not good to respect the person of the wicked and to turn aside the righteous in judgment." Besides the plain meaning of the text, the sages darshened that it is not good for the wicked to be shown forbearance for their evil in this world since they are then punished for it in the next, while the righteous are punished for their sins in this world in order to attain the life of the world to come (Yoma 87a; Rashi). V 6: "A fool's lips enter into contention and his mouth calls for strokes." A fool constantly accuses others but the effect is that his mouth calls out for suffering to be brought down upon himself (Rashi). V 9: "Even one who is slack in his work is a brother to the destroyer." When a Torah student is slack in his studies, he comes to distort and forget the Torah. V 10: "The Name of HaShem is a tower of strength; the righteous runs with it and is set on high." It is remarkable that a mere word or name could give such strength and protection. Even more remarkable is that one who takes refuge in a mighty physical tower is closed up in it and cannot go anywhere, but when the Tzaddik depends on the name of HaShem, he can run wherever he wants and still take strength there in God's name (Metzudas David). Vv 11-12: Unlike the Tzaddik, who trusts in God, the rich man takes refuge in his wealth, but if he is haughty because of it, this can lead to his destruction (Rabbenu Yonah). V 13: "When one gives an answer about something before he has heard it out, this is folly and a disgrace to him." Unfortunately this characterizes the level of much discussion of serious issues over wide areas of the contemporary media and education system, not to speak about most discussion in the "street". V 14: "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a broken spirit who can bear?" Man's soul has the power to strengthen him in face of the illnesses of the body, for the soul governs the body in health and even in illness, but if the soul is weak and broken because of sorrow and depression, the body is unable to strengthen it (Metzudas David). Mind over matter!

V 16: "A man's gift makes room for him…" Besides the simple meaning, this teaches that when one gives charity, it widens his share in the world to come (Rashi). V 17: "He who pleads his cause first seems just, but his neighbor comes and searches him out." The first person to put his case often sounds right. The judge must be very careful not to allow himself to be influenced by his arguments without first balancing them with the arguments of the other side. V 21: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue…" Every one of us should take this verse to heart and put a strong rein on our tongues. V 22: "One who finds a wife finds a great good…" Besides the plain meaning of the verse, the "woman" also refers to the Torah (Rashi). V 24: Rashi: "When a person acquires friends for himself, the day will yet come when he will need them and they will draw him near. And if you say, 'So what?' know that sometimes a friend is closer than a brother and reaches out to one more than one's relatives and brothers."

Chapter 19 V 2: "Also the soul that is without knowledge is not good…" – "It is not good for a man to be without Torah" (Rashi). "And he who hastens with his feet is a sinner" – "The sinner tramples on sins underfoot saying, 'This is an insignificant matter and I can transgress'" (Rashi). V 3: "A man's folly perverts his way and his heart frets against God." – "It is through his own sin that evil comes upon a person because in his folly he perverts his way and transgresses, with the result that he is punished. But when the trouble strikes, he frets against God, questioning His justice!" (Rashi). V 4: One who is wealthy in Torah also gains many friends. V 6: "This can be interpreted as referring to those who give charity, and it can also be interpreted as referring to those who teach and spread the Torah." V 7: "All the brothers of the poor hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him. He that pursues words – they turn against him." – "He says, So-and-so and so-and-so are my relatives; so-and-so and so-and-so are my friends, but all his words are emptiness" (Rashi). Name-dropping does not help! V 8: "He who acquires heart loves his own soul…" – "Because the knowledge of God is in the heart, the verse says that one who acquires heart loves his own soul" (Metzudas David). V 12: "The king's wrath is like the roaring of a lion…" – "The 'king' is the Holy One blessed be He (Rashi). V 16: "One who despises his ways shall die" – "because he does not set his heart to weigh them" (Rashi). V 17: "When a person is ill and near death, his charity pleads on his behalf before the attribute of Judgment, saying, 'That poor man's soul was about to leave his

body because of hunger, but this man fed him and brought it back into his body; I too shall give him back his soul'" (Rashi). V 19: "A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment, but if you save, you shall yet add" – "If you set aside your anger and save your enemy when you see that evil has come upon him, you shall yet add days and goodness to your life" (Rashi). V 22: "The desire for a man is on account of his kindness…" – the main reason why people love a person is because of his kindness."…and a poor man is better than a man of deceit" – If a person promises but does not carry out his promise, a poor man is better than him (Rashi). V 25: "When you strike the scorner, the simple will become prudent…" – "On seeing the plagues visited on Pharaoh and the war against Amalek, Jethro became wise and converted!" (Rashi).

Chapter 20 V 1: "Wine is a mocker" because it gives the drinker the feeling that his mind is expanded, but this is deceptive. V 2: Whoever provokes the king – God – endangers himself. V 3: People often get into an argument because they feel affronted, but man's true dignity is to restrain himself and avoid being drawn into a quarrel. V 4: Because of the cold, the lazy man avoids "plowing" – i.e. exerting himself in Torah study – and as a result, when his time of need arrives, he finds himself lacking (Rashi). V 5: The way of the wise man is to conceal his counsel in the depths of his heart (deep beneath the surface of his words), making it hard for others to grasp it. His counsel is like waters that lie deep beneath the surface of the earth and are hard to draw out. But "a man of understanding will draw it out": he starts by drawing out the upper waters – seeking to understand the surface meaning – and this will bring him to what lies below (Metzudas David). V 6: Most people like to give the impression that they are very kind and considerate, but who can find people who not only promise but actually deliver? V 8: When Gold sits on His throne of judgment, all men's evil is "spread out" and visible in front of His eyes, even what they do in secrecy (Metzudas David). V 9: "Who can say… I am pure from my sin (CHATASI)?" The Hebrew word CHATASI can also mean, "I have sinned" – the opening word of the confession. Thus the verse can be construed as saying, "Who can say… I am pure in the way I make my confession before God?" for even as we confess to God we may have ulterior motives. We have to repent not only over our actual sins but even over our inadequate confessions of sin (Rabbi Nachman, Likutey Moharan I:6). V 10: "Diverse weights and measures are both an abomination of God." When a person uses one set of criteria to judge his friends and a different set to judge his enemies and opponents, this is an abominable distortion of judgment. This occurs almost daily in international condemnations of Israeli behavior, yet we also should

not allow our disgust at the abominations of others to justify our turning a blind eye to our own imperfections. V 12: The ear and the eye are God's work. What He wants is an ear that listens to reproof and an eye that sees what is likely to develop out of one's different possible choices in life (Rashi). V 13: Wealth and satisfaction (=Torah, good deeds and the enjoyment of the reward they bring) do not come to those who are lazy and like to sleep away their days. V 14: During the bargaining before a purchase, the buyer downgrades the article in order to push down the price, but after the purchase he is proud of his ability to strike a good deal. Similarly, when a person seeks to attain the wisdom of the Torah despite poverty and hardship, he complains, but afterwards he will be overjoyed over the great good that he has gained (Metzudas David). V 15: Gold and jewels may be expensive yet they are quite abundant in this world. What is really precious and rare is a mouth that speaks true wisdom! (Metzudas David). V 16: While it is forbidden to enter the house of a borrower to take a pledge, it is permitted to enter the house of the guarantor of the loan in order to do so, since he willfully agreed to be a guarantor (Bava Metzia 115a). V 18: "If you come to fight against the Satan, come with wise stratagems – repentance, prayer and fasting" (Rashi). V 19: Don't open your heart to those who are indiscreet. V 21: "An estate may be gotten hastily at the beginning but its end shall not be blessed" – Thus the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half Menasheh took their portion east of the R. Jordan before all the other tribes – and they went into exile before all the other tribes! (Rashi). V 24: Our very footsteps are governed by God although we do not know it. "A man does not hurt even his little finger here below unless it is decreed against him from above" (Hullin 7b). V 25: "When a man stumbles into sin, he causes a flaw to his own holiness, and he must then offer sacrifices in order to plead for his soul" (Rashi). V 27: Man's own soul bears witness against him on the Day of Judgment (Rashi).

Chapter 21 V 1: "The king's heart is in the hand of God: like watercourses, He turns it wherever He will." It should be comforting to know that the decisions made by the apparently self-willed rulers and leaders of this world are in fact all under God's complete control, and He will surely bring everything out right in the end! V 2: People are naturally prejudiced in their own favor and rarely see their own guilt, but God knows the truth.

V 3: Even King Solomon, who built the Temple, the center for the offering of sacrifices, taught that what God really wants is not ritual atonement but charity and justice. V 5: True gains come from toil and industry, while those who try to "get rich quick" are likely to end up lacking. V 11: "Through witnessing the chastisements that befall the scoffers, the simple become wise and repent" (Rashi). V 12: "The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, overthrowing the wicked to their ruin." Metzudas David offers an interesting alternative p'shat (explanation): When a righteous person stands in the house of a wicked man, this righteous Tzaddik brings success to the house of the wicked man, who is blessed on account of the Tzaddik, and this itself causes the wicked man to continue doing evil, thinking that the blessing has been sent on his own account and that his behavior is good in God's eyes. Metzudas' explanation would open a chink into the mysteries of God's providence, whereby the wicked are deceived into continuing their pursuit of evil in this world in order to cause them to loose everything in the world to come. V 14: Rabbi Hin'na Bar Papa used to distribute charity at night-time [when nobody could see him, thereby saving the recipients embarrassment]. One time the king of the demons approached him and said, "Have you not taught us, rabbi, that 'you shall not encroach on the boundary of your neighbor' (Deut. 19:14)? [I.e. why are you performing mitzvoth at night, which is the time of the demons?] He replied, "Is it not written, 'A gift in secrecy pacifies anger'? (Shekalim 15a). V 15: "To do justly is joy to the righteous but ruin to the workers of iniquity" – "God's joy is to take retribution from the righteous in this world in order to give them merit for the life of the world to come, and the righteous rejoice when God chastises them in order for them to gain the life of the world to come. However chastisements do not avail the wicked because they do not take note and repent, and instead they only complain" (Rashi). V 18: "The wicked is a ransom for the righteous" – "The righteous is saved and the wicked comes in his stead, such as in the case of Mordechai and Haman" (Rashi). V 22: "A wise man scales the city of the mighty…" – "This alludes to Moses, who ascended to heaven among the mighty angels, and brought down the Torah" (Rashi). V 28: "A false witness shall perish, but the man that OBEYS shall speak unchallenged" – i.e. the man who OBEYS the Torah, which says, "You shall not bear false testimony against your neighbor" (Rashi). V 31: Men may make their preparations for self-protection in the face of war, but ultimately salvation is from God alone.

Chapter 22 V 1: The "name" that should be chosen more than great wealth is one's own good name and reputation as keeper of God's Torah. It is also THE "good name", God's holy Name that we should set before us at all times (Psalm 16:8; Shulhan Aruch, Orah Hayim 1:1). The "grace" (HEIN) that is better than silver and gold is the vessel one constructs through one's Torah study, prayers, good deeds and

attributes in order to receive the light of God's presence in the form of awareness and knowledge of God (Likutey Moharan I:1). V 2. The rich and the poor man meet when the poor man says to the rich man give me livelihood and the latter answers harshly. They meet again in the wheel of destiny, for "God makes them all" – He brings them to life again and makes the rich man poor and the poor man rich! (Rashi). V 3: The prudent man sees evil – the punishment for sin – and hides away: he does not carry out the sin (Rashi). V 4: English translations render: "The reward (EKEV) of humility is fear of God," implying that fear of God comes as a result of and is a higher level than humility. But literally EKEV means a "heel" – i.e. implying that the main thing is humility, and its lowest level, the "heel", is fear of God (Rashi). V 5: "Thorns (TZEENIM) and snares are in the way of the stubborn." From this the rabbis deduced that everything is in the hands of heaven (determined by God) except for chills and colds (the root TZANAN means to be chilled), which a person allows to come upon him through his own obstinate negligence, while one who guards his life and soul will keep away from the things that cause them (Avodah Zarah 3b).. V 6: "According to what you teach a young child and how you educate him in different things whether for good or for bad, even when he is old he will not veer from that path" (Rashi). Early education in the good ways of God's Torah is vital. V 7: "The rich man rules over the poor people" – the ordinary people are always in need of a student of the Torah (Rashi). V 8: As one sows, so one reaps – according to one's behavior in this life, so is the reward one receives afterwards. A person may rule over people with fierce anger, but eventually his straw stick of dominion is worn down because he uses up his own power (Rashi). V 10: "Cast out the scorner and contention will go away…" The "scorner" is the evil urge (Rashi). By wholeheartedly embracing the good within us and dissociating ourselves from our bad impulses and negativity, we may free ourselves of inner conflict and attain harmony. V 11: When one frees one's heart of impurity and sanctifies his lips by speaking only words of grace – Torah and devotion – God loves him and favors him (Rashi). V 13: "The lazy man says, 'There's a lion outside, I'll get slain in the streets'" – "He says, How can I go out to learn Torah?" (Rashi). V 14: The "strange woman" whose mouth is a "deep pit" is the preacher of heresy and idolatry. V 15: King Solomon teaches us not to idealize children and imagine them to be perfect angels because "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child". Children are subject to a natural folly, and they have to be trained with the "rod of correction". Likewise in ch 23 v 13 King Solomon advises not to spare the child correction, "for if you strike him with the rod he will not die". The sages were opposed to cruel physical punishment but understood better than contemporary

psychologists and "experts" in discipline that at times children are in need of wisely administered physical punishment in order to grow out of this natural folly. V 16: If a person oppresses the poor for his own gain, he will eventually have to give away all his money to wealthy idolaters and the governments of the nations so that all his efforts result only in his own loss (Rashi). From the beginning of Proverbs Chapter 10 until this point the entire text has consisted of one-verse aphorisms that are often if not mostly unconnected thematically with those preceding and following them. However, from Chapter 22:17 onwards longer sequences of verses are often employed, making up short discourses, though not of the length of the discourses with which the book of Proverbs opens in Chs 1-9. Vv 17ff: "Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise" – try to learn Torah from even the merest sage; "and apply your heart to MY knowledge" – if your teacher is wicked, don't learn from his behavior (Rashi). It is to the quest for the inner knowledge of God that Solomon is telling us to give our hearts – "In order that your trust may be in HaShem" (v 19): this is the very essence. V 20: "Have I not written for you excellent things (SHALEESHIM)". SHALEESHIM literally means captains, honored leaders (cf. Ex. 16:4) – Solomon's proverbs are all important teachings. SHALEESHIM also has the connotation of "threefold", alluding to the Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets) and Kesubim (Holy Writings). "If you say, How can I trust in God and turn my heart from all other activities so as to study the words of my teachers – maybe they are mistaken and there is no place to trust in God and expect to receive a reward – King Solomon answers this objection by saying that you can find words of true counsel and knowledge in the books of the Torah (Metzudas David). Even if you feel you cannot fully trust the people who are teaching you Torah, if you are willing to delve into the Torah itself you will be able to find the truth. Vv 22-29 is a short PARSHAH PESUHAH ("open", free-standing section) containing several pieces of advice. (1) vv 22-23: Don't oppress the poor even though they are weak, because God will stand up for and avenge them. (2) vv 24-25: Don't befriend angry types because you will learn from their bad ways, which will be a snare for you; (3) vv 26-27: Don't get involved in deals that leave you with commitments that you are unable to meet to the point where your creditors take everything from you. (4) v 28: Don't encroach on others' territory, literally – and also, don't encroach on the boundaries set by the fathers: these are the ancestral customs of Israel such as the three daily prayers, which should not be changed… (Yalkut Shimoni. (5) v 29: Be energetic and enthusiastic in your service of God.

Chapter 23 Vv 1-5: Ostensibly this short discourse advises against succumbing to the temptation to join the mighty and powerful in order to become wealthy because their tasty dainties are the bread of deception and any wealth one may gain will eventually fly off and disappear. However, the sages darshened this discourse as advice to a student sitting before his teacher seeking to gain the wealth of Torah: "Consider well he that is before you" – "If you know that he will give you an answer to anything that you ask him, be careful to ask him whatever you need to know. But if not, keep quiet (v 2 – "put a knife in your throat") and (v 3) separate yourself from him in order to go to a worthy teacher. Vv 4-5: Don't try to "get rich" in your studies by learning heaps of unrelated details which you will only forget – try to understand how the various details fit logically together (Hullin 6a).

Vv 6-8: Don't eat the bread of the mean-eyed. V 9: Don't waste wise words on a fool who will despise their wisdom. V 10: Don't encroach on others' rights, such as that of poor orphans to the agricultural gifts that must be given to the poor: LEKET, the gleanings, SHICH'HAH, the forgotten sheaf and PE'AH, the corner of the field that must be left unharvested (Rashi). Vv 12-14: Submit yourself to correction and chastisement and do not withhold it from those whom it is your responsibility to educate – correction DOES NOT KILL! Vv 15-16: God's greatest delight is when His children follow the path of wisdom and speak the truth. Vv 17ff: The perennial temptation is to wanti to follow the sinning herd because of their apparent success. Don't give in. V 20-21: Don't give into the desire to quaff wine and eat much meat in this world, for those drunk with and gluttonous for the pleasures of this world will end up poor in Torah and they will have nothing but tattered rags with which to clothe their souls in the world of truth. V 23: It is forbidden to "sell" the Torah by charging a fee for teaching. Yet if you see that the only way to acquire the truth is by paying, "Acquire the truth…" (See Bechoros 29a). Vv 26-28: Again and again Solomon reiterates the importance of following the path of Torah wisdom and distancing oneself from the "harlot" and "alien woman" = heresy. Vv 29-35 give a vivid depiction of the cries, complaints and self-caused injuries of the red-eyed drunkards who sit up late drinking, always in search of good liquor. One should not so much as look at wine when it is red (v 31), despite the fact that it is so lusciously tempting and high quality (on the basis of this verse, red wine is considered the best and choicest for Kiddush and the Four Cups of Pesach). The redness alludes to GEVURAH, the very might that contracts and conceals Godliness. Thus the drunkenness depicted in this section comes from the "wine" of alien wisdom offered by the strange woman. In the end it bites like a serpent (v 32) making the eye see strange things and turning the heart into confusion (v 33). The person ends up completely addicted (v 35).

Chapter 24 Vv 1-14: Having warned against associating with the "strange woman" (23:27ff) and falling into drunkenness (23:29-35), King Solomon now warns against following in the ways of those who seek to build their fortunes through robbery and mischief (24:2). Rather, one should seek out wisdom and understanding, for these bring true and enduring wealth, the wealth of the spirit. "For a house is built through wisdom and established through understanding. And with knowledge the rooms will be filled…" (vv 3-4). These verses are the foundation for important kabbalistic teachings about the Sefiros of Hochman, Binah and Da'as. V 6: "Make your war with wise stratagems (TAHBOULOS)…" The war in question is that against our evil urge. It is often impossible to engage the evil urge directly in

order to overwhelm it, because its power is very great. It is better to use wise stratagems in order CIRCUMVENT and get around it. For example, when a person rises early in the morning to pray and follows his prayers immediately with a session of Torah study, this takes the wind out of the sails of the evil urge before it even has a chance to attack. "Who do you find fighting the war of the Torah? The person who has in hand bundles (HAVILOT) of Mishnehs!" (Sanhedrin 42a). Vv 8-9: When a person does not devote his intellectual faculties to the pursuit of wisdom but instead uses them to plot evil, he will get a reputation as a man of mischief and his evil thoughts and scoffing are a sin and an abomination. Vv 10-12: "If you are weak on the day of adversity, your strength is small indeed." On the simple level, these verses are teaching that one should not abandon his friends on their day of trouble because he will then be too weak to help himself when trouble strikes him. The rabbis darshened that if a person allows himself to become lax in studying the Torah, he will not have the strength to stand on his day of trouble (Rashi on v 10; Berachos 63a). Vv 13-14: A person should pursue wisdom with the same if not more enthusiasm than that with which people like to eat sweet honey! V 15ff: Solomon cautions the wicked not to lie in wait to take advantage when they see a righteous man tottering, because even if the Tzaddik falls repeatedly he will still rise up in the end. The final letters of the four Hebrew words SHEVA YIPOL TZADDIK VA-KAM ("the Tzaddik may fall seven times but rises") are an anagram of AMaLeK, the archetypal evil. When the wicked fall, they do not rise up again. Vv 17-18: Even a righteous person should not exult triumphantly when his enemy falls. For this reason on the festival of Pesach, with the exception of the first day it is customary not to recite the complete HALLEL (Psalms 113-118) so as not to show undue glee at the time when of the overthrow of the Egyptians and their drowning in the Red Sea (Yalkut Shimoni). V 21: "My son, fear God and the king…" – "One should show respect to the ruler on condition that he does not turn you away from fear of God: the fear of God always takes priority" (Rashi). "…and do not meddle with those who are given to change (SHONIM)" – "These are the heretics who say there are two (SHNAYIM) domains" (Rashi). V 23: "These also are sayings for the wise…" – "All the teachings below are directed particularly to the sages who sit in judgment – they must have no respect for persons when judging…" (Rashi). Vv 24-25: "One who says to a wicked person, 'You are righteous', will be cursed… But to those who offer reproof, it will be pleasant." Metzudas David (on v 25) explains the connection between these verses: If one tells a wicked person that he is righteous, this will merely encourage him to go further in his wickedness. However, in the case of those who seek to reprove the wicked, it can be advantageous to say to a wicked person, 'In truth you really are a Tzaddik, but you have gone astray in certain particulars and these you should correct'. If they were to openly call him wicked, it could cause him to counter-react and stubbornly protest his innocence, whereas this way they can draw his heart to them and induce him to listen to their words. Metzudas' comment can help us better understand Rabbi Nachman's teaching to search for the good even in bad people in order to elevate them.

V 27: "Prepare your work outside and establish it for yourself in the field, and afterwards build your house." The rabbis interpreted this verse literally as advising that one should first get a place to live, then work on establishing a livelihood (with fields and vineyards) and only afterwards build his house = marry. They also interpreted the verse homiletically as teaching that one should first study Bible, then master the Mishneh, and only afterwards try to darshen and fathom the depths of the Torah (Sotah 44a). V 30: "I passed by the field of the sluggard…" – "This is the person who fails to review what he has studied… First he starts forgetting some of the main principles, and in the end he twists the words of the sages ruling that which is pure to be impure and that which is impure to be pure, and he destroys the world" (Rashi). The Talmud darshens: "I passed by the field of the sluggard" – this alludes to King Ahaz; "…and by the vineyard of a man lacking heart" – this is Menasheh. "…and lo, it was all grown over with thistles" – this is Ammon; "…its face was covered with nettles" – this is Yeho'akim; "…and its stone wall was broken down" – this is Tzedekiah, in whose time the Temple was destroyed (Sanhedrin 103a).

Chapter 25 V 1: "These too are the proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out." Metzudas David writes on this verse: "It would appear that the proverbs from the beginning of the book up until this point were copied over and available in everyone's hands, but the proverbs from here until the end of the book were only available to the staff of King Hezekiah, who copied these teachings from scrolls of King Solomon that they discovered. This is why it says that THESE TOO are the proverbs of Solomon despite the fact that they were not available to everyone. Nevertheless these too are his teachings, which were copied over by Hezekiah's men, and they are reliably attributed to Solomon." V 2: "The glory of God is a matter that must be concealed, but the glory of kings is a matter that may be investigated." The "glory of God" refers to the esoteric wisdom of MA'ASEH MERKAVAH, the "Work of the Chariot" and MA'ASEH BEREISHIS, the "Work of Creation", as well as to those statutes of the Torah that are beyond the grasp of human reason (such as the ashes of the red heifer and the prohibition against wearing mixtures of wool and linen etc.). It is forbidden to investigate these matters too deeply or to search for reasons. On the other hand, the "glory of kings" alludes to the rulings and enactments which the sages made as a "fence" around the Torah: here it is permitted to investigate and ask for reasons (Rashi). Vv 4-5: Just as the removal of impure admixtures from silver leads to the production of a good vessel, so the removal of the wicked from the kingdom establishes the throne of the ruler. Vv 6-7: It is unadvisable to flaunt oneself before those who are greater than oneself; it is better to wait modestly to be called to greatness rather than to push oneself forward only to be cast down. V 11: "Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken fitly (AL OPHNAV)." The phrase AL OPHNAV literally means either "on its foundation" or "on its wheel". Just as golden knobs set on a background of silver are most beautiful, so is a word – a MASHAL or "metaphor" – that sits and fits perfectly on its basis, which is the NIMSHAL or subject of the comparison. A good MASHAL should perfectly reflect and constantly return to its NIMSHAL just as a wheel revolves and always goes back to its place (cf. Metzudas David).

V 14: When someone boastfully gets up in the synagogue and promises a large gift of charity but then fails to deliver, it is like clouds and vapors but no rain: the poor are desperately longing for his help, and it does not materialize (Rashi). V 15: While God is still showing patience before exacting retribution, this is when the sinners should set themselves to conciliate Him with repentance and prayer, for a "soft tongue" – prayer and supplication – have the power to break the harsh decree (Rashi). Vv 21f: "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat…" The rabbis darshened: If your enemy, the evil urge, is "hungry" and tells you to satisfy him with sins, then you should take yourself off to the study hall and feed him with the bread and water of Torah, for this way you rake burning coals onto his head, and God will deliver you from him so that he will not get the better of you (Succah 52a). V 27: "Eating too much honey is not good, but the investigation of their glory is glory." Eating too much honey gin refers to delving too deeply into the esoteric wisdom of the Work of Creation and the Work of the Chariot. One should not reveal these secrets in public as it causes the ignorant to ridicule them and to enquire "what is above" and "what is below". Where then should one focus one's investigations? Upon the words of the sages, "whose glory is glory": it is permitted to ask the reasons for their various enactments and for the "fences" they erected around the Torah (Rashi). V 28: A person who cannot control his own temper makes himself vulnerable to danger just like a city whose defenses have been torn down.

Chapter 26 Verses 1-12 speak out in various ways against the "fool" – KH'SEEL. The KH'SEELIM are defined by Rabbenu Yonah (on Proverbs 1:22) as those who have acquired a stock of bad deeds, transgressing in order to satisfy the demands of their eyes for pleasures and delights. He explains that when a person pursues worldly pleasures, he becomes ever more distant from the spiritual and intellectual levels of his soul. V 1: "Like snow in summer and like rain at harvest time, so honor is not seemly for a fool." Snow in the summer fruit-drying season is disastrous, as is rain during the harvest. Likewise, honor – meaning not only worldly prestige but also knowledge of the Torah, particularly its esoteric dimension, as in 25:2 above – is not fitting for one who is not in control of his evil urge. V 2: Such a person is liable to lash out at others with harsh judgments and curses. One need not worry when abused by a fool: he may scatter gratuitous curses like darting birds, but if they go anywhere it is only upon himself. V 3: Chastisement is the only medicine for the KH'SEEL, who is like a stubborn animal. Vv 4-5: These two verses teach us when to avoid an argument with a KH'SEEL and when it is necessary to answer him. If the KH'SEEL tries to draw one into a quarrel, one should give no answer in order not to lower oneself to his level (v 4). However, if the KH'SEEL makes an assertion which, if unanswered, will cause him to be wise in his own eyes, it is necessary to counter it explicitly and not to leave him unanswered (Rashi).

V 6: It is not worth appointing a KH'SEEL as one's representative or envoy because this will involve one in much extra work trying to undo the damage he is liable to cause. V 7: A person limps when one thigh is higher than the other. Likewise when the fool employs a MASHAL to express himself, it is not even with – it does not FIT – the NIMSHAL, and his thoughts merely "limp". V 8: The MARGEMA is a sling: a stone placed in it does not stay there long, and likewise the honor – Torah knowledge – transmitted to a fool does not stay with him. From this verse the sages deduced that teaching an unworthy student is like practicing the idolatrous ritual of throwing stones towards MARKULIS (Hullin 133a). Vv 9-10: Rashi interprets these two verses as connected. The MASHAL or parable touted by the fools (v 9) is that expressed in v 10: God created everything (=RAV MEHOLEL KOL) and evidently employs both fools and idlers for His purposes. Since He seemingly judges everyone equally, whether wise or foolish, there is no need to pursue wisdom! This false proverb provides the fool with justification for continuing on his own path of folly. Vv 13-16 speak out against the sluggard, who finds endless excuses for avoiding doing what he has to do, turning from side to side on his bed in order to avoid getting up. Vv 17ff preach against various kinds of evil-intentioned, quarrelsome and argumentative types. V 17 cautions not to get involved in other people's strife as this is like taking a dog by the ears, only to get bitten. Vv 18-19: "As a madman who casts firebrands, arrows and death, so is the man that deceives his neighbor and says, 'Am I not in sport?'" – these verses are taken to typify ISHMAEL, whom Sarah saw "playing" with Isaac (Gen. 21:9; see Rashi on Gen. 29:10). V 20: Contention is caused by somebody: there is always someone who instigates it. Vv 23ff: Burning lips and a wicked heart are the hallmarks of those dissimulators who speak smooth, seductive words as if they love their listeners when in fact they are their enemies and harbor evil intentions. V 27: The archetypal case of one who dug a pit only to fall into it was Bilaam, who advised Balak to seduce Israel with the Midianite women but when he went to Midian to demand his reward, he was killed there. The archetypal case of one who rolled a stone that later killed him was Avimelech: he killed his seventy brothers on one stone, but in the end was killed by a millstone that crushed his head (Judges 9:53; see Rashi on Proverbs 26:27).

Chapter 27 V 1: "Man proposes but God disposes": When making plans for the future, those who fear God and know His great power qualify themselves by saying, IM YIRTZEH HASHEM – "if God wills". V 5: Even if a person is subject to an open rebuke that causes him shame and embarrassment, this is good if it stems from true love hidden in the heart of the one delivering the rebuke.

V 7: When a Torah student feels he has already learned sufficient and does not yearn for more wisdom, he comes to loathe even "honeycomb" – he is not interested even in sound Torah reason. But for a person who craves Torah wisdom, even the things that come to him with bitterness and effort are sweet to him (cf. Rashi). V 8: Just as it is hard for a bird to be away from her nest, so it is hard for a person to be away from his true place. This alludes to the soul, whose true place is in the world to come and which is like a wanderer in this world (Zohar Dvarim 278a). V 9: Offering sweet words of wise counsel to our friends is the surest way to uplift them. V 10: "Do not forsake your own friend…" (=God) "…and your father's friend…" (God favored your fathers, and if you forsake Him you will suffer.) "…neither go into your brother's house in the day of your calamity…" (do not trust that the children of Esau and Ishmael will show you favor). "Better is a neighbor that is near…" (this is God, who is NEAR to those who call Him) "…than a distant brother" (this is Esau; Rashi). V 14: "He that blesses his friend in a loud verse early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him." The Midrash gives examples of people who loudly praised the great wealth and success of certain individuals, only to cause government officials to confiscate their possessions or thieves to steal them (Avot d'Rabbi Nathan 22b). V 17: Torah students sharpen each other mentally through their discussions (Rashi). V 19: The feelings we radiate to others have a decisive influence over the feelings they radiate back. The more we open our hearts and show kindness to those to whom we seek to reach out, the easier they will find it to open their hearts to us. V 21: "…and a man is tried by his praise" – "In virtue of the way people praise a person for his good deeds, he is tested as to whether he is good or bad" (Rashi). Vv 23-27 are ostensibly addressed to the shepherd or owner of flocks cautioning him to consider constantly what they need, for the investment will be well worth it. Wealth and power are evanescent, but even when there is no more pasture left for the flocks, the flock-owner will still benefit from their wool, their skins and meat and cheese etc. Homiletically, these verses are darshened as advising the Rabbi appointed over the community to take his "flock" under his wing and lead them with gently, so that he will eat the fruits of his endeavors while the principal will remain: As his teachings spread, these "lambs" will provide him with "garments", for his students will give him a name and a garb of splendor and glory (Rashi).

Chapter 28 V 1: "The wicked flee when no-one pursues [they will be easily routed on their day of doom, Rashi], but the righteous are as secure as a young lion [the Tzaddik strengthens his heart in God, Rashi]." While the English translation renders the main sense of the verse, it misses an interesting nuance in the original, where the Hebrew word for "wicked" is a singular form (RASHA) while the verb "flee" (NASOO) is a plural form, and conversely the Hebrew word for "righteous" is a plural (TZADDIKIM) while the verb rendered as "are… secure" (YIVTACH) is in fact singular. This seems to imply that each wicked person is alone unto himself but

collectively they will all flee, while the Tzaddikim are together and united, but each one has the strength and confidence of a young lion! V 2: "For the transgression of the land, many are its princes…" – "This is the punishment of the land, when its officers are many and they pursue only their own gain" (Rashi). This applies directly to the present-day government of Israel , where prime ministers patch together their shaky coalitions by creating ever more ministries to provide "jobs for the boys". It may also be safely assumed that the many grotesque publicized cases of corruption at the highest levels of government represent only the tip of the iceberg of the corruption that actually exists. V 3: The "poor man" who oppresses the weak is the judge who is an AM HA-ARETZ (=Torah ignoramus). This would be a fair description of the great majority of the judges of the Israeli High Court ("BAGATZ"), who have been notorious for trampling on the laws of the Torah since the inception of the state. V 4: "Those who have abandoned the Torah praise the wicked, but those who observe the Torah contend with them." It would be interesting to use this proposition to analyze the heroes of secular Israel and those who have forced the Torah observant to contend with them. V 5: Even when punishments befall the wicked, they do not understand that this is to requite their evil because they think everything comes by chance. But the righteous understand that everything comes from Heaven, and they are able to understand why and for what reason, because they do not attribute anything to chance (Metzudas David). V 8: Profiting from taking interest on loans to fellow Israelites is considered one of the most serious transgressions of the Torah. The verse says that the profits will go to "him that is gracious to the poor". Midrash Tanchuma interprets this as the government, which on hearing of someone's great wealth confiscates his profits and uses them to build bridges and repair the roads to benefit the public. It will indeed be a great comfort when our governments really do take the exorbitant profits of the bankers and lenders and use them for the genuine benefit of the poorer sectors of society. V 9: One who willfully flouts the Torah cannot expect his prayers to be heard. V 11: "This verse is speaking about a teacher and a student: when the student scrutinizes what the teacher says, this makes the teacher wise!" (Rashi). V 12: "At a time when the righteous rejoice because they enjoy great success and everything is done according to their instructions, great is the beauty and harmony of the place because the voice of the oppressor is not heard. But when the wicked rise to rule, it is then that 'a man is sought out,' because these wicked people seek them out to steal their possessions" (Metzudas David). Another way in which many smaller players tend to be "sought out" in the corrupt political life of our times is through being submitted to grueling trials by the public media over often tiny misdemeanors while the big fish are left to get away with murder. V 13: It is best to own up and confess to one's wrong-doing and to let go of it: this is what elicits God's compassion. V 14: When a person is fearful of the punishment for sin, this keeps him away from sin (Rashi).

V 17 refers to a person who leads another astray, causing him to lose his soul: the person who caused him to stumble may flee for help and atonement until the day of his death, but Heaven will not allow him to repent so that he should not sit in the Garden of Eden while his student is in hell (Yoma 87a). V 20: The "faithful man who abounds with blessings" is the person who gives his tithes to the poor "in faith" – i.e. he gives what he is obliged to give even though there is no witness to see exactly how much he gives. But God sees and multiplies his blessings (Rashi). V 21 is addressed to the judge, cautioning him to have no respect for person and not to take bribes – for how can a person twist judgment for a mere morsel of bread??? V 23: "One who rebukes a man shall in the end find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue" – "Anyone who rebukes his neighbor for the sake of heaven attains a share in God, and not only that, but a thread of kindness is drawn down upon him" (Tamid 28a). V 24: "One who robs his father and his mother and says, 'There is no transgression', is a companion of the destroyer" – "…his father…" is the Holy One blessed be He; "…his mother…" is the Assembly of Israel. One who causes the public to sin robs God, separating His children from Him, and robs them of goodness. The "destroyer" is Jeraboam (Rashi). This verse is also applied to a person who eats or has some other enjoyment from the world without making the appropriate BRACHAH (blessing) (Berachos 35a). V 27: One does not lose from giving a poor man help.

Chapter 29 V 4: "With justice does the king establish the land, but he that exacts gifts overthrows it" – "If the judge is like someone who does not need to buy lovers and take bribes, he will establish the land, but if he is like a priest going round to all the barns to ask for tithes, he will destroy it" (Kesubos 105b). V 7: "The righteous knows the cause (DIN) of the poor…" – he knows the suffering of the poor and what they require, and he gives his heart to them" (Rashi). V 8: The way of the scoffers is to foment strife, setting everywhere on fire, while the way of the righteous is to mediate peace and turn away people's wrath against their brothers. V 11: "A fool spends all his spirit, but the wise man stills it afterwards." When having to argue with a fool, it is often best to let him pour out everything he has to pour out before answering wisely in order to still him. V 12: "If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his servants are wicked" – "When the ruler listens to falsehood or accepts slanderous reports, all his attendants then turn into villains because in order to find favor in his eyes they give him slanderous reports and sin with their very souls" (Metzudas David). Parents, teachers, managers and leaders etc. who must constantly listen to what their children/students/workforce etc. have to say about each other should take careful note of Solomon's wisdom here.

V 13: "The poor man and the oppressor (ISH TECHOCHIM) meet together; HaShem enlightens the eyes of both of them." Metzudas David interprets the word rendered "oppressor" as someone that has been beaten down and broken, explaining that whether a person was born poor or was originally born rich but afterwards lost his wealth and was broken by the "illness" of poverty, this is not by chance. Everything comes from heaven through God's decree, and likewise if they afterwards become wealthy, this too is God's decree. Rashi interprets the ISH TECHOCHIM as a master of Torah, while the "poor man" is his student. When the student asks the teacher to teach him a chapter and the teacher does so, "God enlightens the eyes of both of them. Vv 15 & 17: "The rod and reproof give wisdom…" "Correct your son and he will give you rest…" – "If you do so, you will not get angry on his account and you will yet rejoice over his deeds" (Metzudas David). King Solomon taught the opposite of the widespread present-day philosophy of leaving children without moral direction. V 18: "When there is no vision, the people cast off restraint…" – "When Israel cause prophecy to depart from them through insulting the prophets, they breach holes in the walls and go astray" (Rashi). Part of the medicine is for us to study the prophets!!! V 21: "When a person spoils his servant from youth, in the end he will be a ruler" – The "servant" is the evil urge (Rashi). V 25: Is it the snare that causes man's fear, or his fear that causes a snare? The Hebrew can be read both ways, but Rashi's preferred interpretation is that the snare of a sin causes fear in man, i.e. if a person has sinned, this causes him to fear. This can be the key to many of people's phobias. V 26: Many people try to accomplish their goals by trying to "pull strings" and use the influence of those in positions of power, but in truth, whatever a person attains is decreed by God and instead of appealing for help from flesh and blood it would be better to start by appealing to the true Judge.

Chapter 30 V 1: "The words of Agur Bin Yakeh…" After the very lengthy series of profoundly wise proverbs stretching all the way from Chapter 10 until this point, the present abrupt introduction to the closing discourses of Proverbs is very surprising. No names are in the TaNaCh by chance. Each has its own meaning, overtones and midrashim. Agur is none other than Shlomo himself, who here calls himself AGUR from the Hebrew root AGAR, "he gathered" – for Solomon gathered and acquired Torah and understanding. BIN-YAKEH, the child that VOMITS! For he "vomited it out": The Torah writes "…and he shall not multiply wives for himself that his heart shall not go astray" – VE-OUCHAL, "and I shall be able": Solomon said, "I shall multiply but I shall not go astray" (Tanchuma). "The burden, says the man, unto Ithi-el, unto Ithi-el and I shall be able." The "man" = Shlomo, utters this burden = prophecy about himself, concerning Ithi-el (="God is with me"), because he depended upon his wisdom in multiplying gold, horses and wives, which the king is warned against, and he said "ITHI-EL, God is with me, and I shall be able: I shall multiply wives and they will not turn my heart astray, I shall multiply gold and not go astray, I will multiply horses and not return the people to Egypt" (Rashi).

V 2: "Surely I am brutish, unlike a man, and I do not have the understanding of a man" – Here Solomon expresses contrition, deploring his having relied on his own wisdom in a matter over which God warned him in case he would sin (Rashi). V 3: "And I have not learned wisdom that I should have the knowledge of the Holy One" – "because I subtracted from or added to the words of the Torah" (Rashi). Having spent the entire book of Proverbs urging us to seek wisdom, in these verses of contrition, Solomon is warning us not to depend on our own wisdom and reason but only upon the letter of the Torah, without seeking to change it or add or subtract in any way. V 4: Solomon's rhetorical questions in this verse are darshened in various ways as referring to God Himself, who gave the Torah, and to Moses, who ascended to Heaven and brought the Torah down to earth (Yalkut Shimoni, cf. Rashi, Metzudas). "What is his name and what is the name of his son" This is part of Solomon's selfreproof. As Rashi puts it: "If you say there was already someone else like him, tell me what his son's name is, from which family he came forth so that we may know who he is. "…if you know" – "if you know who he is; then how is it that you were not afraid to transgress His words?" Vv 7-9: Now Solomon prays to God, making two requests: (1) Keep me away from falsehood; (2) Provide my needs so I will be neither poor nor rich, lest I become haughty and deny God or so poor that I steal, lie and take His name in vain. V 10: This verse teaches that one should not cry to God asking Him to carry out judgment on someone, even if he is evil, not even if he and his generation carry out all the abominations enumerated in this and the ensuing verses (11-14). The proof is from the prophet Hoshea, who suggested that God should exchange Israel for another people, only to be commanded by God to take an adulterous woman as his wife (Rashi). Vv 15-17: "The leech has two daughters…" – "The two daughters are the Garden of Eden and Gehennom. The one says, 'Give me the Tzaddikim' while the other says, 'Give me the wicked'" (Rashi). King Solomon is teaching us his conclusion after having erred through relying on his own wisdom. "There is no wisdom and no understanding before God" – the Torah has decreed what is righteous and what is wicked, and this cannot be changed. One who mocks this wisdom will suffer. Vv 18ff: "There are three things that are too wonderful for me, yea four that I do not know" – "What this means is that just as there are three things that are concealed from me so that I do not know the path along which they went, so in the case of the fourth I do not know how to recognize the matter after it occurs" (Metzudas David). The fourth matter is expressed in v 20 – the way of an adulterous woman. For since she is married and no longer a virgin, if she has an adulterous relationship she can clean her "mouth" (down below) and no-one will be any the wiser. Solomon is deploring the adulterer and adulteress for believing that just as they can hide their act from men because of the speed and secrecy with which may be performed, so they think they can hide it from God. The third of the four things that were "too wonderful" for Shlomo was "the way of a man with a young woman" (v 19). It is particularly important for those who have suffered from exposure to non-Jewish distortions of the meaning of the Biblical texts to note that the Hebrew term for "young woman" in this verse is 'ALMA, and it is perfectly clear from the context – the WAY of a man – that this verse is referring to physical relations. In the words of Metzudas Tzion (=Metzudas David when he

defines the meanings of words) commenting on v 19: "A woman tender in years is called an ' ALMA even if she has had intercourse, as in 'Behold the young woman ('ALMA) has conceived' (Isaiah 7:14)". Careful contemplation of the meaning of these verses together with Metzudas' comment shows that the translation of ' ALMA in Isaiah 7:14 as a "virgin" is preposterous. V 21-3: The very earth quakes and rages over the upside-down human world in which slaves and maidservants rule – these are the empires of the Sitra Achra which rule during Israel's long exile. V 24ff: We should learn from the industriousness of the ants, the patience of the rabbits who labor despite their weakness until they succeed in boring holes even in the rocks, from the discipline of the locusts who unify even without a leader and from the self-sufficient spider, who even in the chambers of kings prefers to eat from the own labors of her own hands.

Chapter 31 V 1: "The words of King Lemu-el, the burden with which his mother corrected him." Like the first verse of the previous chapter, the king in this verse is interpreted in rabbinic midrash (Bereshis Rabba 10, Sanhedrin 70b) as referring to Solomon himself. He is LEMO-EL, facing or turned to God. He here recounts his mother's rebuke to him as if it is a prophecy received from God (Metzudas David). In the early sections of Proverbs, Solomon spoke of his father's chastisements to lead him on the path of wisdom. Now he speaks of those of his mother after the death of King David, after which he launches into a praise of the Wise Woman built as an acrostic on the letters of the Aleph Beis in vv 10-31 (Ibn Ezra). The rabbis tell that when King Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, on the day of the inauguration of the Temple she brought into him various kinds of musical instruments and he was awake for the whole night. The next morning he slept until the end of the fourth hour of the day, and because the keys of the Temple courtyard were under his pillow they were unable to offer the daily perpetual offering, and his mother entered and rebuked him in the words that follow" (Metzudas David). Bat-sheva's rebuke to Solomon consists of invaluable advice to the king not to dissipate his strength on women and not to drink, because wine is not for kings. "Open your mouth for the dumb…" (v 8) – "This means that if someone comes before you in judgment and is like a dumb person lacking the knowledge to order his claims and pleas, you should open your mouth for his sake to put his claims and pleas in order" (Metzudas David). The final advice to the king is that he must rule with justice (v 9). Vv 10-31, EISHES HAYIL, "A woman of valor," is well known to those who observe and love the holy Shabbos since this passage is recited weekly at the Friday night Shabbos table after greeting the angels prior to making the Kiddush. The evocation of the righteous, God-fearing woman makes a fitting conclusion to Solomon's Book of Proverbs, which has taken us along all the highways and byways of wisdom. Having warned repeatedly against succumbing to the allurements of the "strange woman" and her wares of heresy and sin, Solomon seals his book with the praises of "the woman that fears God" (v 30). On one level EISHES HAYIL is Solomon's praise of his own wise mother Bat-sheva (Metzudas). Midrashically, the passage is interpreted as a praise of the ideal woman of Israel as embodied in Sarah, the founding matriarch of the nation (Tanchuma). Rashi also interprets the Woman of Valor as referring to the Torah itself, and offers

a detailed commentary on the entire passage from this perspective. Metzudas David more specifically relates the Woman of Valor to man's intelligent soul, which may dwell with him to a greater or lesser extent depending upon his deeds. "Who is it that can attain the intelligent soul to perfection so as to know and understand by himself every word of wisdom and intelligence???" (Metzudas). "The Woman of Valor is the Torah: happy is he who is worthy of finding her! He eats the fruits in this world and the world to come… To those who study her, she brings blessing and sustenance… From the fruits of her works she planted a vineyard – Israel – to sustain them for the life of the world to come… She is not afraid of the snow – of Gehennom – for her household… They are clothed in scarlet – the blood of circumcision… She laughs on the last day – they do not have to be depressed about God's attribute of Judgment because they will be saved from it… She looks to the ways of her household – the Torah teaches the good pathway so as to separate oneself from sin. Her children – the students – rise up and call her blessed, and her husband – the Holy One blessed be He… Grace is deceitful – this is refers to all the nations and the vanity of their greatness and beauty. Give her – in time to come – of the fruit of her hands – beauty, greatness, strength, glory and rulership" (Rashi).

Book of Job Chapter 1 The book of Job is unique in the entire Bible canon as being a complete work devoted to one question: Why do good people suffer? This question has proved to be a most difficult and, at times, insuperable challenge to many people's faith in the God of justice. The identity of Job himself and that of the author of the book bearing his name are both obscure in the extreme. The Talmud in Bava Basra (15b) brings no fewer than eight different opinions as to the period of time in which Job lived: at the time of the Exodus / in the time of the spies / in the time of Ezra / in the days of the Judges / in the time of Ahasuerus / during the ascendancy of Sheba / during the ascendancy of the Chaldeans / in the time of Jacob. The same passage in the Talmud also brings another opinion – that Job never existed at all but is a purely allegorical figure. Perhaps this opinion comes to emphasize that it hardly matters when Job actually lived or, because in truth he is a universal figure and the lessons to be learned from his book apply in all ages. They apply not only to the people of Israel, to whom most of the books of the Bible are primarily addressed, but to all humanity. Thus although, according to some of the rabbinic opinions cited in the Talmud, Job could have been an Israelite, the most widely accepted opinion is that he was a righteous gentile, and it is precisely this that gives the book its universality. Job's own testimony about his upright path (chapter 29) provides a shining ideal to which all mankind should aspire. When Job's companions came to comfort him in his suffering, they argued that suffering is sent to man because of his sins and that Job could therefore not have been completely righteous. Yet Job himself was unwavering in his protestations of his own innocence, and most of the rabbis agreed that Job did not sin. It is his very innocence that makes him the exemplar of the suffering Tzaddik, whereas had he sinned, it would have detracted from his quest to unravel the mystery of why the righteous suffer. Many of the rabbis were of the opinion that the book of Job was written prophetically by Moses. V 1: "There was a man in the land of OOTZ …" The commentators associate this land with Aram Naharayim, where Nahor the brother of Abraham lived (Gen. 24:10) – Ootz was Nahor's firstborn (ibid. v 22). Targum on Lamentations 4:21 identifies "the land of OOTZ" with Armenia , stating that this was inhabited by Edomites. Ibn Ezra and Ramban (on Job 1:1) concur in identifying Ootz as a land inhabited by Edomites. Ramban suggests that Job was a descendant of Abraham through Esau and that he knew his Creator and served him through fulfilling all the MITZVOS dictated by human reason and commonsense, in particular the MITZVOS of the heart, the root of all of which is the fear of God. Ramban argues that Job's companions were also Edomites, and in his introduction to the book of Job he suggests that it is appropriate that the lengthy dialogs it contains about human

suffering are attributed to the descendants of Esau, the archetype of the swordwielding warrior, symbolizing the Accuser who brings punishment into the world. "And this man was pure and righteous and he feared God and turned aside from evil." This description is to be taken at face value since these are not the words of Job himself but those of the author of the book. Vv 2ff: Job attained the very summit of material success, possessing abundant livestock – the main wealth in antiquity – as well as being blessed with seven sons and three daughters, who lived in the lap of luxury, feasting every single day. For fear that his children may have become arrogant and denied God, Job regularly offered OLAH (whole burnt) offerings on their behalf. Verse 5 is adduced by the Talmud as proof that out of all the different kinds of Temple sacrifices, the OLAH offering specifically came to atone for untoward thoughts (Yerushalmi Yoma 42a). V 6: "And the day came when all the sons of God came to stand before HaShem…" – "This whole matter could have been known only by way of prophecy" (Ramban ad loc.). The prophet who wrote the book of Job depicts the heavenly scene on "THE DAY" – "this was Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment" (Rashi) – when all the angels gathered in the BEIS DIN SHEL MA'ALAH, the "heavenly court". Although God is perfect unity and encompasses and includes all His angels, they are depicted as being "separate" from Him and "standing before Him" because each of the different angels depicts a different aspect or quality. "…and the Satan too came in their midst." Again, God is perfect unity, but there is an aspect that comes to test and try men, and this aspect is embodied in the figure of the "Satan". The Hebrew word Satan relates to the word SITNAH (Gen. 26:21 and Ezra 4:6) meaning strife and accusation. Commenting on our verse, the sages of the Talmud stated that the Satan has three roles. (1) He is the Tempter or YETZER RA, man's evil inclination. (2) Having tempted man and caused him to stumble, he then stands up as the Accuser, pointing to man's sins and demanding retribution. (3) Having indicted man, he comes to punish him in his third role, as the Angel of Death (Bava Basra 16a). Vv 8-9: God Himself attests that in spite of Job's outstanding material success, he had not sinned in the way that so many of the wealthy and powerful sin, with arrogance and the denial of God. Yet the Satan argues that Job's righteousness had not yet been genuinely tested since he had been insulated from poverty and other harsh aspects of life. Vv 11ff: The Satan demands that Job be tested to see if he will not blaspheme when he has a taste of suffering. God gives Satan authority to destroy Job's wealth and kill all his children – yet even in the face of these terrible calamities, Job does not complain that God has been unjust. Instead he stoically states in his immortal words: "Naked I came forth from my mother's belly and naked shall I return there. HaShem gave and HaShem took away – let the name of HaShem be blessed (v 21).

Chapter 2 "Health, children and livelihood are not dependent on merit but upon MAZAL" (='fortune'?)" (Mo'ed Katan 28a). So far the Satan had struck at two of the three fundamental pillars of Job's life – his livelihood (wealth) and children. But even this was not enough of a test.

V 4: "Skin covers skin…" If a person sees a blow coming to the skin of his face, he instinctively raises his hand to protect himself, preferring to suffer the blow on the skin of his hand in order to protect his head (see Rashi and Metzudas David on this verse). The Satan argues that Job had been content to suffer the loss of his wealth and children in order to protect himself from the loss of his life, but claims that as soon as the blow will come to Job's very skin and bones, he will break down and curse God because of his suffering. God now authorizes the Satan to submit Job to the worst of all tests, physical illness and pain, as long as he does not actually kill him. Job's wife sees his terrible suffering and asks him what point there is in continuing to serve God now that he has lost everything: he might as well curse his bad fortune and die since he has nothing to live for. Job answers her with another immortal line (v 11): "Shall we accept the good from God but not accept the bad?" In verse 11 our text testifies that even in the face of this terrible physical suffering, Job did not sin with his lips. The Talmud infers that "with his lips he did not sin, but he sinned in his heart! What did he say? 'The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, He covers the face of its judges' (Job 9:24)" (Bava Basra 16a). This implies that in his heart Job wondered if there is really a God. Since most of us have such thoughts at one time or another, it is somewhat comforting that even the righteous Job could not avoid them. Had he never had any doubts at all, he would have been a plastic Tzaddik. The fact that he did have them makes him all the more real. V 11: "And three friends of Job heard…" Given that they all lived at great distances from one another in the days before emails, phones and faxes, how did they know that their friend was in trouble? "Some say that they each had a crown on which were modeled the faces of each one of them, and when suffering befell one of them, his face changed. Others say that they each had a tree and because it withered, they knew" (Bava Basra 16b). When Job's friends arrived they could not even recognize him because of his abject suffering. Nobody could bring himself to speak for seven days until at last Job opened his mouth and "cursed his day", as we will see in the following chapter. From the description of how Job's friends sat down on the ground to empathize with him and did not speak until he spoke first, the rabbis learned several important laws of conduct for those coming to comfort mourners (Moed Katan 18a).

Chapter 3 STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK OF JOB Chapter 3 consists of Job's opening speech wishing that he had never been born rather than having to suffer in life, apparently for no just or intelligible reason. In chapters 4-5, Eliphaz HaTeimni, the leader of the three companions, answers Job, after which the latter speaks again in chapters 6-7. Job is then answered in chapter 8 by the second of his three companions, Bildad HaShoohi, and Job answers back in chapters 9-10. Next, in chapter 11, the third companion, Tzophar HaNaamasi, answers Job, who replies in chapters 12-14. The cycle repeats itself in exactly the same way in chapters 15-21, where the three companions successively answer Job, who answers them back after each of their speeches. There is then a third cycle of speeches in chapters 22-31, in which Eliphaz and Bildad (but not Tzophar) again address and are answered by Job. Job's answer to Bildad is contained in chapters 26-31, in which Job gives a lengthy

defense of himself, finally silencing his three companions, who despair of persuading him to change his view of his situation in any way. A new interlocutor – Eli-hoo ben Barach-el – then enters and embarks on a lengthy address to Job in chapters 32-37. After this, God Himself addresses Job in chapters 38-41 in what is surely one of the most beautiful passages in all of Biblical literature. Finally, in chapter 42, God "adjudicates" in the debate between Job and his companions, and at last restores the chastened Job to a life of prosperity, wellbeing and honor. Chapter 3 vv 1-2: "And Job spoke and said, Oh that the day on which I was born had perished…" An invaluable insight into Job's stance is provided by the outstanding Talmudic scholar and Biblical commentator RaMBaN (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, or Nachmanides 1197-c.1270) in his comment on how Job "cursed his day": "We find the prophets cursing in this way, for Jeremiah also said 'cursed be the day on which I was born' (Jer. 20:14) but in Job's case the intention was bad and his companions understood what he was thinking from what he said. When Job saw the many terrible troubles and evil that came upon him – and he himself knew his own righteousness – he thought that perhaps God is neither aware of nor makes a reckoning of men's deeds and that there is no watchful providence over them. He started by saying that it is the influence of the planets and stars on the day and hour of people's birth that determine the good and evil that will befall them. He inclined to the view of the astrologers and therefore opened by cursing the day on which he was born, thinking that this was what caused him this evil. He argued that because of man's inferiority and God's exaltedness, He pays him no attention. Thus man is under the rule of chance according to what the stars determine and how they rule on earth. Thus Job believed that the same applies to man as we believe applies to animals – that there is no supreme guardianship over them except to keep their species in existence, but that no individual member of the species receives either punishment or reward. In the case of animals we do not say they sinned when they get slaughtered or that they must have been meritorious if they have a long life, and we see that their livelihood is available in plenty [and not governed by a higher Providence ]. This is his meaning in this first speech" (Ramban on Job 3:2). The Biblical commentator Metzudas David, who provides a brief summary after each of the speeches of Job and his companions, takes a line similar to that of Ramban in his summary of Job's opening speech: "Job was perplexed and fell into doubt, thinking that everything that happens to man is determined by the heavenly order of the stars and planets in accordance with the way they rule at the moment of conception and birth. This is why Job cursed his day of birth and the night when he was conceived. He also complains against God, who laid down this governmental order, asking why He did not so arrange things that someone who was born under the order that ruled when he was born should not die either in his mother's womb or at the moment of birth so as not to suffer such evil, for it would be better for him to die" (Metzudas David on Job 3:25). From the fact that Job curses the DAY on which he was born but the NIGHT on which he was conceived, the Rabbis learned that it is not fitting for man and wife to come together by day (Niddah 16b). Verses 1-8 elaborate on Job's curse of his day of birth and night of conception, while in verses 9ff he explains WHY he was cursing them – because it would have been better for him to have died in the womb or immediately after being born

rather than having to endure his present suffering. In verses 12-18 Job explains that death would have been better because – according to his understanding – death is a "sleep" and a "rest" (v 12). In verses 12-18 Job expresses how death is the great equalizer, because death comes to all, great and small. In verses 19-25 Job asks why God gives life to those who are suffering when in fact they are longing to die. V 24: "For the thing that I had feared has come upon me…" We are all uncomfortably aware that but for the grace of God, we could also be in the same terrible position as Job, and indeed many of those suffering from illness and other troubles and afflictions are only too familiar with Job's frustration at having been born and his longing to die.

Chapter 4 Eliphaz of Teiman's reply to Job is contained in chapters 4 and 5. Rashi (on Job 4:1) states that Eliphaz is identical with Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau (Genesis 36:4) and that because he was raised on Isaac's lap he merited that the Shechinah rested upon him. Rashi states that Teiman (=Yemen/Aden) was part of the land belonging to Esau. Vv 2-6: Eliphaz chastises Job for complaining against God's government of the world. Job had chastised others and given them support in their suffering, but now that his turn came to suffer he was already "exhausted" and unable to come to terms with it and accept that it was just. In verse 6 Eliphaz says that this showed retroactively that the "fear" of God Job had displayed in better times was not based on pure love but rather on the expectation of reward. Vv 7-11: Eliphaz argues that calamity and suffering come upon men because of their sins and evil. V 12: "Now a word came stealthily to me…" Having chastised Job for complaining about his suffering, Eliphaz now states that on Job's account a prophecy has been sent to him. Verses 12-16 evoke the way in which he experienced the prophecy. Rashi (on v 12) comments that the prophecy came in this stolen manner "because holy spirit is not revealed to the prophets of the heathens in a manifest way [as in the case of the prophets of Israel, who say, "Thus said HaShem…"]. This can be compared to the case of a king who has a wife and a concubine. When he comes into his wife he comes openly, but when he comes into his concubine he does so secretly and with stealth. This is how the Holy One blessed be He comes to the prophets of the heathens. 'And God came to Avimelech in a dream of the night' (Gen. 20:3), and this was how He came to Laban (Gen. 31:24). Likewise Bilaam was 'fallen and with open eyes' (Numbers 24:4)… But in the case of he prophets of Israel, it is written: 'Mouth to mouth shall I speak in him, in a vision and not in riddles' (Numbers 12:5). Verses 17-24 express the content of Eliphaz's prophetic message for Job. This is that it is not possible that man could be more pure and righteous than God who made him. It is inconceivable that a fully-rounded and mature man who had to establish some system for governing people would arrange things such that good and bad people would be treated in one and the same way. If so, how could anyone imagine that God would have given over everything into the hands of the heavenly order of stars and planets – for in that case the righteous and the wicked would be

treated in exactly the same way, and then man (who would not arrange things in such a way) would be more righteous than God (see Metzudas David on Job 4:17).

Chapter 5 Job Chapter 5 is the continuation of the speech of Eliphaz which began in the previous chapter. In the Massoretic Hebrew text there is no break of any kind between the two chapters. The previous chapter had ended with the prophetic message that Eliphaz had received for Job – that man is not more righteous than God and that His order of government must be just. Rashi (on Job 5:1) explains that Eliphaz' prophecy ended at the end of the previous chapter and now he returns to his rebuke. Ch 5 V 1: "Call now – is there anyone that will answer you?" – Metzudas David explains that Eliphaz is rebuking Job, saying that he has become a disgrace in God's eyes for kicking in protest against his suffering, so that now neither God nor any interceding angel ("the holy ones") will answer him. V 2: "For anger kills the foolish man…" – "For the anger of a fool like you kills him, because if you had kept silent God's attribute of compassion might have restored to you" (Rashi). When we become angry in the face of suffering, we make it impossible for ourselves to come to terms with it, and our life is simply consumed through our own folly. Vv 3-5: Eliphaz returns to his theme that Job must have sinned, because wickedness may succeed temporarily but cannot endure forever. Eventually someone who oppressed and exploited others is punished by having his children become helpless orphans while his illicitly acquired wealth is returned to the poor from whom it was taken. V 6: "For affliction does not come out of the dust…" – "A blow that comes to a man does not come for nothing and does not simply spring out of the dust" (Rashi). V 7: "For man is born to trouble" – "for it is not possible that he will not sin and as a result receive trouble in order to receive his punishment. Man is not like the 'sparks that fly upwards' – these are the angels and spirits, who fly upwards and are not from the lower realms such that the Satan and the evil inclination could rule over them" (Rashi). Ramban (on vv 7-8) writes that the two verses are connected together: Man is born to a life of exertion and anger and he cannot be saved from this, because God Himself brings this upon him just as He has made it the nature of the 'sparks' to fly upwards. "But I would seek to God…" (v 8): It is impossible to ascribe this governmental system to any planet or constellation but only to HaShem alone, for He deals with men's sins justly. In vv 9ff Eliphaz begins recounting the praises of God, who governs even the rains with Providence. V 10 is cited in Taanis 10a as proof that God Himself sends the rains in the Land, i.e. of Israel, while the HOUTZOS, the outside lands, are sent rains through His agents. These are aspects of His Providence. God lowers and raises up, frustrating the thoughts of the crafty (v 12) who wrongly believe that they can succeed in their devices. But God knows that the frustration of their plans and the suffering He sends them is for their own ultimate good (Ramban).

V 16: "So the poor person has hope and iniquity stops up her mouth" – everything works out justly in the end. V 17: The moral of Eliphaz' entire speech is that if a person suffers, it is for his own good, and he must not reject God's rebuke. It is God alone who sends suffering (v 18) and He too has the power to heal, saving the person from many evils. The seven evils from which He saves are: hunger, war, slander, robbers, famine causing unaffordable prices, wild animals and stumbling blocks (Metzudas). Vv 24ff: If only Job will accept his suffering with patience and humility, Eliphaz promises him that all will be well, his offspring will multiply and flourish and he will die satisfied. Metzudas David summarizes Eliphaz' answer to Job as follows: "Eliphaz asserts definitively that everything comes through Providence, bringing proof from the way the wicked fall and cannot rise up, whereas the righteous are not destroyed in this way. Eliphaz refutes Job's view that everything is entrusted to the mechanistic order of the stars and planets and that the righteous and wicked both suffer one and the same fate. If a human were to devise such a system it would be considered to be abominable even though man is imperfect and cannot even be compared to the angels let alone to the Holy One. It is inconceivable that there could be any injustice in God's way of governing the world. If there are things that seem to come in an arbitrary way as a result of the mechanistic order of the heavens, the truth is that everything comes about through Providence and it is only because of the limitations of human understanding that we are unable to know their real meaning. As we follow the successive arguments and counter-arguments of Job and his companions, it will be wise to bear in mind that we are not expected to determine which side is right and which is wrong. The purpose of the complex weave of arguments and counter-arguments in this sacred text is to explore and help us understand the many different and often contradictory aspects of the profoundly difficult question of why people suffer.

Chapter 6 Job's reply to Eliphaz begins in chapter 6 and continues to the end of chapter 7. Eliphaz had criticized Job's fool's anger (5:2). Now Job answers that his pain and anger simply cannot be measured and this is why he has been driven to distraction (ch 6 vv 2-3) because of God's terrible chastisement. V 5: "Does the wild ass bray when he has grass…? – "Am I crying out for nothing? Even a foolish animal doesn't bray when it has food" (Rashi). V 6: "Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt…" – "Do you really believe that Eliphaz' arguments can be accepted when they contain no substance?" (Rashi). V 7: According to the commentators (Rashi, Metzudas), Job expresses now the disgust of his soul at his repulsive affliction of boils. Vv 8f: This is why he begs and hopes for death, and he is not afraid of this because he knows that he has not denied the words of the Holy One – he has not committed any sin. V 11ff: "What is my strength that I should hope?" Eliphaz had advised Job that if he would only accept his suffering stoically all would be well in the end, but Job (who

was actually going through the suffering rather than merely observing it from the outside like his companions) explains that he has no strength to wait for the end because the suffering is so intolerable. Vv 15-21: Job feels betrayed by his friends, comparing them to a river that flows abundantly when the snows melt but which disappears in the heat of summer precisely when people need it, causing them only disappointment. Vv 22-23: Job tells his companions that he has not asked them for any gift of money, or to do anything themselves to save him from his adversary. V 24: All he is asking them is to teach and show him the meaning of his suffering. Vv 25f: What are all their words of reproof worth if they cannot show him this? Vv 28: Job pleads with his companions to hear him out carefully and see his innocence.

Chapter 7 Chapter 7 continues Job's reply to Eliphaz, which started at the beginning of Chapter 6. At the end of Chapter 6 Job had protested his innocence of any sin that could be accounted as the cause of his suffering, asking his companions to examine carefully and see that he had committed no wrong. Now in Chapter 7 Job counters Eliphaz' argument that if he would only submit to his suffering and accept its purgative power, God would in the end "settle" with him, protect him from trouble and evil and show him goodness. Vv 1-2: "Is there not a limit to man's service on earth…" Man's life has an end: he is like a hired laborer whose contract is for a limited period and who longs for it to come to an end. Job is unable to wait for the good end promised by Eliphaz because his suffering is so great that his only hope is to die. In vv 3-4 Job depicts the terrible suffering caused by his illness. His pain keeps him awake all night hoping for relief in the morning, and when the relief does not come he tosses and turns on his bed all day hoping for relief in the evening. In v 5 Job depicts the horrible effects of the boils with which he is afflicted, which are full of maggots, while his skin is cracked and disintegrating. Vv 6-10: Job feels that his life is "slipping through his fingers" at a rate faster than that of the weaver's shuttle, and there is therefore no hope of a better future. Vv 7-9: "My eye shall no more see good… As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave shall come up no more." From here the Rabbis learned that Job denied in the resurrection of the dead (Rashi & Metzudas David ad loc.; Bava Basra 16a). If death is but a sleep (Job 3:12) and there is no afterlife, what hope is there of a better future for Job if his life in this world is slipping away consumed by his suffering? V 11: "I ALSO shall not restrain my mouth." Job is saying that if God will not leave him alone and refrain from hurting him, he too will not restrain himself from crying out over His way of dealing with him. If he complains, it is because of the terrible bitterness of his soul.

V 12: "Am I a sea or a sea monster that You set a watch against me?" The sea is limited by the shore, and the sea monster cannot move beyond the depths of the sea. Similarly Job feels God has set a watch against him from which he cannot escape, because of the Satan, who has been charged to ensure that despite his suffering the soul will not go out of him, so that there is no refuge for him in death (see Rashi). Vv 13-16: Job is sick of this life of suffering, in which he finds no relief or comfort but only anguish. He would much prefer to die. Vv 17-18: Job now challenges Eliphaz' argument that everything is under God's Providence, asking how it could be fitting that God would constantly watch over man and pay attention to his deeds when man is so lowly and despicable. V 18: "That You should remember him every morning and try him at every moment." From this verse the Rabbis learned that man is judged every day and at every moment (Rosh HaShanah 16a). V 19 is the desperate cry of the suffering invalid: How long before You will leave me alone? You do not even give me a moment to swallow! Vv 20-21: Job now asks how it could affect or harm God even if he had sinned. If God knew from the very outset of Job's creation that this is how it would be, why did He create him simply in order to take vengeance from him like the target of an arrow? Why can He not simply take away his sin since his life will soon be over?

Chapter 8 The second of Job's three companions, Bildad HaShoohi, now makes his contribution to the first cycle of arguments and counterarguments, answering Job by asking how it could be possible that God would corrupt justice (v 3). V 4: If Job's children died, this must have been because of their sinful life of constant banqueting (Metzudas David). Vv 5-7: If, as Job claims, he is innocent, then God will surely "settle" with him in the end so that although he is suffering now, he will enjoy relief later on. Vv 8-10: Bildad adduces the wisdom handed down from the earliest generations based on their experience and investigations. Vv 11ff: Bildad explains this received wisdom through the metaphor of the reed grass and rushes, which expresses the evanescence of the success of the wicked. As long as the reeds and rushes have an abundant supply of water they flourish, but as soon as the water disappears they dry up and wither. Similarly the wicked flourish as long as the hour "laughs" at them, but as soon as their measure is complete, the success in which they trusted turns out to be as flimsy as a spider's web. There is a difference in the way vv 16-19 are explained by Rashi and Ramban on the one hand as opposed to the way they are explained by Metzudas David on the other. Rashi and Ramban explain vv 16-19 as a continuation of the metaphor of the reed grass and rushes. No matter how extensively their roots may spread, as soon as

they are consumed they disappear for ever and it is as if they had never been in the place where they grew. However according to Metzudas David's interpretation, vv 16-19 contain a second metaphor expressing how the righteous endure and are regenerated, as opposed to the wicked who were compared to the reed grass that quickly dries up and disappears. Thus Metzudas David interprets v 16 as referring to a mighty tree that remains moist even when it stands in the sun, and its branches spread over the whole garden where it is planted. Its extensive roots reach down to deep deposits of water. Metzudas David explains vv 17-18 as saying that such a tree is so strong that even if it is transplanted so that it is as if it never existed in its first place, even so, it has the power to regenerate itself and grow even better in the new place to which it is transplanted. According to Metzudas David, the metaphor comes to teach that even the trouble that strikes the righteous, who are compared to a mighty tree with extensive roots, is actually for their benefit because since the tree is intrinsically strong. Even when it is transplanted elsewhere, it still has the power to grow and flourish. Likewise even when the Tzaddikim are "transplanted" into a life of suffering, it can still be turned to their advantage even though we cannot know how this is so because of the limitations of human understanding. Vv 20: Bildad's inference from this received wisdom of the early generations is that if Job is truly pure and innocent, God will not reject him and eventually the tables will be turned on his adversaries.

Chapter 9 In his speech in the previous chapter, Bildad, like Eliphaz before him, had argued that everything is under God's direct providence and that if the wicked enjoy goodness, it will turn out to be to their detriment, while the evil that befalls the righteous will turn out to be for their good. In answering Bildad in this and the following chapter, Job's main complaint is that he is pure and righteous and that suffering has come upon him despite his innocence. Job agrees with Bildad that God cuts off the wicked, but argues that the righteous also do not escape from His hand and that He deals in the same way with the pure and with the wicked. V 2: "…but how should a man be just before God?" – Metzudas David explains: "My entire complaint is: What kind of reward is this if a person acts justly before God and goes in His ways yet is also left to the government of the heavenly system of stars and planets and suffers the same fate of the wicked?" V 3: But if the righteous man wants to argue with God over the loss of his reward, God will not even answer one out of a thousand of his questions. V 4: God is wise to perfection and supremely powerful, and it is therefore impossible for a lowly mortal to argue against Him. Vv 5-10 evoke the supreme power of God. He makes earthquakes (vv 5-6) and nobody really knows why they are sent. "He commands the sun and it does not rise" (v 7) – "The darkening of the sun through God's decree is a metaphor for the destruction of one empire and the rise of another" (Ramban). God's wondrous ways are beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

V 11: "Even though He is constantly passing before me and the whole world is full of His glory, I cannot see Him and even though He passes before me I am unable to understand his form or likeness" (Metzudas David). V 12: He can snatch away a man with great power and speed and nobody can challenge Him and ask why He does this. Vv 13-15: Even the celestial angels could not come to the help of proud Egypt (=Rahab). How much less so can a weak human like Job challenge God. Metzudas David notes that at times Job asserts that he does want to argue with God, while at other times he says he is unable to argue with Him: this is the way of a person who is wracked with pain and one time says one thing and another time something else. V 16: "If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that he had listened to my voice" – Job is saying that it seems so inconceivable to him that God would listen to him that even if it happened, he would not believe it. Job could not believe that everything he was suffering was under God's detailed providence, as he goes on to explain: V 17: "For he crushes me with a storm and multiplies my wounds without cause." If a storm wind comes, it causes suffering to all and does not discriminate between the righteous and the wicked – Job felt that all his suffering was for nothing. V 19: "If the suffering that he has brought upon me is because of His great power and might, I know that He is all-powerful and nothing is held back from Him. But if my suffering has been sent through the attribute of justice, if only someone would appoint a day when we can come together to judge and determine who is in the right" (Metzudas David). Vv 20-21: Job holds resolutely that he is innocent, but feels unable to stand up to God and assert his innocence because in his human weakness and lowliness he will never be able to make his point. V 22: "Therefore I said, It is all one: he destroys the innocent and the wicked." This is Job's argument against Bildad, who said that the suffering of the righteous is for their good, which is not so in the case of the wicked. Job asserts that suffering afflicts the righteous and the wicked equally and does not discriminate between them. The "scourge" (Heb. SHOT) that strikes suddenly and laughs at the innocent (v 23) is the SATan (Rashi). V 24: "The earth is given into the hands of the wicked. He covers the face of its judges. If this is not so, who will get up and deny it?" – "As long as the wicked man lives, the earth is his to do has he desires, to rob and oppress, and because of his great power, even the judges of the earth hide their eyes from him so as not to look upon his deeds" (Metzudas David). Vv 25-31: Job is haunted by the speed with which his life is slipping away. He is convinced that even if he holds his peace and stops complaining about his unjust suffering, God will still not send him relief, because even if he were to repent and chastise himself to cleanse himself of any sin, God will still send him down to the grave and never restore him to his former self. If he cries out and tries to justify himself, he will still come out as if a wicked man, while if he remains silent he will gain nothing. "Woe to me if I speak, and woe to me if I don't" (Ramban). Vv 32ff: Job yearns for an impartial arbitrator before whom he can argue against God without feeling fear of God's overweening power and might.

Chapter 10 One cannot but admire Job's unflinching boldness in refusing to accept his companions' view that he must have sinned and insisting on his own innocence. Only Job himself knew what was truly in his heart and whether or not he had sinned. For this reason, whenever he wants to press the question of why the righteous suffer, he complains about his own suffering rather than about that of anyone else, because he could never know from the outside if that other person was truly righteous or not (see Ramban on Job 9:25). V 2: "I say to God, Do not condemn me, let me know for what reason You are contending with me" – Job is complaining that although he is righteous, he is suffering in the same way as the wicked deserve to suffer. This is why he wants God to explain to him the reason for his own suffering in order not to equated with the wicked. V 3: Why does God oppress the righteous – the work of His hands – yet gives success to the wicked? V 4: Surely God sees into the heart of each one – if so why does He treat the righteous no differently from the wicked? V 9: God formed Job like a potter makes a vessel out of clay: why does He now want to return him to the dust? Vv 10ff: After having formed Job's body so wondrously, why is He now destroying him? V 15: "If I am wicked, woe is me, and if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head…" Job again emphasizes that he sees no difference between the fate of the wicked and that of the righteous. Vv 16ff: Again Job wishes that he had never been born or that he had died at birth and gone straight to the grave instead of having his present life of futile suffering.

Chapter 11 The third of Job's companions, Tzophar the Na'amatite, now answers him. Ramban (on Job 11:2) explains that "Tzophar's intention was to give support to the argument of his companions that Job had sinned and this was why all this evil had come upon him. The new idea that he introduces is that some of God's deeds are revealed while some are concealed. For God overlooks the sins of the wicked and although He sees their evil, He does not at first pay attention in case they will repent. All this is because of His mercy over His works. If He benefits the wicked and shows them mercy, how much more so will He not harm the righteous. The only reason why suffering has come upon Job is to prompt him to direct his heart to repentance and to stretch out his hands to God in prayer, and in the end he will attain tranquility. For the tranquility of the wicked turns into calamity in the end if they do not repent. Thus Job's problem over the cases of the wicked people who enjoy a good life turns into a proof of God's mercy over His creations – for He does not reject the work of His hands. All the more so will He not harm the righteous." Vv 5-6: But oh that God would speak… and He would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for wisdom is manifold!" The Hebrew phrase for "wisdom is manifold" is KIPHLAYIM (="there is double…") LE-TOOSHIYAH (="…to wisdom"). The Hebrew word

TOOSHIYAH is from the root YESH, "it exists", because God's wisdom is forever and never returns to nothingness in the way everything else does (Metzudas Tzion). In the words of Ramban (on v 6), "All that visibly exists in the world is double and contains both revealed wisdom and hidden wisdom. That is to say, God's Providence over the creations is good both on the revealed and concealed level." Tzophar tells Job that God has exacted less of a payment for his iniquity than is warranted, and this is proof that He will not exact any more than is warranted. Vv 7-10: God's wisdom is unfathomable and nobody can call Him to account for what He does. V 11: God sees men's iniquity and if He appears to pay no attention, it is because He shows patience in case they will repent (see Rashi). V 12: Even an empty, foolish man can gain himself a heart and subject himself selfreckoning and return to his Creator. Man starts life as a wild ass's colt, but he has the power to teach himself to be a new man and follow a good path (see Rashi, Metzudas David). Vv 20: If Job will come to his senses and distance himself from any sins he may have committed, his suffering will pass and he will have a good end.

Chapter 12 Job's answer to Tzophar occupies the whole of Chapters 12-14. Job's opening words can be construed as if he is denigrating his companions for thinking that they alone have wisdom. However Ramban prefers to interpret that Job shows respect for his companions, who were the choicest sages of their generation and could fittingly be called a "nation" since other people were animals compared to them. Nevertheless, Job protests that he is no less than them, and he also knows that God is exalted and concealed from the understanding of His creations, who cannot fathom His ways (Ramban on Job 12:2-3). Job complains that he has become a laughing stock to his friends, who maintain that he must have been wicked when in fact he knows he is innocent. Vv 5ff: Job suggests that his friends, smugly satisfied with their own success, show contempt for him because he has stumbled. He implies that as they sit back, unscathed and complacent, they are like the wicked who enjoy tranquility and prosperity. Vv 7ff: "But ask now the beasts and they shall teach you…" Tzophar and his companions had spoken as if they had a monopoly of wisdom, but Job retorts that the unfathomable depth of God's wisdom can be inferred by all from the animals, birds and fish of the sea in all their manifold variety. V 11: "Does not the ear try words as the palate tastes food…" Many things can be understood from experience or through reason. V 12: "With aged men is wisdom…" Through many years of experience men can become wise: wisdom is not exclusively in the hands of Job's companions. Vv 14ff: Job is no less aware than Tzophar of the paradoxical nature of God's ways. These beautiful verses in which Job depicts how the high and mighty are brought down and the wise are shown to be ignorant serves as an introduction to the next part of Job's answer to Tzophar, which comes in the following chapters, because he

wants to break out of simple explanations and conventional categories in seeking an answer to his question about why the innocent suffer.

Chapter 13 Chapters 13 and 14 are the continuation of Job's answer to Tzophar, which began at the start of chapter 12. Tzophar had been the third of Job's companions to address him, and his was the last of the first cycle of speeches. Having heard the arguments of all three of his companions, Job now addresses his answer to all three collectively. In the opening section of his reply in the previous chapter, Job had denied Tzophar's view that he had attained little wisdom and that Tzophar and his companions were wiser, Now Job castigates the three of them for "flattering" God and finding justifications for His chastisements, as if Job was a great sinner when in fact he was not. Job refutes Tzophar's opinion that his suffering had come upon him because he was not as wise as he should have been on his level. Job argues that, being born in and through impurity, it is impossible for any man to be completely pure and it would not make sense that God would punish him because of this (Metzudas David on Job 14:22). Chapter 13 v 1: "Lo, my eye has seen all this…" Job protests that he is no less wise than his companions. V 3: "Yet I would speak to the Almighty…" Job wants to get to the real truth and not accept his companions' glib answers. V 4: "But you are forgers of lies…" Granted that the wicked suffer because of their sins, Job maintains that his companions' answers still fail to explain why the innocent suffer, and therefore their answers are lies. V 7: "Will you speak wickedly for God…?" It is wickedness to condemn an innocent man in order to justify God (Metzudas David). V 8: "Will you show Him partiality…?" If the companions show favor to God in this debate and satisfy themselves with easy answers in order not to impugn His honor, this is an affront to truth and justice. V 13: "Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak and let come on me what will." With extraordinary boldness and courage, Job is determined to press his question without compromise. V 15: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him; but I will maintain my own ways before Him." Job will prove himself innocent, no matter what he may have to endure to do so. V 20: "Only do not do two things to me…" The two things Job asks God not to do to him are enumerated in v 21: (1) Not to deal him any blow during their "debate" so as not to throw him into confusion. (2) Not to frighten him so that he will not shrivel into silence out of fear (cf. Metzudas David). Vv 23f: Job returns to his fundamental challenge to God to make known to him what sin or transgression he has committed to deserve such suffering, because he is not aware of any (Metzudas David).

V 28: "And he is consumed like rottenness, like a garment eaten by moths" – "This body that you are persecuting will be consumed like rottenness: it does not befit Your glory to persecute me!" (Rashi).

Chapter 14 Vv 1-3: "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble… And do you open Your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with You?" Since man is so fragile and evanescent, Job questions why God watches over and judges a creature as lowly as this. V 4: "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one!" Man comes from a putrid, impure drop – how is it possible for man to be pure? There is not a single man who is entirely pure: even the righteous are conceived in sin (cf. Psalms 51:7; Metzudas David, Ramban). V 6: Again Job appeals to God to take away his suffering and let him live out the remainder of his short life in peace before he is ready to die. V 7: "For a tree has hope…" Even after a tree is cut down, the stump can still put forth new shoots and regenerate, but this is not so in the case of a man: V 10: "But man dies and is laid low; yes, man perishes, and where is he?" V 14: "If a man dies, shall he live again?" If man could to come back to life after death this might provide the basis for an answer to Job's question about the meaning and purpose of the suffering of the innocent. However, while reincarnation and the resurrection of the dead are articles of our faith, in this life we see no clear and indisputable proof of them, leaving us in our existential anguish about the futility of our lives. V 19: Just as stones are worn away by water until nothing is left, so man's life is wasted away. V 22: "Only when his flesh is on him does he feel pain, and while his soul is within him does he mourn." Since man is condemned to this life of pain and futility, Job pleads with God to let him alone. The Talmud interprets this verse very differently from the way it is rendered in English, learning that after a person's burial the soul hovers over the body, weeping and mourning and feeling the very bites of the maggots (Shabbos 152a-b).

Chapter 15 Job's lengthy speech in Chapters 12-14 brought to an end the first cycle of arguments and counter-arguments by Job and his three companions. Eliphaz' answer to Job in our present chapter begins the second of the three cycles of speeches, in which each of the companions successively addresses and is answered by Job. Metzudas David in his comment on Job 15:35, explains that in his present speech Eliphaz is challenging Job for having said he had not sinned when in fact these very words cause others to sin even more because they plant in people's hearts the idea that no-one watches over men or judges them for their actions. As to Job's complaints about his suffering after all the good he had done, Eliphaz answers that

he had already received his reward for his good deeds whereas he still had sins and transgressions in hand for which he was now paying the penalty. Eliphaz brings proof of God's providence over man from the way that the wicked eventually fall without being able to rise up, and even when times are good for them, they are filled with anxiety and apprehension about the evil that is destined to come upon them, which is not so in the case of the righteous. Ramban in his comment on Job 15:2 points out that in his previous speech (in chapter 4), Eliphaz had not explicitly condemned Job but had simply urged him to bear God's reproof without chafing. However, now that Job had sought to justify himself and debate with God, Eliphaz argues that Job's very words show that he was wicked and lacked the proper fear of God. V 1: "Should a wise man utter windy knowledge…." In Job's answer to Tzophar he had chastised his companions, telling them that they had no monopoly of wisdom (Job 12:2ff). Now Eliphaz retorts that Job's words do not befit a wise man. V 4: "Indeed, you cast off fear and you slight the prayer that is made before God…" Eliphaz is saying that despite his great wisdom, Job is undermining people's fear of God (which ought to make them afraid to sin) in saying that everything that befalls people is determined mechanistically by the heavenly order of stars and planets, implying that there is no such thing as any reward for righteousness or punishment for sin. In addition, Eliphaz accuses Job of discouraging people from praying to God, because if everything is determined mechanistically there is no place for prayer since it has no power to change anything, and doing such a thing is in itself a great sin (Metzudas David). V 5: "For your mouth utters your iniquity…" – "The very words of your mouth teach others to sin, because by saying it is futile to serve God you encourage other people to hold by the same opinion and to sin just like you" (Metzudas David). V 6: "Your own mouth condemns you…" Job's companions do not need to condemn him because his sin is glaringly obvious from his own words. Vv 7-10: Job had accused his companions of speaking as if they had a monopoly of wisdom, but Eliphaz retorts that Job was the one who spoken as if he had a monopoly of wisdom, and this is manifestly untrue. V 12: "Are the consolations of God too small for you when a matter is hidden within you?" Metzudas David explains this verse as follows: "Why should you complain over your suffering just because you practiced goodness and righteousness to some extent. Is it a small thing to you that God has already given you consolation over the pain of your suffering through the goodness and success that you enjoyed previously, whereby you received sufficient reward for the good you did. But you still have sin hidden and concealed within you and now you must receive the punishment for your evil just as you previously received a reward for your goodness. Indeed that previous reward should itself be your consolation for the suffering that has now come upon you." V 14: "…and how can one born of a woman be righteous?" – "How can any man claim that he is so righteous that God has perverted justice so as to punish him for nothing?" (Metzudas David). V 17: "I will tell you: hear me…" The lesson that Eliphaz wants to teach Job is contained in v 20ff: "All the days of the wicked man, he is in travail…" The apparent

success of the wicked is illusory, because even during their time of good fortune they are filled with fear and anxiety, and eventually calamity is bound to strike. V 27: "Because he has covered his face with his fat and has put collops of fat on his flanks." It is noteworthy that obesity is the leading health problem in all of today's advanced societies. Vv 29ff: Eliphaz concludes his speech by emphasizing that the wicked cannot succeed forever and that calamity always comes in the end.

Chapter 16 Ramban on Job 16:2 states that Job's answer to Eliphaz in Chapters 16-17 does not contain any new ideas. Job only says to his companions that their words are vain and empty and that in order to offer him comfort they are resorting to falsehood in arguing that the destruction of the wicked is intentional in order to carry out justice. Job complains over his pains and sickness, which he considers to have come upon him for nothing, and this is his proof that there is no providence. He complains against his companions for denying his innocence, for in his own eyes he is righteous. V 4: If you were in my place, would I speak to you in the same way? V 6: "Though I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and even if I forebear, will any of my suffering go away?" Job is saying that it is not true that his words of complaint are undermining people's fear of God and are themselves responsible for bringing suffering upon him. For just as if he speaks, his pain is not assuaged, so if he will refrain from speaking it will not reduce his suffering. This is because, being innocent, his suffering has come upon him for no reason and it cannot be expected to disappear merely through not complaining about it (see Metzudas David). Vv 7ff: Job complains that not only is he suffering because of the afflictions that were sent to him, but also because his enemy (=the Satan, Rashi on v 9) is persecuting him by sending his companions to abuse and denigrate him. Vv 12ff: Job further depicts his terrible suffering, all of which in his opinion has come upon him for no reason (v 17). V 19: Job's companions may think he is a sinner, but Job himself is confident that God in heaven will testify to his innocence.

Chapter 17 Our present chapter completes Job's answer to Eliphaz' second speech, which began in Chapter 16. Job continues to bemoan his lot, the pain of which is exacerbated by what he perceives as the mockery of his companions. V 3: "Give now a pledge…." Job turns from his companions to address the Creator directly (Rashi), appealing to Him to give him a guarantee that he will be able to pursue his disputation to the very end and arrive at the truth. V 4: Job complains that his companions' hearts are closed to true wisdom and that God's glory will not be enhanced through their arguments (Rashi).

V 5: His companions have used slippery talk in their debates with him and they will be punished as a result, because their children will languish (Rashi). V 6: "He has made me also a byword of the nations and I shall be a horror to every face." Job has indeed become the proverbial archetype of human suffering. By simply switching around the order of the middle two Hebrew letters of Job's name, EEYOV turns into OIYEIV, "an enemy" – as if God has turned him into His enemy and is persecuting him. V 8: "Upright men are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless." Job asserts that if truly righteous people were to hear the mockery of his companions, they would be shocked. V 9: "Yet the righteous will hold on his way, and he that has clean hands will grow stronger." Eliphaz had accused Job of undermining people's fear of God through implying that there is no reward for righteousness and no retribution for sin (Job 15:4). Now Job retorts that the opposite is true. "The righteous man will not abandon his pathway thinking that it is futile to serve God, because he knows that he will receive goodness – the delights of the soul. One whose hands are clean of robbery and exploitation will become even more resolute in his path when he sees how easily worldly acquisitions and success can be totally lost. This will make him despise them and place his hope only in the attainment of success in his spiritual endeavors, keeping well away from engaging in the oppression of his fellow man" (Metzudas David). V 10: Job is certain that eventually his friends will come to realize that the truth is with him. Vv 11ff: Again Job complains how all his hopes in life have been dashed, and how his companions' mockery turns his nights into day – because the pain it causes him drives away his sleep – while the light of day is short because of his troubles, which are dark as night (Rashi on v 12). Vv 13-16: Contrary to his companions' promises that if he will repent, God will give him a good end, Job complains that his only hope is to die in order to find relief from his pain. "And where, then, is my hope?"

Chapter 18 Bildad HaShoohi, the second of the three companions in order of seniority, now gives his answer to Job in this second cycle of their speeches. Metzudas David (on Job 18:21) summarizes Bildad's argument as follows: "He answers Job by saying that he cannot agree to his claim that God does not watch over the world providentially, despite Job's cries that he is suffering despite having committed no crime such as to deserve it. Bildad brings proof from the way the fall of the wicked comes about through their very own counsels and stratagems to the point that their name is forgotten. This does not happen in the case of the righteous. As to the evil that has come upon Job, it is likely that it has come to him because he fell short in the service of God and attained less wisdom than was befitting to a man of such abundant understanding as he had. In this respect he was equivalent to a sinner." V 2: The commentators differ as to whether Bildad is addressing Job, telling him to stop interrupting the companions but to hear them out in order to understand what they are saying (Rashi) or addressing his companions, asking why they put an end

to their words in order to give Job the opportunity to answer each one in turn, since there is nothing to what he is saying and it is worthless to hear him out (Ramban). V 3: Bildad asks rhetorically why Job looks on his companions as if they are on the level of animals, without wisdom? V 4: Bildad castigates Job for tearing himself to shreds through his rage and anger over his suffering. "Shall the earth be abandoned because of you or shall the Rock be removed from His place?" – "Just because you are crying out that you are righteous and that you are suffering for no crime, why should we therefore conclude that the earth has been abandoned to the rule of the heavenly order of stars and planets and that the Creator has withdrawn from the world and does not watch over it providentially?" (Metzudas David). Vv 5ff: In returning again to the theme of the inevitable downfall of the wicked, Bildad once again implies that Job is guilty of some sin even though he will not admit it. "Indeed, the light of the wicked shall be put out…" The apparent success of the wicked (="light") will be put out and turn into darkness. Vv 8ff: "For he is cast into a net by his own feet…" The very counsels and stratagems employed by the wicked contain hidden traps that bring about their downfall. Vv 13-14: The children of the wicked shall be consumed by "the firstborn of death" – this is the angel of death (Rashi). "He shall be cut off from the tent of his security" – this is the sinner's wife (Metzudas David). "And shall be brought to the king of terrors" – this is the king of the demons (Metzudas David). Vv 16-21: In the end, the wicked face total extirpation of themselves and their seed for ever.

Chapter 19 Our present chapter contains the whole of Job's answer to Bildad HaShoohi in this second round of his exchanges with his three companions. Ramban (on Job 19:2) comments: "In this answer Job does not innovate any new idea but complains at length about his pains and the evils that have come upon him. Again he protests that they have come upon him for no reason and that they are a perversion of justice. His intention is to negate the opinion of his companions that his suffering has been sent as a rebuke, and to weep and mourn over his soul in the way that people do when in pain. He takes his terrible illness as proof of his opinion that man is not under God's watchful providence. Job ends up by saying to his companions that they will be punished for not having wept with him over the harsh time that has struck him and for not having been shaken over the great evils he is suffering and the strange blows to which he is being subjected." V 3: "These ten times you have put me to shame…" – "Up until this point in the book Job has made five speeches and his companions have answered him reprovingly five times. They have shamed him not only in their answers but also in not accepting what he has had to say" (Metzudas David). V 4: "And if indeed I have erred, my error remains with me" – "Even if I have made some unintentional error and done something wrong, it remains with me alone for you have never seen me commit any wrong. While it could be that I have done

some wrong privately, what claim does that give you against me – for how could you know my hidden secrets?" (Metzudas David). V 6: "Know therefore that God has overthrown me…" The Hebrew word rendered in the English translations as "has overthrown me" – EEVTHANEE, is from the root LEAVEITH, to twist, pervert or corrupt. "God has twisted my case, and the very net He has surrounded me with in order to trap me is a perversion of justice" (Metzudas David). Vv 7-11: Job complains how God is persecuting him as if he is His enemy, as if EEYOV (Job) is His OIYEIV (="enemy"). V 12: "His troops come together… they are encamped around my tent" These are the troops of pains that Job is suffering (Metzudas David). The "troops" also seems to allude to his "companions", who came initially to comfort him but have been castigating him ever more strongly. Vv 13-19: Here Job expresses how all those that used to be close to him and show him respect have become alienated from him because of the horrific nature of his suffering. Unfortunately the great majority of people do indeed back away from those going through very severe and extreme forms of suffering, especially when their bodies have become seriously misshapen and repulsive. While the reaction is very natural, it leaves the suffering person with a terrible sense of isolation and shame. [Franz Kafka's story of "Metamorphosis" in which the central character has turned into a huge beetle, much to the horror of his family, is a study in the psychology of repulsion.] V 20: "My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, and I have been saved by the SKIN OF MY TEETH". Rashi explains that all Job's flesh was afflicted with boils and worms except for the gums of his teeth. Vv 21ff: "Have pity on me, have pity on me, O my friends…" Job's plaintive appeal cries out until today from the ancient text. Vv 23ff: "O that my words were now written…" It is from this verse that the Talmud (Bava Basra 15a) infers that Job lived in the time of Moses and that the latter wrote this book. V 25: "But I know that my Redeemer lives…" Rashi explains that this phrase harks back to v 22: "You, the companions, are persecuting me, but I know that my Redeemer lives and will exact retribution from you". V 26: "…and from my flesh I see God." Like so many verses in the Hebrew text of Job, this verse is darshened to produce very important teachings, in particular the idea that man can attain perceptions of God through contemplation on the form and structure of his own physical body. At the same time, no verse ever departs from its PSHAT (the simple meaning of the text). Rashi notes that the Hebrew name of God in this verse is ELOAH, having the connotation of "Judgment" and punishment. Job is facing God's harsh judgments on his own flesh. Metzudas David explains this verse as part of Job's lament that he is going through terrible suffering despite the fact that he had attained such an apprehension of God that he saw and perceived Him more than he saw and perceived his own flesh. V 29: Job concludes his answer to Bildad HaShoohi by warning his companions that their lack of willingness to understand the meaning of his suffering would elicit God's retribution.

Chapter 20 Tzophar HaNaamathi, the third of the companions, now takes his turn to answer Job in this second cycle of speeches. Ramban (on Job 20:2) comments that in this speech Tzophar teaches only about the calamity that awaits the wicked, which he greatly emphasizes. Ramban refers students back to his comment on Job 11:2 where he explained that the companions do not address Job's essential issue – why the righteous suffer – because this problem is not very evident to the wider world since whenever someone is destroyed it can always be said that he must have done something to make himself liable. The suffering of the righteous is only a question to one who knows within himself that he is genuinely righteous and guilty of no sin and that he does not deserve the evil that has come upon him. This is why from chapter 11 onwards the companions dwell only on the destruction of the wicked and the extirpation of their seed, because this is the problem that was most evident to them, as it was to the prophets, such as Jeremiah and Habakuk, who asked why the wicked prosper. And each time the companions emphasize the retribution exacted from the wicked in the end, Job goes back to protest his innocence, and argues further that there are many wicked people who die in tranquility (see Ramban loc. cit.) V 3: "I have heard the censure which insults me…" In his previous answer, Job had complained of how deeply his companions had insulted him. Tzophar now turns this back against him, asserting that on the contrary, it is Job who has insulted his companions. Vv 4ff: Tzophar emphasizes that no matter how high the wicked may ascend, they are eventually be cast down and thrown away like excrement. V 10: The descendants of the wicked man will have to conciliate the very poor people whom he oppressed: he will have to return everything he took unjustly. Vv 12-13: The wicked person may secretly nurse his sinister plans, keeping them to himself so that nobody will be able to thwart them. But on the day of his destruction, "his food will be turned in his bowels" (v 14). He will have to vomit out all that he swallowed (v 15). V 27: The very heavens will reveal the iniquity of the villain. "This is the portion of a wicked man from God" (v 29).

Chapter 21 Job's answer to Tzophar, contained in our present chapter, is his last speech in the second cycle of arguments and counter-arguments between Job and his companions, which began with Eliphaz' second speech contained in Chapter 15. Ramban (on Job 21:2) explains: In his present speech in answer to Tzophar, Job emphasizes that there are wicked people who have it good in this world because of their wealth and possessions, status, children and peace of mind. Job mocks his companions for arguing that the seed of the wicked is cut off after them, seeking to demolish their claims with undeniable proofs. Earlier, he had argued with all three of his companions that he was innocent of wrongdoing, but they would not accept this on account of the fact that the suffering of the righteous is not a self-evident philosophical problem. This is because any time a person goes to ruin, it can always be said that he sinned and rebelled. The companions also argued that if one sees a

wicked person who has it good, it can always be said that he will be destroyed in the end and likewise his seed after one or more generations. The companions had accused Job of hidden sins in order to establish his guilt and they warned him that the seed of the wicked will eventually be cut off. Ramban continues: For this reason, Job now answers that he has seen with his own eyes how the wicked are successful and how their offspring and houses are tranquil in their lifetimes. If the companions argue that their descendants will be cut off after hundreds of years, how will that harm the wicked themselves and what pain will they suffer as a result? The companions must admit that the judgment is perverted and for this reason it is impossible to believe their claim that the seed of the wicked will be cut of on account of their sins. Likewise even if a righteous person like Job is destroyed today, the companions should not condemn him, because judgment is not in God's hands but is a matter of chance (see Ramban loc. cit.). Vv 2-3: If Job's companions really want to comfort him they should have the patience to hear him out before mocking him. V 4: "As for me, is my complaint to man? Why should I not be impatient?" – "A mortal man may not have the wisdom to answer me, but my challenge is to God, who knows everything. If He will not answer me, how could I not be impatient?" (Metzudas David). Vv 5-6: In these verses, Job warns his companions that he is about to mention something that is truly shocking – that in fact the wicked enjoy every kind of success, as he goes on to show in vv 7ff. V 7: "Why do the wicked live, become old, and indeed grow mighty in power?" The Talmud (Sanhedrin 108a), Midrash (Yalkut) and commentators (Rashi on Job 21:6 etc.) all see the coming verses as alluding to the generation of the Flood, who enjoyed legendary prosperity and tranquility until their destruction. Similarly the rabbis relate sections of Eliphaz' answer to Job in the chapter that follows to the generation of the Flood and the overthrow of Sodom. While to us these may seem like far-off events that took place in the remote past and which may appear irrelevant to the present, for Job and his companions, living in the time of Moses or not long afterwards, they were relatively recent cataclysms of enormous magnitude that cried out with moral lessons for future generations. V 13: "They spend their days in wealth and in a moment descend to She'ol (=the grave)" – "After enjoying such a good life, when his day of death arrives, the wicked man dies peacefully without pain and suffering" (Rashi). Vv 14f: "Therefore they said to God, Depart from us for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways…" If this was the motto of the generation of the Flood and the people of Sodom, it would seem also to be the motto of many of the prosperous, contented exponents of freedom and license in our time. V 17: "How often is the candle of the wicked put out…?" Job denies his companions' argument that in the end the wicked are always destroyed, because there are numerous cases where this is manifestly not so. Vv 19-21: Even if the offspring and house of the wicked are eventually destroyed, what does he care when he is no longer in the world?

V 22: "Shall anyone teach God knowledge, seeing that He judges those who are high?" Rashi (ad loc.) offers two interpretations of this verse: (1) Job is telling his companions that not one of them is able to explain the manifest success of the wicked or the suffering and retribution exacted from the righteous. (2) Does Job need to teach God wisdom so as to judge the world in truth when He Himself knows that this is so? But in His exalted height and greatness He passes lofty judgments without taking care to be exact. [That is to say, God is so exalted that He does not pay attention to this world with the result that the judgment comes out crooked.] Vv 23-26: The wicked die prosperous and tranquil, while the righteous die with a bitter soul having tasted no goodness – and in the end both lie in the ground and are eaten by the worms! Where is the justice??? V 27: "Behold, I know your thoughts and the devices you wrongfully imagine against me." Metzudas David renders the end of this verse somewhat differently, "the devices you WITHHOLD from me". He explains that Job is saying that he knows not only the arguments his companions will bring against him in support of their claims but also the counterarguments that refute their views and which they seek to withhold from him and conceal. Vv 28ff: The companions have argued that the houses of the wicked are eventually destroyed, but it is common knowledge that even when a major calamity comes to the world the wicked are often saved (Metzudas David).

Chapter 22 Eliphaz' third and final address to Job contained in Chapter 22 begins the third and last cycle of arguments and counter-arguments between Job and the companions who came to "comfort" him in his misery. However, in this third cycle Tzophar does not speak: only Eliphaz (ch 22) and Bildad (ch 25) address Job, whose lengthy response to the latter (chs 26-31) finally silences the three companions, prior to the entry of a fourth interlocutor in Chapter 32, Elee-hu son of Barach-el. Ramban (on Job 22:2) explains Eliphaz' intent in his present speech, stating that of the three companions, he was the greatest in wisdom, which is why the text gives him precedence. Eliphaz had inferred from Job's opening speech that he did not believe in God's watchful providence over this world. Ramban writes that the most reasonable way to understand Job's standpoint is that he did not deny God's justice in the world of the souls (after death), because if so he would have rebelled even more, yet he said "Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him" (Job 13:15). What Job could not accept was that the Tzaddik only receives his reward in the world of the souls – for why should God send harm in this world to those who perform His will, and conversely, why should He benefit those who rebel against Him? Job's main complaint thus related to the seeming lack of justice in the world of the bodies (this material world), for in Job's view the human body was no different from the body of an animal which is born under the dominion of the planets and stars and which is subject to chance, while only the soul is from God who gave it. Ramban explains that in Eliphaz' present speech he introduces a new idea, saying that God wants man to do what is good and righteous in the eyes of God and man and to turn aside from evil only for the benefit of the created beings, and this is his proof that God wants to deal righteously with His creations and to show mercy on the work of His hands. This is why He gives them commandments and watches over them providentially. If so, Job's troubles have come upon him either because of his evil deeds – as Eliphaz specifies in his speech – or because of his denial of God's providence and his rebellion against God's testing and reproving him. Eliphaz

concludes by saying that if Job will repent, God will return and benefit more in the end than at the beginning (see Ramban loc. cit.). Vv 2-3: God gains nothing from man's service: it is man himself who benefits. Vv 4-5: It is not through any fear of Job that God is chastising him but because of his own evil deeds. Eliphaz is not suggesting that Job was some kind of common villain. Metzudas David (ad loc.) explains that for a man on Job's great level even apparently minor deviations were very serious because others would learn from and follow him. Vv 6-9: Metzudas David explains each of Eliphaz' accusations against Job in these verses as specifying how he must have perverted justice through abusing his own position of authority as an elder, leader and judge in his community: "For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing" (v 6) – "you imposed monetary fines and took pledges even when people owed you nothing." "…and you stripped off the clothes of the naked" (ibid.) – "from those who had nothing to pay as a fine, you took their garments as a pledge." "You did not give water to the weary to drink and you withheld bread from the hungry" (v 7) – "for if you had someone put in prison, he was denied bread and water." "The land belongs to the man with a strong arm…" (v 8) – "while you acted cruelly to the poor, you gave honor to the wealthy and powerful", oppressing widows and orphans… V 10f: It is because of these subtle crimes that Job's troubles have come upon him. V 12: "Is not God in the height of the heavens…" – "If indeed you committed all these crimes and yet you deny them and say that you were righteous, this is only because you think that God is so high and exalted above everything that He is remote from the earth" (Metzudas David). Vv 13-14: Eliphaz argues that Job considers that God knows nothing of the deeds of men, as if He is separated from the world by a dark fog. V 15: "Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden…" As in the case of Job's speech in the previous chapter, the rabbis of the Talmud and Midrash and the later commentators saw in Eliphaz' depiction of atheistic power and pleasure-hungry villains in the following verses allusions to the generation of the Flood and the wicked men of Sodom, who were destroyed by rivers of water and fire respectively. Vv 21ff: Eliphaz draws his discourse to a close by appealing to Job to make his peace with God so that good can come to him in the end. Vv 27f: If Job will repent, his prayers will be answered, and "You shall decree a thing and it shall be established for you" (v 28). The true Tzaddik has the power to decree what will be through the power of his prayers (see Ta'anis 23a on this verse). Vv29-30: God delivers the humble and innocent. Eliphaz' conclusion is that in order to be saved from his suffering, Job must repent.

Chapter 23 In his reply to Eliphaz in this and the following chapter, Job – angered by his companions' suspicions that he had been evil towards God and men – does not

answer them directly. Rather, he wants to argue with God alone over the fact that despite his innocence he was plagued with suffering, while the wicked sin yet enjoy success and die quickly without pain (Ramban on Job 23:2). In the words of Metzudas David: "Job denies Eliphaz' accusations against him, insisting that he had followed the ways of God and practiced justice in all that he did. Job fulminates over the fact that God shows patience to the wicked and does not destroy them despite the fact that they themselves destroy many souls. What sense does it make that He has mercy on them but not on the people they destroy? Success accompanies the wicked not only in their lifetimes but even when they die, because they die quickly without the pain of protracted illness. This is because their success is determined at the time of conception and birth by the heavenly apparatus of stars and planets. Job asks why God does not bend the heavenly order so as to rule justly since He established it (Metzudas David on Job 24:25). V 2: "Today also my complaint is bitter; the blow to me is heavier than my groaning" – Despite all the "consolations" offered by his companions, Job has found no comfort, and his actual suffering is greater than the groans of pain he emits. Vv 3-7: "Oh that I knew and could find Him…" Job yearns to fathom the answer to the mystery of why he has to suffer despite his innocence. He is convinced that if he could argue his case before God, he would be able to prove his innocence. V 8: "But if I go east, He is not there, and if I go west I cannot perceive Him. I go to the left hand [=north] where He works, but I cannot behold Him; He hides Himself on the right side [=south] but I cannot see Him." Job is scouring for answers in all directions of the universe, but God remains invisible and inscrutable. Vv10-12: The reason why Job wants to argue with God and not with his companions is because he knows in his own heart – and he knows that God knows – that he acted justly and followed His commandments, treasuring His teachings more than his own food. V 13: "But He is unchangeable [Heb. BE-ECHAD] and who can turn Him…?" The literal meaning of the verse is that despite the fact that Job's innocence was known to God, He remained with one and the same intention and did not desire to remove his suffering. The Hebrew rendered as "unchangeable" – BE-ECHAD – literally means "in one". This alludes to the secret of God's transcendence beyond the world simultaneously with His immanence within it – "for Job was a sage and a MEKUBAL who know the secret of Godliness and of His unity" (Ramban ad loc.) Vv 14ff: "For He will complete what is appointed for me…" The decree seems to be irreversible and the Judge implacable, despite Job's innocence – and "THEREFORE I am shaken by His presence" (v 15) – Job is shaken by contemplating the fact that God apparently does not treat a person according to his ways (Rashi).

Chapter 24 Chapter 24 consists of the continuation of Job's answer to Eliphaz, in which he now turns in a new direction. In the previous chapter Job complained that he could not find an answer to the question of the suffering of the righteous, while in the present chapter he complains about the success of the wicked. V 1: "Why are the times not hidden away from the Almighty, and why do those who know Him never see His days?" – "Since Job erroneously held that everything

depends upon the influence of the heavenly order of stars and planets at the time of conception and birth, he now asks why the rulings made at those moments were not put away in the sense of being made subject to the superior power of God who created that order. All who know God know that He is timeless – no limit can be set to His days – and therefore He surely has the power to bend the influence of the heavenly order so as to do justice (see Metzudas David ad loc.). In verses 2-11 Job's catalogues the crimes of the wicked: They take other people's land; they take away the livestock of widows and orphans who cannot pay their debts; they push aside the poor, forcing them to flee. They are like wild donkeys, plundering in the plains. They steal people's crops but leave the vineyards of the wicked untouched. They strip poor people of their clothes, leaving them freezing in the cold… V 12: "Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out, YET GOD LAYS NO BLAME ON THEM." Here is the very essence of Job's question about why the wicked cause such suffering to others yet God does not appear to exact retribution from them. Vv 13-17: "They were of those who rebelled against the light…" In these verses Job poetically evokes how the wicked pervert God's order of light and darkness, day and night. By day they blatantly defy Him by committing daylight murder, while they take advantage of night-time, when people are asleep, to steal (v 14). The adulterer goes about in the twilight hours, thinking that in the semi-darkness he is concealed from God… V 18: The Hebrew in this verse can be construed in various ways: the simplest PSHAT is that these wicked people are swift in making their getaway and succeed in escaping being caught (Metzudas David, Ramban). V19: "Dryness and heat steal the waters of snow, and so does She'ol [=the grave] steal those that sinned" – "When their time comes, they die with a quick, easy death, just as dryness and heat quickly and easily "steal" and evaporate the waters that drip from snow. For She'ol quickly destroys the wicked, who despite their sins do not suffer the pain of illness" (Metzudas David). V 20: The very womb that gave birth to the sinner quickly forgets him: the worms eat him up leaving no trace, and he is broken quickly like a chopped down tree – all without the protracted pains of illness and suffering (Metzudas David). Vv 21-22: Despite the fact that the wicked prey on the barren woman and show no favor to the widow, God shows great patience – until He draws the mighty away with His power quickly, on one day, without causing them great suffering. V 23: "All the days of his life God allows him to dwell securely – it is as if His eyes are upon the wicked to ensure that they will not stumble" (Metzudas David). V 24: Job concludes his bitter speech with a challenge to anyone to prove him wrong.

Chapter 25 In this brief chapter Bildad HaShuhi, second in seniority out of the three companions who had come to "comfort" Job in his misery, gives what turns out to be their final answer to him – after Job's speeches in the chapters that follow, the

companions could find no more to say to him to try to change his attitude. As we end this third cycle of the interchanges between Job and the three companions, we note that the third companion, Tzophar HaNaamasi, does not even attempt to answer Job. Job had said, "I shall set forth my case before Him!" (ch 23 v 4). Bildad's short reply to Job is in the form of a KAL VA-CHOMER (an argument from a light to a serious case, or vice versa). So great is God, with His countless armies of angels, that the very heavens are impure in His eyes – how much less can a putrid mortal, destined to be eaten by the worms, justify himself before God? V 2: "Dominion and fear are with Him…" – "'Dominion' is the archangel Michael (CHESSED); 'Fear' is the archangel Gabriel (Gevurah) – you are quite incapable of answering even one of them!" (Rashi). This is Bildad's answer to Job's saying he would put his case before God. In the words of Metzudas David (ad loc.): "Great is the dominion and the fear that are with HaShem. Each one of them makes peace in the celestial order of the stars and planets so as not to work contrary to the other in running the lower world [=earth] and so as not to change their mission. It is not as you [Job] say – that the celestial order is not subject to God. For they do indeed bow to Him, whether through awe at His exaltedness or fear of punishment." This verse contains the phrase "He makes peace in His high places," which is recited daily numerous times, at the conclusion of Birchas HaMozon (the Blessing after Bread), the Shmonah Esray prayer and the full Kaddish. The Midrash comments on this verse: "Rabbi Yaakov said: Even the celestial beings need peace. The constellations ascend, and Taurus says, 'I am first' – and does not see what came before him. Gemini says, 'I am first' and does not see what came before him, and likewise each one says 'I am first'. They complement one another and they do not harm each other. See how the celestial beings need peace. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: The firmament is made of water and the angels are made of fire and they live with each other. It is not only a matter of the relationship between one angel and another. Even within one angel himself, half is fire and half is water, and He makes peace within him! Great is peace, for the celestial beings need peace… Is it not a case of KAL VA-CHOMER: if peace is necessary in a place where there is no hatred, no enmity and no contentiousness, how much more so in a place where all of these exist – on earth!" (Tanchuma). V 5 alludes to the mystery of the diminution of the moon because of her jealousy of the sun (Hullin 60b; see Metzudas David on this verse). Even though her rebellion was very minor and her status was very great, she is nothing in comparison to God and even her small rebellion is considered very great. Similarly, even the stars are not pure in God's eyes – V 6: How much more contemptible is man – destined to be eaten by the worms – and even a minor rebellion on his part against God is considered very great. Where then is Job's "righteousness"?

Chapter 26 Job now replies to Bildad, saying that his words cannot help or avail either Job or other men seeking to investigate the question of apparently meaningless suffering, and they do not have the power to penetrate the secret. For when a person says that the judgment meted out to man is subject to chance, he says so because of

the very greatness of God – for man is too insignificant for Him to pay him any attention (Ramban on v 2). Metzudas David explains: Job mocks Bildad for having stated what everybody knows while speaking very minimally about the wonders of God. Job describes His wonders at even greater length and says that nevertheless, he too has not come to tell of more than a small portion of His wonders. It is as if he is saying to Bildad: What does it matter if considering God's greatness and man's lowliness, even a small rebellion is considered to be very great. In that case the rebellion of the wicked must be considered even greater – why then does God apparently not exact retribution from them? (Metzudas David on Job 26:14). Vv 2-4 Job mocks Bildad for failing to provide any help. "To whom have you uttered words" (v 4) – "Who is there who does not already know what you have said?" "…and the soul of whom came forth from you?" (ibid.) – "Whose spirit was speaking through you – who did you hear these words from: Job is speaking scornfully" (Metzudas David). V 5: Job begins to speak about the mysteries of the REPHA-IM, the "shades" – i.e. the dead, who go down to Gehennom, which weakens (ME-RAPEH) the creations, and which consists of seven chambers beneath the sea and those that dwell in it (see Rashi and Metzudas Tzion). Job is saying to Bildad: If you have come to tell of the greatness of God, I know even more than this and I too will speak of it (Metzudas David). V 6: "She'ol is naked before Him" – "Even though it is in the depths of the earth beneath the waters, God still knows all that is in it, as if it is naked before Him without a covering" (Metzudas David). V 7: "He stretches out the north over the empty place…" Metzudas David explains that he is referring to the earth, because the main inhabited areas are in the north. The wonder is that the earth stands with nothing holding it up. V 8: "He binds up the waters in His thick clouds and the cloud is not rent under them" – "He binds the rain-waters in the clouds to be stored up so as to send them down only drop by drop, and the cloud is never rent apart under the water so as to pour it all down in one moment" (Metzudas David). V 9: "He closes in the face of the throne…" The "throne" is the heaven, for "the heaven is My throne" (Isaiah 66:1). God sets the boundaries of the heaven as one encloses a house with walls (cf. I Kings 6:10; see Ramban on our verse). V 10: God sets boundaries for the sea for ever. Vv 11-12: His rebuke causes the very heavens to tremble, and He stirs up the sea with His power. He smites Rahab – this is Egypt , which was overthrown in the Red Sea . V 13: "…His hand slew the slant serpent" – This is Pharaoh. The "slant serpent" is also considered to be an allusion to the mystery of the TELI mentioned in Sefer Yetzirah 6. Some identify this with the constellation of Draco. For an extensive discussion of this concept, see the commentary on Sefer Yetzirah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan pp. 231ff.

V 14: Job concludes his answer to Bildad by saying that he has only described a small portion of the wondrous ways of God.

Chapter 27 V 1: "And Job ADDED, bearing his parable, and he said…" When Job saw that his companions had stopped answering him (for which Eli-hu later castigated them, Job 32:16), he added further arguments, raising his voice and speaking in similes, metaphors and parables. The following chapters are replete with such parables (e.g. in Job 28:16, where wisdom is said to be incomparable with finest gold; see Rashi, Metzudas David and Ramban on our verse). V 2: "By the living God – who has turned away my just cause, and the Almighty has embittered my soul". With these words Job takes a solemn oath that God has caused him evil despite his being innocent, for in turning Job over to the forces of nature He has not fairly requited his righteousness. The Midrash comments that the fact that Job swore in the name of God shows that his service was the service of love and did not derive from fear of punishment, "for no man swears by the life of the king unless he loves the king" (Tosefta Sotah on this verse). Out of love of God, seeking to justify His ways without flattery, Job was seeking a true answer to the problem of why the righteous suffer in this world. Vv 4-6: "My lips shall not speak wickedness nor my tongue utter deceit." Protesting his complete innocence of any of the evil of which his companions had accused him, Job declares that he cannot say that the truth is with them, because this would be untrue and then he would be a hypocrite and a villain – either through flattering them by saying they were telling the truth when they were not, or through flattering God by giving a glib answer to the question of why the righteous suffer – because they are not righteous – which does not solve the problem at all (see Ramban). The problem of why the righteous suffer remains – because Job knows in his heart that he never departed from his righteousness. V 7: "Let my enemy be as the wicked…" So detestable to Job is any trace of wickedness that he would curse his enemy that he should be wicked (Metzudas David). V 8: "For what is the hope of the hypocrite…" Job is asking why he would want to be a villain and a robber – for what happens to the villain and the robber in the end (Rashi). Metzudas David explains Job to be saying that although in his view everything that happens in this material world is given over to the implacable government of the heavenly order of the stars and planets so that there is no difference between the lot of the righteous and that of the wicked, nevertheless he would still not choose the path of evil. For what hope will the villain and the robber have when God takes his soul from him. Even though the righteous may have suffered in this world, they can still hope for spiritual delight in the world of the souls. But what hope have the wicked? (Metzudas David ad loc.). The above-quoted explanation by Metzudas David fits with Ramban's explanation (on Job ch 22, see our commentary thereon) that while Job could see no justice in the dispensation of health, children and wealth in this material world, which he saw to be governed by fate as determined by the astrological signs, he did believe in justice in the nonphysical world of the souls.

V 11: "I shall teach you concerning the hand of God; that which is with the Almighty I will not conceal." Metzudas David explains that Job is saying it is not his intention to incite people to choose wickedness. He only wants to teach his companions the true nature of the government that comes from God's hand, and he will not refrain from speaking in order that people should not attribute the apparent injustice of the suffering of the righteous and the wellbeing of the wicked to any imperfection in God since everything comes down through the heavenly order of stars and planets (Metzudas ad loc.). V 12: "Behold, all you yourselves have seen it – why then do you thus altogether breathe emptiness?" Job is saying that the destruction of the wicked which the companions had so emphasized is a well known, regular phenomenon to which everyone can bear witness, and he will not deny it – so why should the companions suspect that Job had chosen the path of wickedness? (Metzudas David). Vv 13-23: In these verses Job acknowledges that no matter how great the success of the wicked, their wealth will eventually be taken from them and given over to others and retribution will come to their descendants. Ramban (on v 13) explains Job to be saying that even if all the troubles in the world come to the descendants of the wicked man while his glory flies away when he dies, this still does not resolve the problem of the success of the wicked because he has no interest in his house after his death. In addition, there is the problem of the righteous who suffer, over which he complained from the outset and his main outcry is against this.

Chapter 28 There is no break in the Hebrew text between the end of Chapter 27 and the beginning of Chapter 28. They are one continuous discourse until Ch 28 v 12, which starts a new section. V 1: "Surely silver has its source…" Rashi on this verse explains the connection of thought between the opening of Chapter 28 and the earlier part of Job's discourse in the previous chapter. "Surely silver has its source…" – "This too provides another argument in support of what he said earlier, 'I have held by my righteousness' (27:6). For why should I be wicked? If it would be for the sake of silver and gold – everything has its origin and its end. But 'from where does wisdom come?' (ch 28 v 20) – wisdom is more precious than everything, and for that reason I set my heart all my days to learn" (Rashi on v 1). Vv 1-11: Job lists some of the wondrous, paradoxical ways in which natural phenomena come into being, each from its own unique source. Four different metals – silver, gold, iron and copper – each have their own source (vv 1-2). God has set a fixed time for darkness to rule – there is a "stone (EVVEN) of darkness and the shadow of death", a kind of black hole from which punishments come forth, and it is called a "stone" after the way in which a man stumbles on a stone and gets hurt (Rashi). The literal meaning of verses 4ff is explained by Ramban to refer to the hidden source of water-courses, which come up from under the ground, while the source of bread is from the ground, yet paradoxically, if one digs deep beneath the surface of the ground, one finds the element of fire in the form of sulfur and salt. The ensuing verses speak about other mysterious sources of natural phenomenon. Verses 4ff were also darshened by the sages as referring to the calamity that overtook Sodom, when rivers of fire and sulfur burst out over them. A most lovely habitation that had wealth in plenty and was never subject to marauders, foreign

spies and hostile enemies was turned into a barren, uninhabitable waste (Sanhedrin 109a). Verses 12ff: Having expressed how material wealth and resources have their source and also come to an end because they are finite, Job now contrasts this with the inestimable wealth of true wisdom. "But where shall wisdom be found?" The Hebrew text can also be construed as, "Wisdom comes forth out of nothingness". "Rabbi Yohanan said, From this verse we learn that Torah wisdom endures only in one who makes himself as nothing" (Sotah 21b). Wisdom comes from humility. And Kabbalistically, the Sefirah of Chochmah, Wisdom, emanates out of AYIN, referring to Keter which is beyond any form of conceptualization. V 14: "The depth says, It is not in me…" – "If you ask those who go down to the depths to find pearls or to the sources of gold and silver in the depths of the earth, they will tell you, It is not in me – because they are not proficient in Torah law! The people who go across the sees to trade will tell you wisdom is not with them, because they cannot purchase it for money like other merchandise" (Rashi). Vv 20: Job continues in this most beautiful discourse, asking where Wisdom and Understanding can be found – because they are hidden from all the living. V 23: "God understands its way…" – "He knows where wisdom dwells, and thus they praise wisdom, saying of it that 'God understands its way' – He looked into the Torah and created the world through its letters: according to their order and their values He formed all the creations as is written in the secret Sefer Yetzirah" (Rashi on v 23). V 25: "He makes a weight for the winds and he weighs the waters by measure" – Everything in the world is precisely measured (see Rashi on this verse). Vv 27-28: "Then He saw it, and declared it, he established it and indeed He searched it out. And to man he said, Behold the fear of Hashem – that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding." True wisdom is known only to God, who "looked into the Torah and made the creation" as alluded to in verse 27, which kabbalistically refers to the four worlds. However, to man God says: Since your mind is insufficient to attain the depths of the hidden secrets of wisdom, know that fear of HaShem is the entry into wisdom while turning aside from evil is the way to attain understanding. This means that through fear of God one may attain hidden secrets that cannot be understood through natural means, for then God will put wisdom into the person's heart (see Metzudas David on v 28). Metzudas David summarizes the intent of Job's argument in chapters 27-8 along the following lines: Job is arguing that wisdom is better than all possessions, and it is impossible to acquire it except through fear of God. For this reason, even though there is no distinction between the righteous and the wicked in the accidents of fate that befall them in the material world, one should still follow the path of righteousness in order to attain wisdom, which is worth more than anything, for it provides spiritual delight. If so, who would choose wickedness and loose the beauty of wisdom because of it? This is part of Jobs self-vindication from his companions' accusations that he was wicked (see Metzudas David on v 28). Ramban on verse 28 elaborates on the esoteric interpretation of Chapter 28 beginning from verse 1, explaining that the passage alludes to the four elements (bound up with the mystery of the four metals), the ten Sefirot and the 22 letters of the Aleph Beit. 10 plus 22 = 32: These are the 32 Pathways of Wisdom known to

the sages. (The 50 Gates of Understanding are alluded to later on in Job ch's 38ff, as discussed in detail by Raavad, Introduction to Sefer Yetzirah.)

Chapter 29 V 1: "And Job ADDED, bearing his parable, and he said…" After the conclusion of his sublime praise of Wisdom in the previous section, Job saw that none of his three companions had any answer to give him. Accordingly he continued speaking further, again with the use of MASHAL – the metaphors and parables with which the following poetic passages are replete. Until this point in the book, we have largely seen Job only in his suffering and misery – a man crushed and broken physically (though not in his spirit). Even if we have had references to what Job was in his time of glory, they have been only fleeting and indirect. Despite his protestations of innocence and righteousness, we have seen little of the actual content of this righteousness. On the contrary, from the castigations of his companions, we may have come to wonder whether Job was not seriously flawed. In order for us to see who the real Job was in all his true righteousness and purity – he was compared in greatness to Abraham (see Rashi on Job 30:19 & Tanchuma Ki Teitzei 5) – he now gives us his own supremely eloquent and moving self-vindication in the present chapter and the two chapters that follow it, which in the Hebrew text are one continuous parshah (section). V 2: "O that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me" – "If only I could be now as I was in earlier times" (Metzudas David). V 3: "When His candle shone upon my head…" In the simple sense, this verse refers to the time when Job was at the height of his greatness as a most respected sage, elder, leader and protector of his people, guiding them through darkness with the light of God's Torah. A well known Midrash explains the REMEZ (allusion) in the verse as being to the time when the embryo is in the womb and the soul – His "candle" – can see from one end of the universe to the other, prior to the moment of birth, when an angel comes and taps the baby on the mouth and makes him forget the entire Torah (Niddah 30b). Vv 4ff: Job now begins to evoke the days of his youth, as a prophetic figure with whom God dwelled, making him a fountain of wise counsel and leadership. Vv 7-10: When Job used to come out to the "gate of the city", the gathering place of the elders, young and old would show him the deepest respect and reverence. The leaders would remain silent, awaiting his words. Vv 12-13: Job imitated his Creator in saving the poor, the orphans and the widows. "He used to steal a field from orphans, invest in it and improve it, and then return it to them. Wherever there was a widow that nobody wanted to marry, he would go and attach his name to her, saying he was her relative, and then people came wanting to marry her" (Bava Basra 16a). V 14: "I put on righteousness and it clothed me…" – "I pursued justice and it was to be found with me like a beautiful ornamental cloak and a turban" (Rashi). V 16: "…and the cause which I knew not I searched out." Job was not one of those complacent judges who did not trouble to dig deeper to find the real truth. If something did not make sense to him, he made it his business to investigate and discover the truth.

V 17: Job was a fearless champion of the poor against those who oppressed them. V 18: At the peak of his glory, Job could not imagine that it could all be taken from him. V 19: "[I thought] my root would remain spread out to the waters and the dew would lie all night upon my branch" – "Job said, Because the doors of my house were always wide open for all, everyone else used to harvest dry ears of corn but I would harvest fat ones… Because I used to engage in Torah, which is compared to water, I merited to be blessed with dew" (Bereishis Rabbah 68). Vv 21-23: Again Job describes the profound respect and deference that he was accorded. V 24: If Job smiled at the people, they could not believe that he would act so informally with them because of his great importance in their eyes, and they were still afraid to come closer and act casually with him (see Rashi). V 25: Job was not too proud to visit those in morning. He had the majesty and graciousness of a king. This verse is the source of some laws relating to comforting mourners (Mo'ed Katan 28b).

Chapter 30 V 1: "But now they that are younger than me laugh at me…" In contrast to his onetime position of prestige and honor, Job now describes how he has become the laughing stock of low-down people. While ostensibly Job is talking about all the common people who now mock him in his pathetic state, the Midrash implies that he is actually complaining against his companions for abusively having claimed he was a villain. "…whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock" – "Job said to Eliphaz, Are you not the son of Esau. If your father had stood begging me to give him food with my dogs I would have disqualified him!" (Tanchuma). V 2-8: Job describes the utter lowliness and worthlessness of the people who now mock him. V 4: "They cut off mallows from upon some bush (SI'ACH) and their bread is the root of broom-plants" – "Anyone who abandons Torah wisdom and engages in idle conversation (SI'ACH) is fed with coals of the broom-plant" (Hagigah 12b). Those who mock at Job are ignoramuses. V 9: "But now I have become their song…" Job's enemies – such as wrong-doers whom he punished – now triumph over him. In the words of Ramban (on Job 30:1): "Job complains about people's mockery of him even more than over his illness and the loss of his children and possessions. He speaks emphatically and at length about his pain over his enemies' joy over his trouble… For this reason an ancient book of parables says that when they asked Job what was the worst of all his troubles, he replied that it was the joy of his enemies over the evil that struck him." Shame and humiliation can be the worst torment of all. V 15: "Terrors are turned upon me, my DIGNITY (Heb. NEDIVASI, lit. 'my generous one') is pursued as by the wind" – "This refers to the soul" (Metzudas Tzion).

Vv 16ff: Job now again elaborates on the excruciating physical suffering caused by his illness. V 18: "By the great force of my illness, my garb is changed…" Job's clothes were filthy with sweat and the morbid discharges from the boils in which he was covered. V 19: "He has cast me into the MUD, and I am become like dust and ashes" – Job had to sit in mud to try to cool the burning inflammation of his boils. "Rabbi Berachiah said, 'In my righteousness, I [Job] am compared to Abraham, who called himself 'dust and ashes' (Gen. 18:27), yet God has judged me like the villains of the generation of the dispersal, who rebelled against him with the building of the Tower of Babel, of whom it is written that 'the MUD was cement for them' (ibid. 11:3)" (Rashi; Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 5). Vv 20f: "I cry to You but You do not answer me…" All Job's cry and complaint is addressed not to his companions but to God alone. V 25ff: Again Job complains that he acted righteously and with profound sensitivity for those suffering, yet now he is sunk in affliction. Why do the righteous suffer???

Chapter 31 In the Hebrew text of Job, Chapter 31 is the direct continuation and climax of the final section of Job's last discourse in answer to his three companions, contrasting his former glory with his present abject state and protesting his complete innocence of any sin that could be accounted its just cause. (The discourse began in Chapter 26, and the final section started at the beginning of Chapter 29.) V 1: "I have made a covenant with my eyes…" In the last verses at the end of the previous chapter, Job had detailed the enormity of the physical suffering that has come upon him in spite of his righteousness. Now he is saying, Why has all this suffering come upon me? Did I not strike a covenant with my eyes not to look at anything that it is forbidden to look at?!? (Metzudas David). "Come and see Job's righteousness. Every man is permitted to look at a virgin to see if he wants to marry her or marry her to his son or one of his relatives. If Job did not even look at what was permitted, how much less did he ever look at another man's wife, at whom it is forbidden to look. This is why the sages said that a woman should not go out in public in all her ornaments even on a weekday [let alone on Shabbat] because people would look at her. For God gave ornaments to the woman only in order that she might adorn herself with them in the privacy of her own home, for one does not present even someone who is pure with a breach in the wall [a grave temptation], let alone a thief" (Tanhuma). [I have quoted this Midrash at length not only because of the light it throws on Job but also because it contains the answer as to why modest married women do not go with uncovered hair etc. in public when they could say that men who don't want to should simply not look at them.] And after all Job's righteousness, he continues in verse 2: "And see now what is the share that has been given to me from God above in payment for my deeds! Surely destruction is due to the wicked…" In vv 4-6 Job asserts that God, who sees and knows everything, will testify to his innocence. Verse 5 begins a series of seventeen oaths and affirmations by Job continuing to the conclusion of his speech at the end of this chapter, in each of which he swears

himself to be innocent of the crime specified in each case. Each of the oaths or affirmations begins with the Hebrew word EEM, "if". Seventeen is the gematria of TOV, "good". Vv 7ff: Job invokes upon him the severest sanctions if it be true that he strayed from the path. If he ever stole anything, he curses himself that his seed should be cut off; if he committed any kind of adultery even by merely passing by his neighbor's door to look at his wife, he curses himself that his own wife should be taken by others, for adultery is the most terrible abomination. Vv17ff: Written thousands of years before the "emancipation of slaves" (which simply heralded new kinds of human enslavement to the powers that be), Job's timeless declaration in these verses of the proper Torah way to treat slaves and servants rings out as an affirmation of the ultimate, existential equality of all men, for "Did not He who made me in the belly make him?" Vv 16-20: Job never withheld support from the poor or the orphan, the hungry and the naked. "For from my youth he (=the attribute of charitableness) raised me like a father, and I have practiced it from the belly of my mother" (v 18, see Rashi and Metzudas David). Vv 21-22: Job curses himself that his very arm should fall out of his shoulder and be broken if he had ever oppressed a helpless orphan. V 23: Job abstains from sin out of terror of God's retribution. Vv 24-25: Job never turned wealth into an idol. Vv 26-28: He never entertained a thought of idolatrous worship of the sun or moon worship, which was prevalent throughout antiquity and vestiges of which remain until today. V 29f: Job never showed vengefulness or rejoiced in the downfall of his enemies. V 31: The people of Job's household hated him and wanted to eat him up because he was always burdening them with the many people to whom he provided hospitality. V 33: Job never tried to hide his sins as most people do. V 34: In the time of his greatness, Job showed no fear of anyone, reproving even the mightiest. But now that he has fallen, the most contemptible of people frighten him and he dare not venture out of his house (Metzudas David). V 35: "Oh that someone would hear me! Here is my mark [or 'my desire'] – let the Almighty answer me and let my adversary write a book" Job's poignant cry is that SOMEONE should hear what he is saying. Let God testify for Job in his case. According to the simple meaning of the verse, Job is ready for his very adversary to write the book about him, as even the adversary will find nothing with which to damn him. On the level of allusion, the adversary is He who sent Job his suffering. And indeed, in answer to Job, God's testimony about him is written in chapter 1 verse 8 in His words to the Satan: "…there is none like him in the land, pure, righteous and God-fearing." Moreover, Moses, who wrote his own book and that of Job, came to testify for Job (see Rashi on this verse).

V 38-40: "If my land cry against me, or its furrows complain together…" Job's very gravesite – which is all that he can ultimately call "my land" – will attest to his righteousness (see Yalkut Shimoni). Rashi comments that Job's field could never cry out that he had failed to give away the gifts of the corner of the field, the gleanings, forgotten sheaves and tithes to the poor: he was correct and orderly in all of his affairs and never ate at anyone else's expense – and if not, let his fields sprout weeds!!! "The words of Job are ended." The commentators take this not as an editorial gloss marking the end of Job's speeches – because we see that Job does speak again briefly later on in answer to God (ch 40 vv 3ff and ch 42 vv 1ff). Rather Metzudas David explains that Job is saying, I have already set forth the innocence of my ways and the enormous suffering that has come upon me after the utmost greatness and success, and if so what more can I add?

Chapter 32 ENTER ELI-HU BEN BARACH-EL The three companions who came to "comfort" Job had been reduced to silence because their essential answer to the question of why he was suffering was that he must have committed some sin, yet Job protested his absolute innocence to the very end. The companions had tried to resolve the question of why the righteous suffer by saying they must have done something wrong. But while this may have "let God off the hook", as it were, for sending apparently meaningless suffering to a Tzaddik, it did not satisfy Job, who knew in his heart of hearts that he was innocent. Indeed, their answer was outrageous in his eyes because it covered over a seeming perversion of justice on the part of the Creator by smearing Job. It is at this moment of impasse – with the companions silenced and Job still finding no answer to his question of why the righteous suffer – that Eli-hu ben Barach-el, a fourth sage enters. Although younger than the first three companions (he waited respectfully for them to finish before intervening), Eli-hu turns out to have attained greater wisdom than them. At the conclusion of the book, after God has spoken to Job, He tells Eliphaz that He was angered by him and his TWO companions (Bildad and Tzophar) and that they must bring sacrifices of atonement (ch 42:7ff). However no criticism whatever is voiced over the lengthy discourses of Eli-hu, which occupy a total of six chapters (Job 32-7). As we shall see in the ensuing chapters, Eli-hu patiently and systematically explains the flaws in the answers of the first three companions in trying to resolve Job's problem over the suffering of the righteous, and he offers a different answer. Elihu's discourses are a further ascent in unlocking the mystery of human suffering, in preparation for the very climax of the book, when God finally answers Job out of the whirlwind (chs 38ff). Eli-hu ben Barach-el was enumerated by the Talmud as one of the seven prophets who prophesied to the nations, together with Eliphaz, Bildad, Tzophar and Job himself, and Bila'am and his father (Bava Basra 15b). The same Talmudic passage implies that Eli-hu was an Israelite, because he is described as coming from the family of Ram (i.e. of Avraham), and that he is called a prophet to the nations because his prophecies are directed to all the nations as opposed to being directed to Israel specifically. A different opinion is brought down by Metzudas David, who learns from his being called the Buzite that he was from the family of Buz, the second son of Nahor, brother of Avraham (Gen. 22:1). Talmud Yerushalmi Sotah 5

records a discussion in which Rabbi Akiva darshens that Eli-hu is Bila'am, while Rabbi Eliezer objects that this is not so and darshens that Eli-hu is Isaac. V 2ff: Eli-hu is angry with Job and he is angry with his companions. He is angry with Job "because [Job] justified himself MORE THAN GOD" – i.e. NOT because Job claimed innocence – this Eli-hu does not dispute – but because he reproved God, as it were, for abandoning him to blind fate ("the heavenly order of the stars and planets") and the accidents of the flesh in spite of his great righteousness, which made it seem as if God is not just. Next Eli-hu is angry with Job's companions, because they had not found an adequate answer to his basic question about why the righteous suffer, and as long as his question was unanswered, this too made it seem as if God is not just. V 6: "I am young and you are very old" (cf. Rabbi Nachman's story of the Blind Beggar). V 7: "I said, Days should speak and a multitude of years should teach wisdom." Initially Eli-hu had believed that just as after a given period of time a child develops the ability to speak, so years of experience and investigation should develop wisdom in people (see Metzudas David). V 8: "But there is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding" – Having heard the first three companions, his seniors in years, speak, Eli-hu now knows that there is an intelligent spirit in man that can teach him wisdom regardless of whether he is old or young. Vv 11ff: Eli-hu explains that he has patiently waited to hear out his elders but that when he carefully considers what they have said it is clear that they have failed to give Job an adequate answer. V 13: "Beware lest you say, We have found out wisdom, God has thrust him down, not man." Metzudas David renders: "Lest you would think to say that you have found an intelligent and sophisticated answer in telling Job that he must have committed a great sin seeing that God Himself has turned against him and not a mere mortal like me, because the Holy One is not suspected of practicing injustice. Eli-hu is saying that the companions had not spoken with wisdom because this is not an answer fit to silence the turmoil in Job's heart since he himself knows that he was not guilty of great sin" (Metzudas David on v 13). V 14: "Now that he has not directed his words against me, so that I will not answer him with your speeches." Despite the failure of the companions to answer him, Elihu is saying that Job should not think he is right, because all the arguments that he had advanced against his companions, protesting his innocence, would not stand up to the explanations that Eli-hu has in mind to give in the coming chapters. Eli-hu is not going to advance the same arguments that the companions had already advanced: he is going to say something new. Vv 18ff: Eli-hu is bursting to speak, and he will not soften his blows in order to give respect to any man, because if he were to try to cover over anything it would be such an offence that he feels he wouldaz be burned up by God (see Rashi, Metzudas David).

Chapter 33 Having completed his prologue (Chapter 32) explaining why he had not intervened earlier in the discussion, Eli-hu ben Barach-el now begins to set forth his arguments against Job, quoting point by point things that the latter had said and answering them one by one. From the fact that Job does not answer Eli-hu or dispute what he says, we may infer that he accepted his arguments. Verses 6-7: "Behold I am just like you before God, I too am formed out of clay. Behold my terror shall not make you afraid, nor shall my pressure be heavy upon you." Job had earlier complained that God is not like a man on his own level whom he could challenge to come with him to an independent arbitrator to determine who was right – one who would not throw Job into fear, terror and confusion so as to prevent him putting his case (see Job 9:32-5). Eli-hu is now reassuring Job by saying that although he will, as it were, speak on behalf of God, he is still only a man, just like Job, and he will not cast him into fear and prevent him from answering back if he has any question that is not fully resolved. Vv 8ff: Before King Solomon would pass judgment, he would first repeat the claims of the parties to the case to show that he understood them correctly (see I Kings 3:23). Likewise Eli-hu first restates succinctly each of the various points Job had made in his arguments with his three companions before going on to answer them one by one. Job had said that he was innocent of any sin yet God had treated him like an ENEMY – EEYOV (=Job) had become like an OIYEIV (="enemy") – and was seeking pretexts against him. V 12: "Behold in this you are not right. I will answer you – for God is greater than man." Metzudas David explains Eli-hu to be saying that God's level is far higher than that of man. If a mature man would not seek out pretexts to needlessly persecute someone, all the more so that God would not do such a thing. "I will not answer you as your companions did – that you are not innocent but are full of sin – because it could well be that you are righteous, yet you are still not justified in fulminating, because God is certainly just – this will be explained in ch 35 v 2 ff (see Metzudas David on v 12). V 13: "Why do you strive against Him [saying] that He will not answer all a man's words?" Metzudas explains: "Why do you claim that He does not inform a person in what respect he has sinned or transgressed in order that he may cease from his sins and repent quickly?" (cf. Job 13:23, "make known to me my transgressions and my sins"). Vv 14ff: Eli-hu now explains to Job that God has his own unique ways of communicating with man. God speaks once to a person, and if the person does not understand, He speaks to him again. Vv 15-16: The first way God communicates with man is through dreams, showing him through dream images what has been decreed against him, measure for measure, because of his deeds (Metzudas David). V 17: "…that He may withdraw man from his purpose and hide pride from man": The purpose of God's communications to man is PREVENTIVE. He sends people messages to deter them from committing acts they have been intending to do. This is in order to save man's soul from destruction. Eli-hu here introduces a new dimension in the understanding of pain and suffering that was not present in the discourses of Job's first three companions.

Vv 19ff: If the person ignores the message sent in his dreams, the "preventive medicine" becomes steadily stronger, and he is afflicted with the pains of illness and disease in order to stir him to repent. Vv 22-24: Man veers ever closer to death and the grave. But "If there is an angel over him, a defender, one among a thousand, to declare to man his righteousness, then He is gracious to him and says, Deliver him from going down the pit; I have found a ransom." In the words of Metzudas David: "When the person will be judged then in the heavenly court, if even a single angel will be found arguing in his merit and telling the righteousness of some deed that he performed, even if this angel is the only one arguing in his favor against 999 accusing angels, God will be gracious to him and tell the defending angel that he has redeemed him from destruction, because his righteous deed outweighs everything else." V 27: Even after having been saved, the true penitent continues publicly admitting his earlier sins. V 29: "Behold, God does all these things twice or three times with a man." Even if a person reverts to sin, God will again send him dreams or "communicate" with him through the "language" of the illness He sends him in order to stir him to repent. "Rabbi Yose bar Yehudah says: When a person sins for the first time, he is forgiven, and likewise when he sins a second time, he is forgiven, and likewise when he sins a third time, he is forgiven. But if he sins a fourth time, he is not forgiven, as it is written, Behold, God does all these things twice and three times with a man" (Yoma 86b). V 32: "If you have anything to say, answer me; speak – for I desire to justify you" – "It is best for you to speak out everything that is in your heart, and I will answer you about everything in order to guide you on the true path. For if you stop speaking and keep your words stored up in your belly you will remain with a false view and you will not be innocent any more" (Metzudas David). It is better to speak things out than to keep everything bottled up inside one.

Chapter 34 Vv 5-6: "For Job has said, I am righteous and God has taken away my proper reward. Despite my right I am counted a liar; my wound is incurable though I am without transgression." Prior to answering Job, Eli-hu again repeats his claims, which were that: (1) God had not given him his reward for his righteousness, and (2) even worse, He had sent him terrible suffering instead. V 7: "What man is like Job, who drinks up scorning like water?" Eli-hu is particularly angry with Job for these claims, because, as he explains in verse 8, this way of thinking is likely to encourage sinners. V 9: "For he has said that man does not profit even if he is willing to be with God [and follow His ways]." The perverse view that man gains nothing from serving God is the logical corollary of Job's attitude that he is suffering terribly despite being innocent of any sin, and that everything happens purely by chance without any divine providence. Vv 10ff: "Far be it from God that He should do wickedness…" Not only does Eli-hu emphasize that God deals with men measure for measure (v 11). He also argues that it is inconceivable that God would needlessly cause His creatures suffering since if He wanted to he could sweep away the entire creation in a moment, so why

should we imagine he comes against His creatures with pretexts? (see Metzudas David on v 14). Vv 16ff: Eli-hu now adds a further argument. Job had complained that the government of the world had been handed over to the implacable heavenly order of stars and planets and that one and the same fate strikes the righteous and the wicked indiscriminately and without justice. But Eli-hu asks how it is possible that the righteous God would have entrusted the government of the world to an unjust system (v 17, see Metzudas David). Vv 19ff: The Almighty has no need to show partiality to any of His creatures whether in the higher realms or the lower – for He created them all. He knows everything and deals with each individual strictly according to his ways. V 23: "For He will not lay upon man anything more that he should enter into judgment with God" – "It is not His way to give a person a punishment greater than befits him such that he should say he will take Him to court for giving him a greater punishment than he deserves" (Metzudas David). In the following verses (24-30) Eli-hu describes the punishment of the wicked, measure for measure. V 31: "For surely it is fitting to say to God, I suffer, I will no more offend" – "That is to say, since it is evident that He does what He does with justice, it is proper to say to God that I will bear my pain and not behave wrongly from now on" (Metzudas David). V 32: It is fitting for the person enduring suffering to pray to God asking Him to show him what he does not see himself in order that if he has sinned in the past he will not do so any more. V 33: "Eli-hu asks Job: Was the Holy One blessed be He required to consult you as to how to exact payment from you, such that you say you are sick of living. Do you imagine that He must exact retribution according to the way you choose?" (Rashi). V 36: Eli-hu would prefer Job to be tested continuously with suffering to see if he will regret what he has said and then discover that the suffering will leave him only after he repents – this in order to teach other sinners to repent when they see that nothing helps except repentance (Metzudas David).

Chapter 35 V 1: "And Eli-hu answered and said…" (v 1). In Eli-hu's second discourse, contained in the previous chapter, he had answered Job regarding the question of reward and punishment, whereas now he is going to discuss the suffering that came upon Job himself. For this reason he paused between one subject and the other in order to gather his thoughts… (Metzudas David ad loc.) V 2: "Do you think this to be right, that you say, My righteousness is more than God's?". Ramban (ad loc.) explains that Eli-hu will repeatedly blame Job for having said he was more righteous than God. For Job was convinced that he was righteous and that the terrible calamities that befell him were not because of any crime. He gave expression to this in different ways, sometimes arguing that God considered him His enemy, sometimes that He does not watch over the creatures of the lower world providentially. In addition Job had complained that man's sin does not harm God nor does his merit benefit Him and if so, He does not need or want man to repent – for Job had wanted to fear God but suffering came upon him anyway, so

what more could he do to conciliate Him? This is another argument against providence. Eli-hu now addresses this in the coming section of his discourse (ch 35 vv 3-16). V 3: "For you say, What advantage will it be to you? What profit shall I have more than if I had sinned?" – Eli-hu reviews Job's argument prior to answering him: "You say that if everything comes through fate as decreed by the heavenly order of the stars and planets, what benefit do you have from serving God and refraining from sin: (Metzudas). V 4: "I will answer you and your companions with you." Ramban (on v 2) explains that the reason why Eli-hu included Job's companions with him in this verse is because their leader, Eliphaz, had also implied that man's merits are of no benefit to God (see Job 22:2-3). Eli-hu will answer that it is true that sin neither harms nor benefits God, but nevertheless He commanded man to act righteously and warned him against sin for the good of His creatures. For this reason He sends punishment and does not accept the prayers of one who cries to Him and wants to fear God – on account of his acts of oppression against others, of which he may not even be aware. Thus Job is exonerated from the charge of having been a liar in his claims about his righteousness, yet God is shown to be the righteous one (see Ramban at length on v 2). V 5: "Look to the heavens…" – "Since He is exalted and you are lowly and He has no benefit whether you are wicked or righteous, why should you boast to Him about your righteousness?" (Rashi). V 8: "Your wickedness may hurt a man as you are and your righteousness may profit the son of man" – "He is saying that evil is only called wickedness on account of the harm it does to a man on Job's level, while righteousness and charity are only called good on account of the fact that they benefit another man – for God commanded his creations to practice justice and righteousness for their own benefit" (Ramban). Vv 9-10: The oppressed cry out because of the strong arm of their oppressors, and no one asks "Where is God my Maker…" The simple meaning of the verse is that the oppressors do not stop to think about and heed God's law forbidding oppression, despite the fact that they themselves are His creatures. Metzudas David construes the phrase "he gives songs in the night" as referring to the righteous man, who may offer his prayers to God yet is nevertheless accounted responsible for the sins of the wicked if he does not stand up to protest against them. According to Metzudas David, Eli-hu is implying in this and the following verses that Job's suffering came to him not because he was not righteous but because he did not protest against the wicked for their oppression. [This fits with the Midrash telling that when Pharaoh consulted Bilaam, Job and Jethro as to whether to enslave Israel, Bilaam agreed and was later killed, Jethro disagreed and was rewarded, while Job failed to protest and had to suffer.] V 12: "There when they cry He does not answer…" At times God may not answer the cries of the righteous – this, according to Metzudas David, because they have not protested against the wicked. V 13: Metzudas David construes: "But it is false to say that God does not hear and that the Eternal does not see it" – God may appear hidden at times, but this does not mean He does not hear and know everything that is going on.

V 14: "Even though you say, You do not see it, nevertheless, there is law before Him – and you must have hope in Him" – God watches over everything, and therefore there is a place for prayer to Him (Metzudas).

Chapter 36 V 1: "And Eli-hu ADDED" – "Until now, Eli-hu has given three discourses (chapters 33, 34 & 35 – chapter 32 was merely introductory) corresponding to Job's three companions. What follows is a fourth, and this is why it is called ADDITIONAL" (Rashi). Ramban comments: "In this discourse Eli-hu does not attack Job, for he had already blamed him enough in each of his first three discourses. Now Eli-hu comes like the companions to speak the praise of God, telling how He watches over the world. Since God watches over His world constantly despite His loftiness and exaltedness, it is impossible to believe that He has entirely removed His providence from the beings of the lower worlds on account of His exaltedness and the lowliness of man. For the lower worlds were created for the sake of man, for none besides him recognizes his Creator. If so, all God's providence over the varieties of lower creatures is for the sake of man – so how could it be that He pays no attention to him? Moreover we must attribute Justice to the Creator of all when we see Him to be a great King and a righteous Judge who watches over everything providentially (Ramban on v 1). V 2: "Wait for me a little…" – "Eli-hu did not want Job to think that he had finished everything he had to say in case he would interrupt, therefore he asked him to wait a little longer" (Metzudas David). V 5: "Behold God is mighty and will not despise anyone…" This verse is cited in the Talmud as proof that when many people pray together God does not reject their prayers, and for this reason one should try to worship with a congregation, or at least – if this is not possible – at the time the congregation are praying (Berachos 8a). Vv 6-7: It is not true that God is indifferent whether people are righteous or not, for He will not give life to the wicked, whereas He will eventually vindicate the poor. Vv 8-12: Poverty and other forms of suffering are a test. "Then He declares to them their work" (v 9) – "For through this suffering He informs them that they have sinned before Him" (Rashi) – suffering is a message sent to man from God. If man heeds the message, he will end his days well, but if not he will pass from the world and die without ever having attained true understanding. V 13: Those who flatter their hearts – giving way to all the desires of their evil inclination – chaff against suffering and do not cry out to God when they suffer despite the fact that it is He who sends them the suffering. V 15: "He delivers the poor by means of his affliction and opens their ears through oppression" – "On account of their having been afflicted, He delivers them from Gehennom, and through the oppression He brings upon them He opens their ears to hear Him when He says, Return to Me" (Rashi). V 17: Metzudas explains: "Even if you have been filled up with the judgment of suffering that would be fit for the wicked, so what – because it must really be considered a benefit since the judgment and suffering that have come upon you will

sustain you and save you from the punishment of hell so that you will delight in the world to come." Vv 18-21: Eli-hu warns Job not to prefer the success of the wicked to his own suffering, for their success leads only to ultimate destruction. Vv 22-26: God is exalted above all, and no one can accuse Him of any miscarriage of justice. Vv 27ff: The detailed way in which God watches over the world providentially is exemplified in the way He sends the rains – sometimes in abundance, sometimes very sparingly. "For through them He judges the peoples…" (v 31) – It is through sending abundant rain or withholding them that God sends each nation its deserts. He also judged the generation of the flood with excessive rain, and rained down fire and sulfur on the wicked inhabitants of Sodom (Rashi, Metzudas David).

Chapter 37 CONCLUSION OF ELI-HU'S SPEECH The concluding section of Eli-hu's answer to Job, which occupies the whole of our present chapter, is a direct continuation from the previous chapter. In the Hebrew text there is no section break between the two chapters. Moreover the chapter break in the printed Bible texts actually violates the thematic continuity of Eli-hu's speech. This is because in the closing verses of chapter 36 vv 26-33, he had begun to give expression to God's unfathomable power and His detailed providence over the universe through depicting specifically the wonders of rainfall, which is the foundation of human prosperity and which is responsive to men's behavior and their prayers. Now in the conclusion of his speech in Chapter 37, Eli-hu expands on the theme of the wonders of thunder and lightning, storms and rain clouds, lifting our eyes and our inner thoughts steadily higher, level by level, to the heavens and beyond, to the inscrutable Ruler of all, who knows man's thoughts before he even speaks…: "Hear this, Job, stand and contemplate the wonders of God!" (v 14). After Eli-hu concludes his speech, Job does not answer him – he had no answer because apparently, he accepted Eli-hu's arguments. This enabled him to rise to the level of prophecy (see our commentary on the next chapter), and immediately after the end of Eli-hu's speech, HaShem Himself answers Job out of the storm-wind (chapters 38ff). Eli-hu's speech thus marks a transition from what might be seen as the lower level of wisdom on which Job and his three companions conducted their debate about the problem of suffering, to a higher level where new hints and suggestions are offered as to how to approach this inscrutable mystery. Eli-hu's repeated challenges to Job in our present chapter to acknowledge that the mysteries of creation are beyond us constitute a preparation for God's own direct challenges to Job to acknowledge the inscrutability of His ways. Before discussing comment on individual verses in the present chapter, let us see the chapter as a whole in the context of Eli-hu's entire discourse, as summarized by Metzudas David (on Job 37:24): "Eli-hu affirms that God indeed watches providentially over the very details of creation, and separates the wicked from the goodness that comes into the world while also separating the righteous from the evil in it. If at times evil befalls a Tzaddik, it comes providentially to open his ear to rebuke when he turns somewhat from the straight path. Eli-hu answers Job that in

his case too, suffering has come to open his ear to rebuke so that he will repent and return to God, and this way he will be saved from the judgment of hell and will delight in spiritual lushness. For if he had had a life of constant tranquility he would have rebelled against God because of the abundance of everything, and he would have been lost eternally like the generation of the Flood. Eli-hu also reproves Job for not humbling himself before God since everything is in His hand and there is none like Him. Eli-hu proves God's providence: He formed the eye, so how could it be that He does not see? Eli-hu adduces the wonders of God that are known to us and those that are concealed. Thus he answers Job by saying, Surely you know something of the natural phenomena of this world, why do you not understand more? You must admit that everything comes from God and is under His providence and we cannot understand it all. For this reason we may not question His deeds, for man's intelligence is too limited to be able to understand God's work and how He governs the world (Metzudas David on Job 37:24). Vv 1-5: Eli-hu's heart shudders at the thought of the flashes of lightning and roaring thunder that God sends as part of the water cycle. V 6: "For He says to the snow, be [on] the earth…" The simple meaning of the verse refers to the ecological phenomenon of snow as part of the water cycle. On the esoteric level, this verse is quoted in the Midrash (Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer 3 etc.) and in [some but not all editions of] Sefer Yetzirah 1:11 as referring to the mystery of the "congealment" (Tzimtzum) of the "fluid" spiritual levels of Creation – i.e. the letters of the Hebrew alphabet – so as to form the "solid" material world (see R. Aryeh Kaplan's edition of Sefer Yetzirah loc. cit.). V 7: Metzudas David offers a simple PSHAT on this verse relating it the preceding verses explaining that knowledge of coming weather developments is hidden from men, whereas the animals (next verse) exhibit behavior patterns showing their intuitive knowledge of coming rains and storms etc. However, on the level of Drash, this verse is famous as teaching that "at the time when a man leaves this world for his eternal home, all his deeds go before him and they say, You did such and such in a certain place on a certain day, and he replies, Yes. They say to him, Sign, and he signs, as it is written, ;In the hand of each man will he put a sea'l, and moreover, he accepts the justice of the verdict and says to them, You have judged me beautifully!" (Ta'anis 11a). V 12: "…and it is turned about through His counsels…" The infinitely complex tapestry of interconnected causes and factors in blowing the clouds, each one exactly where He wants it in order to bring about His desired effects, is evidence of His absolute providence over everything. The Talmud darshens from here that if Israel's repentance on Rosh Hashanah warrants a judgment of abundant rainfall but later in the year they sin, He does not revoke the decree but rather makes the rains fall where they are not needed, while sometimes it is the other way round (Rosh Hashanah 17b see Rashi on our verse). Vv 18-19: Did you stretch out the heavens with Him?... Tell me what arguments can we bring against Him? We cannot argue against Him because of the darkness and concealment that surround Him (see Rashi). Vv 20f: God knows man's thoughts before he even speaks. V 21: Metzudas David explains: "As Eli-hu comes to complete his speech, he says, And now I say to you in general terms: sometimes people do not see the light of the sun because the clouds cover it – yet even so, it is bright in its place in the heavens and shines very greatly. But when a wind passes and "cleanses" the skies

of the clouds, the sun becomes visible." As if to say, God's light shines all the time whether man sees it or not – His providence is constant. V 22: "Gold comes out of the north (TZAPHON=hidden)"… -- "The good 'gold' is hidden away for those who bring themselves to fulfill the commandments of the Holy One blessed be He and who believe in God, who is most awesome" (Rashi). V 23: "The Almighty (we cannot find Him out) He is excellent in power and in judgment, and with plenty of justice, He will not oppress" – "God does not send judgments against His creations according to His own great power but rather with mercy, accepting their atonement according to their limited ability… He does not oppress anyone to excess and He does not oppress the righteous man more than is necessary" (Rashi). V 24: The bottom line is: Fear of God. God does not regard the "wise of heart" – those who come against Him with sophistry – for their wisdom is nothing in His eyes (see Rashi).

Chapter 38 V 1: "Then HaShem answered Job out of the storm wind (SE'ARAH)…" Ramban explains: "Job now attained the level of prophecy because he was 'innocent and righteous, God-fearing and one that turned away from evil' and he had been proven through being tested. And even though he had sinned in doubting God's justice on account of a lack of wisdom, the test helped to bring him close to God, for he accepted Eli-hu's arguments and saw that they were a sufficient answer to his question, and he was now God-fearing and an innocent Tzaddik. God speaks to him 'out of the storm wind', because his prophecy was not on the level where the heavens were opened up to him so that he saw clear visions of God as in the case of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel etc. He attained the level that the prophets reach first at the beginning of their vision, as in the case of Ezekiel, who first saw a "STORM WIND coming out of the south" (Ezekiel 1:4; cf. Elijah's vision I Kings 19:11)… Out of the storm wind came a voice to Job answering him with tremendous power… "The purpose of His answer is to let Job know that He is perfect in knowledge in general and in particular over all the created entities in their entirety and He watches providentially over all of them, while man is too brutish to understand even the phenomena of nature, let alone to understand God's justice and its foundations. He also hints to him that Eli-hu's answers were based on the truth, for so far Job only accepted that he MIGHT be correct and that accordingly even the phenomena of the suffering Tzaddik and the wicked man who has it good might be based on justice. However, Eli-hu had no decisive proof and man cannot know this except through received tradition. Now God tells Job that this is true…" (Ramban on Job 38:1). In Ramban's Introduction to the book of Job, he notes that only in the opening two chapters of the book and in this final section of the work does the "essential name of God", HASHEM, the Tetragrammaton, appear, while throughout the main body of the work, in all the speeches of Job and his companions including Eli-hu, He is called by other names such as E-L, ELO-AH and SHA-DAI. (Out of respect, these are pronounced respectively as KEIL, ELOKAH and SHAKKAI except when used in prayer or when reciting as opposed to merely quoting of the Hebrew Biblical text). The work begins and ends with the absolute unity of God, who rules over all with complete justice, but in the quest of Job and his companions for answers in the

main body of the text, they invoke the different attributes of God as expressed in His various other names. The Talmud teaches: "Rabbah said, Job blasphemed with a storm wind (see Job 9:17) and He answered him with a storm wind. Job said to Him, Perhaps a storm wind passed before you and you mixed up EEYOV (Job) and OIYEV ("enemy")… And He answered him with a storm wind (SE'ARAH)… He said to him, I have created many hairs (SE'ARAH="hair") in man and for each hair I created its own follicle so that no two hairs should suck energy from one and the same follicle, because if two were to draw from one follicle they would darken the light of man's eyes. I do not mix up one follicle with another – how much less would I mix up EEYOV and OIYEV!" (Bava Basra 16a). In the words of the Midrash: "A gentile asked Rabbi Meir how it could be since He fills the heaven and earth that He could speak to Moses from between the two poles of the Ark. Rabbi Meir asked him to bring a mirror that enlarges the reflected object and told him to look at his face in it. He then had him bring a mirror that diminishes the reflected object and likewise told him to look at his face in it. He told him: If you are flesh and blood yet you can change the way you appear at will, how much more so can He that spoke and brought the world into being… Sometimes the entire world cannot contain His glory, and at times he speaks to a man from between the hairs of his head!!!" (Bereishis Rabbah 4). God's answer to Job is one of the most sublime passages in the Bible, evoking the inscrutable mysteries of creation, the elements, the constellations, stars and planets, the manifold forms of animal, bird and fish life on land, in the air and in the sea, as well as so much more. As mentioned in our commentary on Job ch 28, embedded allusively in the present passage (chapters 38-41) are the Fifty Gates of Understanding (BINAH), as explained in detail by Raavad (Rabbi Avraham ben David of Posquieres, Provence, c. 1128-1198) in his lengthy Introduction to Sefer Yetzirah. Thus verse after verse in God's series of challenging questions to Job opens with the word MI ("Who…?), alluding to the Fifty Gates of Understanding (MEM, 40 + YOD, 10 = 50!). Let us have the humility to know the limits of our own understanding and start our quest for wisdom with the cultivation of true fear of Heaven.

Chapter 39 Our present chapter is the continuation of God's first answer to Job out of the storm wind, which began in chapter 38 v 1 and runs until the end of chapter 39. In the Hebrew text there is no pause or break between the end of chapter 38 and the beginning of chapter 39. Metzudas David (on Job 39:30) summarizes the main import of this first answer to Job as follows: "God rebukes Job asking how he had the temerity to question His ways – Do you understand all My works? He relates wonders that cannot conceivably be thought of as deriving from the forces of blind fate working through the heavenly system of stars and planets but which are clearly providential. For this reason, it is impossible to deny the resurrection of the dead even though it may seem contrary to nature. There is thus no room for Job's complaint about reward and punishment, because after the resurrection of the dead, each one will receive according to his works. God relates His awesome works at length as if to say, If so, why were you not afraid to have doubts about Me? In addition He answers Job that he was not right in deciding that God does not watch over the lowly creatures

providentially, for it is not so: I watch over everything, including even the animals, and He relates some of the ways in which He watches over them." The reference to the resurrection of the dead mentioned by Metzudas David is contained in the earlier part of God's first answer to Job, in chapter 38 vv 13-17. Having first spoken about the wonders of the creation of the world, it says in v 13 – "To take hold the corners of the earth and the wicked shall be shaken off it": this clearly refers to the judgment of the wicked. The specific allusion to the resurrection of the dead comes in the following verse (38:14) "It is changed like clay under the seal and they stand as a garment" – "Even though the seal of the form of a man changes at the time of his death to be like clay and mud, nevertheless they will stand at the resurrection and be as they were at first, just like a garment, which may be folded up but when afterwards it is unfolded, it is just as it was at first. This comes to answer Job's denial of the resurrection of the dead (see Job 7:9) on account of his view that everything comes about through blind fate and nature, while the resurrection of the dead defies nature. God's answer is that since He watches over all, there is no need to wonder at the resurrection of the dead" (Metzudas David on Job 38:14). In the same passage in v 17 God challenged Job as to whether the "gates of death were revealed to him" – for if not, how could he know that the dead will not be revived? The ensuing passage in chapter 38 went on to give example after example of the unfathomable mysteries of creation – light and darkness, snow, hail, rains, ice, the stars and constellations and the livelihood of lions and ravens. Our present chapter (Job 39) now continues with further examples of the mysteries of the behavior of different species of wildlife – the mountain goats, the wild donkey, the buffalo, the ostrich, the stork, the horse, the hawk and the vulture. In each case it is God alone who gives each one its unique powers and traits, provides for them and watches over them to ensure their survival – so how can Job claim that God does not watch over the lower realms providentially?

Chapter 40 In the Hebrew text there was a pause at the end of the previous chapter, indicating that God wanted to give Job an opportunity to answer Him but that since he remained silent and gave no answer, God spoke to him again (Metzudas David): "And HaShem answered Job and said…" (v 1). God pressed Job to speak: "Shall a reprover contend with the Almighty? Let he who reproaches God answer it!" (v 2). Forced to answer, Job admits that he is truly humbled. In the words of Metzudas David on v 4: "Behold I recognize in myself that I am very insignificant and I have not learned sufficient wisdom to understand that everything comes under providence. What can I answer you? There is no answer in my mouth and for this reason I have put my hand to my mouth and I said nothing when You stopped speaking." V 5: "Once I have spoken but I will not answer, yea, twice, but I will proceed no further" – "The first thing I said at the beginning of my speeches was in complaint over Your having entrusted everything into the hands of blind fate. I spoke then, but now I will not say any more in answer to Your words in order to strengthen what I said, for now I see that You have not entrusted anything to fate but everything is in Your hands. As to my other question as to why – if all is under providence – does evil befall the righteous while good comes to the wicked, even though I still do not know the answer, nevertheless I shall not proceed any further

and ask more questions, for I am afraid to entertain doubts about You" (Metzudas David). In order to answer the latter question, God now gives His second answer to Job, challenging him: V 8: "Will you also negate My justice, will you condemn Me in order that you may be in the right?" – "It is as if He is saying, Is not your asking this question a more serious offense than the first – if you think My justice is nothing because it appears that I do not pay a person back according to his deeds, and if you condemn my justice because you consider yourself a Tzaddik? For the question as to why the wicked have it good is not such a wonder since nobody knows whether deep inside another person is righteous or wicked. Job's main question was over the Tzaddik who suffers because he considered himself a Tzaddik and he was asking about himself since he suffered terribly. God said to him, Just because of what you THOUGHT, will you condemn My justice?" (Metzudas David). V 9: "Do you have an arm like God or can you thunder with a voice like Him?" Metzudas David explains that man is made in the image of God and when he perfects himself and does not turn aside even slightly from the path of God, his strength is very great and he has power over everything, including even the hosts of heaven, as in the case of Joshua, who caused the sun to stop (Joshua 10:12f). God is here asking Job how he can hold himself to be so righteous – does he have the power in his arm like God to rule over everything? Can he thunder like Him and give commands to the hosts of heaven as would a truly perfect Tzaddik? Vv 10-14: If Job is so perfect, God challenges him to cast down the wicked as would be befitting for a perfect Tzaddik, and if he can do it, God will concede that he is indeed a complete Tzaddik (Metzudas David). Vv 15-24 speak about BEHEMOTH, while vv 25-32 speak about LEVIATHAN. Having previously challenged Job to take on the wicked, God now asks him if he could take on these two wonders of His creation. Ramban (on v 15) comments: "BEHEMOTH is a generic term for all large animals and beasts, while LEVIATHAN is a generic term for enormous fish. However, our rabbis of blessed memory had a tradition that BEHEMOTH and LEVIATHAN mentioned here are two unique creatures bearing these names." The aggadic traditions about them are contained in Talmud Bava Basra 74bf, while deep kabbalistic teachings relating particularly to LEVIATHAN are contained in the writings of the Vilna Gaon. "Rabbah said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: In time to come the Holy One blessed be He will make a feast for the righteous from the flesh of Leviathan, as it says, 'The companions (a drush on the Heb. HABARIM) will heap up payment for him, they shall divide him among the traders' (Job 40:30) – the 'companions' are the Tzaddikim while the 'traders' are those who will portion out the flesh and sell it in the streets of Jerusalem… And Rabbah also said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: In the future, God is destined to make a SUCCAH for the Tzaddkim out of the skin of Leviathan, as it written, 'Can you fill his skin with barbed irons (SUCCOTH)?' (ibid. v 31). If someone is worthy, they will make him a Succah. If he is less worthy, they will make him a belt; if he is less worthy, they will make him an ornament; if he is less worthy, they will make him an amulet… There are different groups (HABUROT) of companions. Some are masters of the Bible, others are masters of the Mishneh, others are masters of Gemara, some are masters of Aggadah, some are masters of many Mitzvoth, some possess good deeds… and each group will come and take their share…"

"Rabbi Levi said, Everyone who fulfills the mitzvah of Succah in this world will be seated in the Succah of Leviathan in time to come… And if you say that the skin of Leviathan is not so remarkable, our rabbis have taught that the different colors it contains make the sun look dark!" (Psikta).

Chapter 41 In the original Hebrew text, chapter 41 is the direct continuation of God's second answer to Job, which began in ch 40 v 6. The conventional chapter break between chapters 40 and 41 is quite arbitrary as it falls in the middle of the description of Leviathan. The last verse of the previous chapter contained God's challenge to Job to try to fight against Leviathan – "Lay your hand upon him – you will no more think of fighting" (Job 40:32). The first verse in our present chapter then goes on to say that the hope of anyone who does try to fight him will be disappointed since it is enough just to look at him to make a person backtrack in fear. The powerful evocation of Leviathan's awesomeness and might in this part of God's answer to Job provides the foundation for the KAL VA-CHOMER (argument from a light to a serious case) in verse 2: If nobody dares to arouse Leviathan (who in all his awesome might is the "light" case), then "Who is able to stand before Me?" (this is the "serious" case). Who can protest over what God does? This continues the rebuke to Job implicit in the previous chapter that however righteous he may have been, he was still not on the level of the perfect Tzaddik who could "raise his hand and stop the sun" (see our commentary on Job 40:9). It is as if God is telling Job: "If you had been a true Tzaddik in the proper way, I would have rewarded you, because no one can protest or stop Me doing anything" (Metzudas David). V 3: "Who has a claim on Me from before that I should repay him?" – "This means that there is no one who has ever taken the initiative to perform some act of righteousness before God first did him some favor" (Metzudas David). "Who gave praises before Me before I first gave him a soul? Who ever stepped forward to circumcise his son unless I first gave him a son? Who made Tzitzith before I gave him a Tallith? Who made a parapet unless I gave him a roof? Who made a Succah before I gave him a place? Who separated PE'AH (the corner) before I gave him a field? Who separated the Terumah and Maaser tithes before I gave him a granary? Who separated firstborn animals and animal tithes before I gave him a flock?" (Tanchuma). The Hebrew words of verse 4 are susceptible to a number of different interpretations. Rashi (ad loc.) explains them as an affirmation that if there is indeed a truly righteous Tzaddik, God will protect and reward his offspring on account of his constant determination to do only goodness and righteousness. Metzudas David, on the other hand, connects this verse to the coming passage which continues to evoke the great might of Leviathan, explaining: "There is enough in what I have told you already to answer your arguments, but nevertheless I will not refrain from telling you more of the might of Leviathan and his limbs and his majestic greatness compared to the other creatures, in order that you should gain deeper understanding of My supreme exaltedness" (Metzudas David on v 4). From verse 5 until the end of the present chapter is all a further description of Leviathan. It starts with his fearful lips and mouth (vv 5-6), his armor of scales (vv 7-9), the bolts of flashing light emerging from his sneezes, eyes, mouth, nostrils and his very soul (vv 10-13), the power of his neck and his solid flesh and heart… (14-16). The mightiest warriors are in terror of him, because he is impregnable to

human weapons of any kind (vv 17-22). He plows through the sea leaving a trail of gleaming foam (vv 23-4). After all this, it is interesting to find that the sages determined that Leviathan is kosher! "Rabbi Yose ben Dourmaskis says: Leviathan is a pure species of fish, as it says, 'his SCALES are his pride' (Job 41:7) and 'his underparts are like sharp potsherds' (ibid. v 22) – these are the FINS with which he swims" (Chullin 67b; see Leviticus 11:9). Let us hope that we too will be worthy of a taste of the kosher flesh of Leviathan together with the true Tzaddikim! "None on earth can be compared to him: he is made without fear. He beholds all high things; he is a king over all the children of pride" (vv 25-6). Metzudas David (on v 26) comments: "Even though he is in the water beneath the earth, he sees all who are high and mighty upon the earth and knows of all kinds of amazing creatures, and he is not afraid of anyone. He is the king and head over all men of pride, for he is prouder than all of them. As if to say: I have told you about the wonders of a creature made by My hands – understand from this the greatness of My exaltedness!" Metzudas David continues with a summary of God's answer to Job: "This is an answer to his complaint about his terrible suffering after all the good he had done. God answers that a true Tzaddik has a power in his arm like that of God to rule below and above. See now if you can punish the sinners with the words of your mouth and then I too will acknowledge that you are a perfect Tzaddik. So what if you praise yourself as having been a Tzaddik if it was not the case? For if you had been a true Tzaddik My hand would not have been short in repaying you, because none can protest against Me. He relates the wonders of the wild ox and the wonders of the whale in order to know something of God's greatness through them – for no-one can prevent Him from paying someone their reward, even though He has no obligation to pay a reward because He already did the person a favor before he performed the mitzvah. Nevertheless He will yet pay a reward out of His loving kindness and likewise He would have paid Job a good reward if he had been a complete, perfect Tzaddik."

Chapter 42 Deeply humbled, Job admits his error in having thought that God had put men's destinies in the hands of blind fate, confessing that this was because he had been "without DA'AS, knowledge" (v 3) because he did not understand the wonders of His watchful providence. For all that God had related about His great providence was previously hidden from him, whereas now, after he had been told, he admitted that it is true that He watches providentially over everything (see Metzudas David on v 3). V 4: "Hear, please, and I will speak: I will ask You and You inform me" – "For I cannot know anything of Your wonders unless You Yourself in Your loving kindness make it known to me" (Ramban). V 5: Rashi explains: "Many times I heard reports but now my eyes have seen Your Shechinah (Indwelling Presence), and because I have been worthy to see Your Shechinah, I despise my life and I will be content to dwell in the grave and return to the dust and ashes from which I was taken." On vv 5 and 6, Ramban explains: "I had a tradition (KABBALAH) about Your Godliness, but now I have attained prophecy and I know the truth of Your existence,

and that You exist and know and watch over all providentially, and that You are a righteous Judge and full of loving kindness and truth. Therefore I despise what I always wanted until now – the life of this world and the tranquility that I desired and over whose loss I complained. I repent over my having favored the body – which is dust and ashes – thinking that having the life of the body is kindness while death to the Tzaddik is an outrage. Now I repent over having desired the body and I want only to be attached to You and to live in the light of Your face and that my soul should be bound with You in the bond of life." V 7: "…and HaShem said to Eliphaz the Teimanite, My anger burns against you and your two companions [Bildad the Shoohite and Tzophar the Naamatite] – because you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right – like My servant Job." Metzudas David explains that Eliphaz and his two companions had failed to give a correct and true answer to Job although supposedly arguing on God's behalf. For they had said that his suffering came upon him because of his many sins, yet this was not so, because he had not sinned greatly even though he may not have attained the ultimate perfection of saintliness, which was why he was not fit to receive God's kindness, since the reward for a person's deeds is because of kindness. "…LIKE My servant Job" – for Job too did not speak correctly when he said that everything comes about through blind fate as governed by the heavenly system. Yet even though Job had not spoken correctly, He calls him "My servant", and from this the rabbis learned that a person cannot be faulted for what he says when in pain, for it was only because of his harsh suffering that Job had said what he said (Bava Basra 16b; Metzudas David on v 7). V 8: "Take for yourselves seven cows…" – "Their sin had been unwitting, and could be atoned for through a sacrifice in the same way as the Torah provides for the atonement of unwitting sins through sacrifices" (Ramban). The companions had to go to Job and appease him, and he would then be the Cohen-priest who would offer their sacrifices and pray for them. The rabbis compared Job's prayer for his companions to that of Abraham for Avimelech after he was afflicted with illness on account of having kidnapped Sarah (Genesis 20:7; Tosefta of Bava Kama ch 8). The rabbis also learned out from Job 42:10 – "And HaShem restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends" – that "Whoever begs for mercy for his friend when he himself is in need of that same thing is answered first" (Bava Kama 92a). V 11: All Job's siblings and friends from before his tribulations now came to comfort him – for during his suffering they all kept away from him, as he said: "and my friends have become estranged from me" (Job 19:13; Metzudas David). V 12: The numbers of Job's flocks, camels, teams of oxen and donkeys were all exactly doubled (see Job 1:3). V 13: "He also had SHIV'ANAH sons": Rashi explains the unusual Hebrew grammatical form SHIV'ANAH (in place of SHIV'AH=seven) as a dual form, implying that Job now had two sets of seven sons. [Likewise the seven Hebrew letters – BeGeD KaPoReTh – are doubled, since they can be either "hard" or "soft".] Although Job's daughters were not doubled in number, they were doubled in beauty. YAMIMAH was as radiant as the daylight; KETZIAH was as fragrant as frankincense, while KEREN HAPOUKH was as graceful as a garden crocus (Bava Basra 16b). With the death of Job, "old and satisfied of days" (v 17), we complete a work that might be called MASECHES YISSURIM, "Tractate Suffering" – inasmuch as the sublime heights of Biblical poetry are combined with the thoroughness of incisive Talmudic examination and analysis of all of the different answers and approaches to

this most inscrutable subject, until we finally arrive at God's truth, if we have the humility to accept it.

Book of Song of Songs Chapter 1 Rabbi Akiva said: "The world was never so worthy as on the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Biblical writings are holy, but Song of Songs is Holy of Holies!" (Yadayim 3:5). The rabbis taught: "When a person reads a verse from Song of Songs and makes it into a kind of song lyric, he brings evil into the world, because the Torah swathes herself in sackcloth and says before the Holy One blessed be He, 'Master of the World, your children have turned me into a kind of guitar played by jokers'" (Sanhedrin 101a). Taking the form of a dialogue between a youthful lover and his beloved, Song of Songs is particularly susceptible to gross misinterpretation by those who are so sunk in the material that they are unable to conceive of the love between male and female as anything but physically erotic. But Song of Songs is "holy of holies" precisely because the relationship is purely and completely spiritual. Thus the work can be understood on many different levels, in particular as a dialogue of spiritual love between God and the Soul or between God and His chosen people of Israel. Besides the simple meaning of the verses, every single word and letter is laden with a multiplicity of allusions on all the levels of PARDES, Pshat (the plain meaning), Remez (allusion), Drash (homiletic lessons) and Sod (the mystical, esoteric and kabbalistic "secret" level). Rashi writes in the introduction to his commentary on Song of Songs: "'God spoke one thing; I heard two' (Psalms 62:12). A single verse may be susceptible of numerous explanations, but in the end no verse ever departs from its plain meaning. And even though the prophets spoke all their words metaphorically, it is necessary to explain the metaphor according to its own internal logic as it develops verse by verse… I have seen many aggadic midrashim on this book, but they do not always fit with the language and order of the verses… I say that Solomon saw with holy spirit that Israel were destined to go into exile after exile and suffer destruction after destruction, and that in exile they would grieve over their first glory and remember God's first love when they were His treasure above all the nations. They would say, Let me go and return to my first Husband, for it was better for me then than now (Hosea 2:9) and they would remember His kindnesses and their wrongdoing and all the goodness He promised to do to them at the end of days. Solomon therefore wrote this work with holy spirit, using the metaphor of a woman bound up as a widow while her husband is still alive. She longs for him and remembers her youthful love for him, acknowledging her wrongdoings. Likewise her lover is pained over her pain and remembers the kindnesses of her youth and her beauty and good deeds, in virtue of which he is bound with her with strong love, in order to let her know that he is not tormenting her intentionally and that her divorce is no divorce, for she is still his wife and he is still her husband and he is destined to return to her." These study notes will be mainly based on the explanations contained in the TARGUM (ancient Aramaic interpretation attributed to R. Yonasan ben Uzziel) and the commentary of Rashi.

V 1: "Song of songs…" This is the ninth of ten great songs. (1) The song of Adam when he was forgiven his sin and sang the song of the Shabbos day (Psalm 92). (2) The song of Moses and Israel after crossing the Red Sea. (3) Israel's song over the well given in the wilderness, Numbers 21:17ff. (4) Moses' song before leaving the world Deut. 32; (5) Joshua's song after the battle at Giv'on Josh. 10:12. (6) The song of Deborah, Judges ch 5. (7) Hannah's song on the birth of Samuel, I Sam. 2. (8) David's song, Psalms 18, II Sam. 22; (9) SONG OF SONGS. (10) Israel's future song on going out of exile, Isaiah 30:29. "Song of songs of SOLOMON (SHLOMO)…" – "Every time the name SHLOMO appears in Song of Songs, it is a holy name of God, who is the King of Peace" (Talmud Shevuos 35b). V 2: The "kisses of His mouth" are the teachings of His Torah, which are better than "wine" = YaYiN = 70, the seventy nations. V 3: "Therefore the maidens love You" – these are the righteous proselytes. V 4: "The King has brought me to His chambers" – "even today I still have joy and delight because I have attached myself to You" (Rashi). V 5: "…daughters of Jerusalem …" The nations of the world are called "daughters of Jerusalem" because Jerusalem is destined to become the capital city of all of them, as prophesied by Ezekiel 16:61, "And I shall give them to you as daughters". V 6: Do not look down upon me if I appear blackened with sin, because I was not so from birth but only because the mixed multitude that came up with me from Egypt (the "children of my mother") caused me to go after idols (Rashi). V 7: Knesset Israel speaks to God like a flock asking how she can escape the seductions of the "wolves" = the nations. V 8: The Shepherd answers, Go in the pathways of the righteous… teach your children to go to the synagogue and the study hall, and this is how you will survive the exile (Targum). V 9: When God destroyed the Egyptians at the Red Sea, He almost destroyed Israel because of the scoffers among them (Targum). V 10: The "circlets" and "beads" with which God adorned Israel are the teachings of Torah He gave them in the wilderness (Targum). V 12: "While the king still sat at his table" – at Sinai – "my spikenard (which smells foul) gave forth its fragrance" – Israel sinned with the golden calf. V 13: Even so, God forgave Israel , commanding them to build the Sanctuary in order to atone. The "bag of myrrh" alludes to Mount Moriah , the Temple Mount . V 14: Henna, KOPHER, alludes to atonement, KAPARAH. V 15: Despite Israel's sin and shame, God encourages her with praise of her true, essential beauty. V 16: Israel replies that the beauty is not hers for it all comes from God (Rashi).

V 17 speaks in praise of the wilderness Sanctuary and the Future Temple (Targum; Rashi).

Chapter 2 V 1: "Knesset Israel says: When the Master of the Universe causes His presence to dwell with me, I am compared to a lily and a rose that are moist from the Garden of Eden" (Targum). V 2: Even though the nations seek to entice Israel to whore after their idols, she remains faithful to God (Rashi). V 3: Israel compares God to the TAPU'AH (=Ethrog, Targum), whose fruit is excellent in taste and fragrance. V 4: "He brought me to the house of wine" – this refers to the giving of the Torah at Sinai (Targum). "And his banner (DIGLO) over me is love" – "When an ignoramus or a little child mispronounces words when trying to study Torah, God says, 'And his stammering (LIGLUGO) over Me is LOVE" (Midrash Shir HaShirim). V 5: Even in exile, Israel is love-sick for God and craves His dainties. V 7: "I adjure you, O nations, that you will be abandoned and consumed like the gazelles and hinds of the field if you try to spoil the love between me and God and try to entice me to go after you" (Rashi). V 8: God "leaps over the mountains" and "skips over the hills" in redeeming Israel even before the appointed time (Targum). V 9: When the Israelites sat in their houses in Egypt eating the Pesach sacrifice with Matzah and bitter herbs, God was looking in through the windows and protected them from the destroying angel that came to overthrow the Egyptians. V 10: The following morning He told Israel to get up and leave Egypt . V 11: For the time of exile had passed. V 12: "The flowers appear on the earth" – these are Moses and Aaron, who appeared in Egypt and performed the miracles of the redemption. V 14: "O My dove, you are in the clefts of the rock" – "This refers to when Pharaoh chased after them and caught up with them encamped at the Sea, and they had nowhere to turn. At that moment they were like a dove fleeing from a hawk. The dove tries to enter a cleft in the rocks only to find a serpent hissing there. How can she escape? But God said to them, Let Me hear your voice – 'And the Children of Israel cried out to God' (Ex. 14:10)" (Rashi). V 15: The "foxes" allude to the Amalekites, who attacked Israel after the crossing of the Red Sea (Targum). V 16: "My beloved is mine and I am His" – "Everything He requires He demands only from me: celebrate Pesach, sanctify the first-born, build a sanctuary, offer sacrifices… He did not demand this of any other nation" (Rashi).

V 17: Owing to the sin of the golden calf, the protective shadows fled, but God did not destroy Israel on account of His covenant with the patriarchs, who were swift as a gazelle and a young hart in serving Him (Targum).

Chapter 3 V 1-2: When Israel sinned, the Divine Presence departed. In her distress in the night-time of exile, Israel – the soul – seeks out God but cannot find Him, "for I shall not go up in your midst" (Exodus 32:11). V 3: "The watchmen that go around the city found me…" The watchmen or guards are the Tzaddikim, such as Moses and Aaron, who entreat God on behalf of Israel. V 4: "Only a little after I passed on from them…" After 38 years in the wilderness, just after Aaron and Moses departed the world, Israel "found" God when Joshua brought them into the Land of Israel, miraculously defeating the 31 kings of Canaan. "I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house and into the chamber of her that conceived me" – After entry into the Land, Israel built the Sanctuary at Shilo. V 5: "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem …" Israel tells the nations not to spoil God's love for her by enticing her to abandon Him and go after their idols (Rashi). V 6: "Who is this that comes out of the wilderness…" When the nations saw Israel miraculously cross the River Jordan and enter the Land, they could not but wonder at the greatness of this upright nation advancing in the merit of the patriarchs (Targum). V 7: The ultimate purpose of the entry into the Land was to build the Temple, which is the "bed" upon which the King of Peace causes His presence to rest (cf. II Kings 11:2). The "sixty mighty warriors" allude to the 600,000 souls of Israel ordered around the Sanctuary (in Hebrew, 600,000 is expressed as 60 REEBO, where each REEBO is 10,000). The "sixty warriors" also allude to the sixty Hebrew letters that make up the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) recited daily in the Temple. V 8: "They all handle the sword and are expert in war…" – "The priests and Levites and Israelites are all expert in the Torah which is compared to a sword" (Targum). "Every man has his sword on his thigh" – This alludes to the sign of the Covenant cut into the flesh by the thighs: this gives protection against all the forces of evil (Targum). V 9: "King Solomon made himself a palanquin…" This alludes to Solomon's Temple, built from the precious timbers of Lebanon. V 10: Having completed the Temple, Solomon brought in the Ark of the Covenant, and the Divine Presence dwelled between the cherubs on its cover. "…the seat of it of purple (ARGAMAN)" – this alludes to the woven Parochet-screen that was hung in front of the Ark. As an example of the deep allusions contained in every word and letter of Song of Songs, it may be noted that ARGAMAN is an acronym of the initial letters of the names of the archangels, Oori-el, Repha-el, Gavri-el, Micha-el and Noori-el, who are the "seat" or "chariot" upon which the Divine Presence "rides". V 11: "Go forth and gaze, O daughters of Zion, upon the King of Peace, upon the crown with which His MOTHER crowned Him on the day of His wedding and on the

day of the joy of His heart". "Rabbi Elazar the son of Rabbi Yosse said, This is like a king who had an only daughter whom he loved very greatly. He had such great affection for her that he called her 'my daughter' (Psalms 45:11); so great was his affection for her that he did not move until he called her 'my sister' (Songs 5:2). So great was his affection for her that he did not move until he called her 'my mother' (cf. Isaiah 51:4 where the Hebrew text reads 'My mother') – (Rashi on Songs 3:11).

Chapter 4 Chapter 4 vv 1-7 is the Lover's description of the beautiful features of his Beloved. Kabbalistically, this description alludes to the PARTZUF of the Shechinah, Malchus (kingship), the Nukva (female), for with the completion of Solomon's Temple, the attribute of Malchus was fully revealed. V 1: The "eyes" are the leaders of the assembly and the sages of the Sanhedrin. The "hair" alludes to the rest of the people: even the merest of the "people of the land" (AM HA-ARETZ) are righteous like the sons of Jacob, who heaped up stones on Mt Gilead, Gen. 31:46 (Targum). V 2: The "teeth" are the priests and Levites, who eat the meat of the sacrifices and the Terumah and Maaser tithes of the people. They are compared to flocks that are clean after having been washed since they are guiltless of any theft or robbery (Targum). V 3: The "lips" are those of the High Priest, whose prayers on the Day of Atonement whitened the "scarlet" sins of the people (Targum). V 4: The "neck" alludes to the NASI, President of the Sanhedrin, whose merit is a tower of strength to the nation, who thereby win all their wars as if holding every kind of weapon in their hands (Targum). V 5: "Your two breasts are like two fawns…" The two breasts allude to Mashiah ben David and Mashiah ben Yosef (who nurture and redeem Israel): they are compared to two fawns = Moses and Aaron, who "feed among the lilies" – during their 40 year leadership of the people in the wilderness, they provided them with Manna, fat quails and Miriam's well (Targum). Rashi interprets the two breasts as alluding to the Two Tablets of Stone. They are called "twins" because the five commandments on one are intrinsically bound up with the five commandments on the other. "I am HaShem…" – "Do not murder": a murderer destroys the divine form, since man is created in God's image. "You shall have no other gods" – "Do not commit adultery": idolatry is like marital disloyalty. "Do not bear God's name in vain" – "Do not steal": a thief ends up swearing falsely. "Remember the Sabbath" – "Do not bear false testimony": Desecration of the Shabbos is like bearing false testimony against the Creator. "Honor your father and mother" – "Do not covet": One who covets another man's wife ends up bearing a son who despises him and honors one who is not his father. V 6: "As long as the House of Israel practiced the craft of their saintly forefathers, all the destructive forces fled from them, just like they fled from the incense offered in the Temple built on Mount Moriah" (Targum). V 8: "With Me from Lebanon, my bride, come with Me from Lebanon …" – "When you go into exile from this Lebanon (= the Temple), you will go into exile with Me,

for I will be in exile with you. And when you return from the exile, I will return with you. And through all the days of the exile, I shall share in your sorrow" (Rashi). "Look from the top of Mount Amanah ". Mount Amanah is the northern boundary of the Holy Land (=Hor HaHar, Numbers 34:7). Amanah = Emunah, Faith. "When I gather in your dispersed exiles, examine and contemplate what is your reward for your achievements, from the beginning of the Emunah with which you believed in Me when you went after Me into the wilderness…" (Rashi). V 9: "You have ravished My heart… with one bead of your necklace" – even your smallest is righteous as one of the rabbis of the Sanhedrin! (Targum). V 12 praises the great modesty of the women of Israel. V 13: "Your offshoots are an orchard of pomegranates" – "Even the smallest of Israel are moist in good deeds like an orchard of pomegranates" (Rashi). V 16: "Awake, O north wind…" God says, Since your fragrance is so sweet to me, I command the north and south winds to blow, gathering in all your exiles, and bringing them as an offering to Jerusalem. Then Israel answers: Let my Beloved come to His garden – if You are there, everything is there!" (Rashi).

Chapter 5 V 1: "I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride…" – With the completion of the Temple , God's presence enters, accepting the incense offerings and wine libations, and He invites the priests to eat their share of the sacrificial offerings. V 2: "I am asleep…" With the passage of time, even having the Temple, Israel became lax in God's service and began to sin. "…but my heart is awake…" – The "heart" is the Holy One blessed be He, who is called "the rock of my heart" (Psalms 73:26). "…the voice of my Beloved is knocking…" – God repeatedly sent His prophets to warn the people, asking His "bride" to open up and admit Him into her house just as a lover seeks to steal in to visit his beloved even at night despite getting wet from the rain or dew (Rashi). V 3: The beloved bride replies like a faithless wife making excuses why she cannot admit her husband. "I have taken off my coat" – "I have already fallen into other habits (idolatry) and I can no longer return to You" (Rashi). V 4: "My beloved put in his hand through the hole of the door…" – God began to strike Israel, first sending the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menasheh into exile some generations before the destruction of the Temple (Targum). This caused a stir of repentance among those who remained. Vv 5-6: However, even this arousal of repentance in the last generations before the destruction was insufficient to revoke the decree and restore the divine Presence to the Temple (Rashi on v 7). V 7: "The watchmen that go about the city found me…" These are the Babylonians, who slaughtered and exiled Judah (Targum). "They took away my mantle from me" – the mantle alludes to Tzedekiah, the last king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar killed (Targum). V 8: "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? That I am love-sick" – Israel adjures the Babylonians to bear witness on

the future day of judgment how even in exile, she remained faithful, with Tzaddikim like Daniel, Hananiyah, Mishael and Azaria being willing to sacrifice their lives to sanctify God's name (Rashi). V 9: The nations ask Israel how God is different from their gods such that she is willing to be burned and hanged for His sake. This question of the nations elicits Israel's praiseful description of God's attributes, which is in parallel with God's description of the attributes of Israel in ch 4 vv 1-5. Just as that description kabbalistically refers to the Partzuf of Malchus/Nukva/Shechinah, similarly the description here in chapter 5 vv 10-16 alludes kabbalistically to the Partzuf of Zeir Anpin/Kudsha Berich Hu. The commentary on the coming verses is mainly based on Rashi's lengthy comment on Ch 5 v 16 where he discusses the entire passage. V 10: "My beloved is white and ruddy…" God "whitens" and cleanses sins out of loving kindness (Chessed). He is "ruddy" in punishing His enemies (Gevurah). He is "pre-eminent above ten thousand" – many "troops"=angels surround Him. V 11: "His head is like the finest gold" – the "head" is the first of the Ten Commandments, in which He asserts His kingship. Having done so, He then proceeds to make His decrees: "His locks are curled…" – this alludes to the multitude of laws of the Torah. "…and black as a raven" – the primordial Torah was written with black fire on white fire. V 12: "His eyes are like doves…" Just as doves look to their cotes, so God's eyes are upon the synagogues and study halls, where the Torah, which is compared to water, is found. "…washed with milk…" When God's eyes look in judgment, they clarify the true verdict, justifying the righteous and condemning the wicked, requiting each according to his ways. V 13: "His cheeks…" refers to His revelation at Sinai; "…his lips…" refers to the Torah portions that He revealed out of the Tent of Meeting (the laws of sacrifices in Leviticus). V 14: "His hands…" refers to the Tablets of Stone. "His body…", lit. the torso, refers to the book of Leviticus, which is in the middle of the Five Books of Moses just as the torso is in the middle of the body. V 15: "…his aspect is like Lebanon …" – one who studies and contemplates His words (in the Torah) finds them like a forest that is constantly in blossom, because they are always fresh. V 16: "His mouth is most sweet…" Could anything be sweeter than the Torah code, which even gives us a reward for fulfilling a mitzvah such as not causing ourselves injury (Leviticus 19:28) and which guarantees that if a wicked man repents his very sins are turned into merits? (Rashi).

Chapter 6 V 1: "Where is your beloved gone…?" The nations taunt Israel, asking why He has left her as an abandoned widow. "Let us seek him with you!" When God restored Judah from exile to Jerusalem and they began to build the Second Temple, the surrounding nations asked to participate in the building in order to try to stall it.

V 3: "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine…" Israel replies to the nations that they have no share in the building of Jerusalem (cf. Ezra 4:3; Nehemiah 2:20). V 4: "You are beautiful, O my love…" God praises Israel for this reply to the nations. "…comely as Jerusalem …" – With the rebuilding of the Temple, Israel was restored to her former glory. "…terrible as an army with banners…" God struck fear into the heart of the adversaries so that they were unable to stop the rebuilding. V 5: "Turn away your eyes from me, for they have overcome me…" God speaks to Israel like a lover so overwhelmed by his beloved that he has to ask her to turn her eyes away from him. This alludes to the fact that the Second Temple lacked the Ark of the Covenant etc. which in the First Temple caused such overwhelming passion that this in itself led Israel into betrayal (Rashi). V 6: "Your teeth are like a flock of lambs…" Every part of the lamb can be used for holy purposes: its wool is dyed TECHEILES (sky blue) for tzitzith, its flesh is offered as a sacrifice, its horns are used for shofars, its leg-bones for flutes, its innards for stringed instruments and its skin for drums, while the nations are compared to dogs (Psalms 22:17 etc.), no part of which is used for holy service (Rashi). V 8: "Sixty are the queens and eighty are the concubines…" The sixty queens allude to Abraham and his descendants as listed in Genesis, while the eighty concubines allude to Noah and all his other descendents as listed there. (See Rashi on this verse for the complete listings.) "…and maidens without number…" – these are all the families into which the primordial souls later became divided (Rashi). V 9: "My dove, my undefiled, is but one…" Out of all of them, only one is God's choicest. Israel is compared to a dove because the dove is completely loyal to her spouse. V 10: "Who is she that looks forth as the dawn…?" Israel in the time of the Second Temple are compared to the dawn, which little by little becomes lighter and lighter, in that initially they were subject to Persia and Greece but under the Hasmoneans became an independent kingdom. V 11: "I went down into the garden of nuts…" God sent His presence to dwell in the Second Temple. Israel is compared to a garden of nuts, because from the outside a nut appears to be all wood but when you crack it you find it to be full of compartments of edible food. Also, even when a nut falls into the mud (= exile), its contents are not spoiled. V 12: "And since it is revealed before God that they are righteous and occupied with the Torah, God says, I shall strike them no more, nor shall I destroy them, but I shall set myself to show them beneficence…" (Targum).

Chapter 7 These notes on the final chapters of Song of Songs consist of a translation of the Aramaic Targum, which is exceptionally beautiful and inspiring. While the Targum may appear far-fetched and distant from the surface meaning of the text as rendered in the standard English translations, those who have some understanding of the Hebrew original and of the methods of Midrash will be able to see that every word and idea in the Targum is soundly based on the actual Hebrew text.

Chapter 7 v 1: Return to Me, O Assembly of Israel, return to Jerusalem, return to the Torah study hall, return to the prophets who prophesy in the Name of HaShem – why should the false prophets seek to lead the people of Jerusalem astray with prophecies that are contrary to God's word in order to defile the camp of Israel and Judah? V 2: King Solomon said with prophetic spirit from God: How beautiful are the feet of Israel when they go up to appear before God three times in the year and bring their sacrifices, and their children are beautiful as the gems in the crown that the craftsman Bezalel made for Aaron the Priest. V 3: The head of the Academy, in whose merit the entire world is sustained like an embryo is sustained in the womb of its mother, shines in Torah like the crescent of the moon when he comes to rule pure or impure, innocent or guilty. Words of Torah are never lacking from his mouth, just like waters are never lacking from the great river that goes forth out of Eden. Seventy sages surround him like a round threshing floor, with their store-houses full of the holy tithes that Ezra the Priest and the Men of the Great Assembly – who are like roses – assigned to them in order that they should have strength to engage in Torah day and night. V 4: The two redeemers that are destined to redeem you, Mashiach son of David and Mashiach son of Ephraim, will be like Moses and Aaron, who are compared to two fawns, twins of a gazelle. V 5: The father of the court of law that judges your cases takes pity on the people, disciplining them, giving lashes to those who deserve it, as did King Solomon, who built a tower of elephant's tusk and mastered the people of Israel , restoring them to the Ruler of the Universe. Your sages are full of wisdom like fountains of water, and they know how to calculate the months and leap years, fixing the new moons and new years in the gates of the great Sanhedrin, while the leader of the House of Judah is like King David, who built the Fortress of Zion, which is called the Tower of Lebanon, all who stand on which can count all the towers of Damascus. V 6: The king appointed as head over you is righteous like Elijah, who was zealous for the King of Heaven and killed the false prophets on Mt Carmel, restoring the House of Israel to the fear of God. Even the lowliest of the people who go with their head bowed down are destined to wear purple, as did Daniel in Babylon and Mordechai in Shushan, in the mert of the patriarchs. V 7: Said King Solomon: How beautiful are you O Assembly of Israel when you bear upon you the yoke of my kingship when I chastise you over your sins and you accept this with love. V 8: At the moment when your priests stretch out their hands in prayer and bless their brothers the House of Israel, their fingers are spread like the branches of a palm and their stature is like the date palm, and your assembly stand face to face with the priests, their heads bent over to the ground like bunches of grapes. V 9: God says: I will go and test Daniel and see if he can withstand one test just as Abraham, who was straight like the Lulav, withstood ten tests, and I will also test Hananiyah, Misha-el and Azariah, and if they stand firm I will in their merit redeem the people of Israel, who are like a bunch of grapes, and the fame of those Tzaddikim will be known throughout the earth and their fragrance will spread like the fragrance of the apple trees of the Garden of Eden.

V 10: Daniel and his companions said, Let us accept God's decree as did Abraham, who is compared to old wine, and let us go in His paths like Elijah and Elisha, in whose merit the dead – who are like a man asleep – came to life, and like Ezekiel, through the prophecy of whose mouth the dead were revived in the valley of Doura. V 11: Jerusalem says: As long as I go in the ways of the Master of the Universe, He rests His Presence upon me and His desire is upon me, while if I stray from His paths, He withdraws His Presence and makes me wander among the nations and they rule over me as a man rules over his wife. V 12: When the House of Israel sinned, God sent them into exile in the land of Edom. Then the Assembly of Israel said: Master of the Universe, please accept my prayer, which I offer to you from the cities of my exile and the provinces of the nations. V 13: The Children of Israel say to one another, Let us rise early in the morning and go to the synagogues and the study halls and study the scroll of the Torah and see if the time has arrived for the redemption of Israel, who are compared to the vine, and let us ask the sages – since it is revealed before God that the righteous are full of merits like the pomegranate – if the end has come so that we may go up to Jerusalem to give praise there to the God of Heaven and to offer holy sacrifices and libations. V 14: And when God's desire will be to redeem His people from exile, King Mashiach will be told: The time of the exile has reached its end, and the merits of the righteous are fragrant as the scent of balsam, and the sages of the generation are constantly by the gates of the study hall engaging in the teachings of the scribes and the words of the Torah. Arise now and receive the kingship that I have stored up for you.

Chapter 8 V 1: At that time King Mashiach will be revealed to the Assembly of Israel, and the Children of Israel will say to him, Come and go with us like a brother and we will go up to Jerusalem, and we will feed upon the deep wisdom of the Torah just as a baby suckles at his mother's chest. For all the time that I was wandering about outside my land, when I remembered the Name of the great God and sacrificed myself for His sake, even the nations of the land did not despise me. V 2: I will take you, King Mashiach, and bring you up to my Temple, and you will teach me to fear God and go in His ways, and there we will partake of the feast of Leviathan and drink the old wine that has been hidden away since the day the world was created and partake of the pomegranate fruits destined for the Tzaddikim in the Garden of Eden. V 3: The Assembly of Israel says: I am the choicest of all the nations, for I bind the Tefilin on my left arm and upon my head, and I fix the Mezzuzah on the right hand door post, so that no destructive spirits have the power to harm me. V 4: King Mashiach will say: I adjure you, my people the House of Israel, why do you provoke the nations of the earth in trying to go out of exile, and why do you rebel against the forces of Gog and Magog. Tarry here a little while until the nations that go up to make war against Jerusalem will be destroyed, and afterwards God will remember in your favor the kindnesses of the Tzaddikim, and it will be His will to redeem you.

V 5: Solomon the prophet said: When the dead will come to life, the Mt of Olives will be split and all the dead of Israel will come up from beneath it, and even the righteous who died in exile will go through tunnels under the earth and come out from under the Mt of Olives, while the wicked who died and were buried in the Land of Israel will be cast out as a man casts a stone. Then all the inhabitants of the earth will say: What is the merit of this people who go up from the land in their multiple thousands upon thousands as on the day when they went up from the wilderness to the land of Israel, delighting in the kindnesses of their Master as on the day when they surrounded Mt Sinai to receive the Torah? At that hour Zion , who is the mother of Israel , will give birth to her children and Jerusalem will receive the children of the exile. V 6: On that day the Children of Israel will say to their Master: Please place us like the seal of a ring upon Your heart, like the seal of a ring upon Your arm, so that we will be exiles no more. For the love of Your Godliness is strong as death, and the people's jealousy of us is fierce as hell, and the hatred they bear against us is like the coals of fire of Gehennom which God created on the second day of creation in order to burn up the idolaters. V 7: The Master of the Universe says to His people the House of Israel: Even if all the nations, who are compared to the many waters of the sea, were to gather together, they cannot drown My love and make it depart from you. And even if all the kings of the earth, who are compared to the waters of a mighty river, gather together, they will not be able to obliterate you from the world. And if a man pays all the money of his house to acquire wisdom while in exile, I will return him double in the world to come, and all the spoils of the camp of Gog will not be enough to compare with this reward. V 8: At that time the angels of heaven will say one to another: We have one nation on earth whose merits are slender and she has no kings or rulers to go out to do battle with the camp of Gog. What shall we do for our sister on the day that the nations say they will go up against her in war? V 9: Michael the guardian angel of Israel will say: If she stands like a wall among the nations and pays money to unify the Name of the Master of the Universe,, then I and you, together with their scribes, shall surround her like walls of silver and the nations will have no power to rule over her, just like worms have no power to destroy silver. And even if she is poor in merits, let us entreat God for mercy upon her and remember the merit of the Torah written on the tablets of the heart which the children study, and she will stand against the nations like a cedar. V 10: The Assembly of Israel answers and says: I am firm as a wall in following the teachings of the Torah, and the children are strong as a tower. At that time the Assembly of Israel will find favor in the eyes of her Master, and they will seek the peace of all the inhabitants of earth. V 11: One nation went up as the share of the Master of the Universe to whom peace belongs. She is compared to a vineyard. He settled her in Jerusalem and entrusted her into the hand of the kings of the House of David to guard her, just as a tenant tends a vineyard. After Solomon king of Israel died, they were left in the hands of his son Rehaboam. Jeraboam came and divided the kingdom with him and took ten tribes from him in accordance with the words of Ahiyah of Shilo. V 12: When King Solomon heard the prophecy of Ahiyah, he sought to kill him, and Jeraboam fled from Solomon and went to Egypt . At that hour King Solomon was told in a prophecy that he would rule over the Ten Tribes all his days, but that after

his death Jeraboam son of Nevat would rule over them, while the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin would be under the rule of Rehaboam son of Solomon. V 13: Said King Solomon at the end of his prophecy: At the end of days, the Master of the Universe will say to the Assembly of Israel: You, O Assembly of Israel, that is compared to a small garden among the nations, and you sit in the study hall with the members of the Sanhedrin while the rest of the people listen to the voice of the head of the Assembly and learn from the words of his mouth. Let Me hear the sound of your words of Torah when you sit in judgment, whether to vindicate or condemn, and I will agree with everything you do. V 14: At that hour the elders of the Assembly of Israel will say: Run, my Beloved, Master of the Universe, from this impure land and let Your Presence dwell in the heavens above. And in times of trouble, when we pray to You, be like a gazelle, which when it sleeps keeps one eye closed and one eye open, or like a young hart, which when it flees looks behind it. So too may You look upon us and see our pain and suffering from the heavens above, until the time when You will show favor and redeem us and bring us up on the mountain of Jerusalem, and there the priests will offer the incense spices before You.

Book of Ruth Chapter 1 The book of Ruth – an enchanting agricultural allegory replete with some of the deepest Torah mysteries – centers on the theme of embrace of the Torah itself through conversion and the practice of the Kindness it teaches, which is the very pillar of the Universe. It is the union of Torah and Kindness that leads to redemption. Ruth is the archetypal convert who accepts the Torah. Her need to benefit from the agricultural gifts to the poor, an integral part of the pathway of kindness it teaches, leads her to the field of Boaz. And out of their encounter springs the line that leads to David, the Messianic king and redeemer of Israel (Ruth 4:13-22). It is customary to read the book of Ruth in the synagogue on the morning of the festival of Shavuos, the summertime harvest festival celebrating the Receiving of the Torah at Sinai. Ruth is read prior to the Torah reading, which describes the revelation at Sinai, where all those who accepted the yoke of the Torah were "converts". Shavuos is also by tradition the anniversary of the birth and death of King David. "Why was she called Ruth? Because she merited that out of her came David, who delighted (REEVAH) the Holy One blessed be He with songs and praises" (Berachos 7b). Ruth herself was a royal princess, daughter of Eglon king of Moab, who merited such a righteous descendant as David because he rose from his throne in honor of God when Ehud called him (Judges 3:20). Yet Ruth gave up her royal status and its luxuries in order to follow Naomi into a life of abject poverty. She was willing to do this in order to attain the greatest wealth of all, the life of Torah. She was prepared to descend to the very bottom of the social ladder and play the role of 'ANI, the poor man, who is needed by the BAAL HABAYIS, the rich householder, in order to fulfill the mitzvos involved in the practice of kindness and charity. First and foremost among these in a simple agricultural society are the gifts to the poor of PE'AH, the unharvested corner of the field, LEKET, the gleanings of fallen ears of corn, and SHICH'HAH, the forgotten sheaf. Ruth starts off as the receiver of kindness, but "More than the rich householder does for the poor man, the poor man does for the rich householder" (Midrash Ruth 4), because in the merit of the householder's kindness to the poor man, he receives a blessing that he could not have attained without the poor man serving as the recipient of his gift. In the merit of Boaz' kindness to Ruth, she becomes attached to him and bears him a son who fathers the father of Mashiach. V 1: "And it was in the days when the judges judged…" This was prior to Samuel, some say in the time of Barak and Deborah, others say in the time of Shamgar and Ehud (Yalkut Shimoni). The Hebrew phrase "the judges judged" can also be construed as meaning that people used to judge the judges. "Woe to the generation that judged their judges and whose judges needed to be judged!" (Introduction to Midrash Ruth). VAYEHI, "and it was", is an expression of woe (Megillah 10b).

"And there was a famine in the land." Targum on this verse enumerates ten major famines – in the times of Adam, Lemech, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Boaz, David, Elijah and Elisha, "…and the tenth famine will be in time to come, not a famine to eat bread and not a thirst to drink water, but to hear words of prophecy from HaShem." R. Ovadiah of Bartenurah (author of the standard commentary on the Mishneh) wrote a kabbalistic commentary on Ruth. He states that "in the days when the judges judged" means it was a time when the Attribute of Judgment was judging Israel, and the blessing was taken from her. "There was a famine in the land" means that the Shechinah left the throne and ascended on high, and correspondingly down below, the kings of Israel (Elimelech and family) left their "thrones" and went out into exile. "…and a man (ISH) went out from Bethlehem…" The word ISH teaches that he was very wealthy and the leader of the generation (Rashi). "ISH alludes to the Holy One blessed be He, cf. Exodus 15:3" (Bartenurah). "…to dwell in the fields of Moab, he and his wife…" – "The Holy One blessed be He is the 'man', Israel are His wife, and when the wife is among the nations of the world, represented by the fields of Moab, the "man" is also with them, as the Rabbis taught: wherever Israel were exiled, the Shechinah went with them" (Bartenurah). V 2: "And the name of the man was Elimelech…" – ELI is the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and to Him alone is the kingship (MELECH) fitting" (Bartenurah). The ten Hebrew letters of the names of Elimelech's two sons, MACHLON and CHILYON (which have the connotations of Forgiveness and Destruction respectively), correspond to the Ten Sefiros. V 4: "And they took for themselves Moabite wives…" Bartenurah explains: MACHLON and CHILYON are the places from which influence flows into the world, and now, because of our sins, they send blessing to the wicked, while Israel receive troubles and evils through them because they are weak in performance of the commandments and turn the back (OREPH) of their heads to God instead of their faces, and for this reason they are saturated (RAVVIM) with troubles and evils, and this is alluded to in the names of ORPAH and RUTH. V 5: "And the two of them died also, Machlon and Chilyon…" Bartenurah explains: "The text says 'also' to suggest that this was not literal death but rather it is a metaphor for the absence of the Shechinah, so that even though there is blessing in the world, it cannot be compared to the blessing that flows when Israel are meritorious, and the blessing that comes down to Israel is not as it was in the days of old when they received it from the hand of the Holy One blessed be He. But when they are in exile they receive it through the angels, who are alluded to in the "lads of Boaz". For Boaz alludes to the Holy One blessed by He, who is destined to rule over Israel with might ('OZ) and power when He will be aroused from His "sleep", but in the meantime He hides His power and might from them and does not fight their wars. V 8: "Let HaShem perform kindness to you just as you have done kindness with the dead and with me." The "kindness" of the two daughters-in-law to the dead was that they made them shrouds (Yalkut Shimoni). Giving honor to the dead is CHESSED SHEL EMES, T R U E Kindness since one can expect no recompense whatever from the recipient. The theme of the practice of Kindness recurs repeatedly in Ruth because this is one of the three pillars on which the universe stands (Avot 1:2).

Vv 7ff: Orpah and Ruth accompany Naomi on her way home to the Land of Israel, but Naomi seeks to dissuade them from going with her. Three times she tells them, "Return!" (vv 8, 11 & 12) teaching that the would-be convert is rejected three times, and only if he makes an exceptional effort is he received (Yalkut Shimoni). V 14: Orpah eventually turned her back on Naomi and ended up giving birth to four sons who became formidable adversaries of David, including Goliath (II Samuel 21:22). However, Ruth persisted. Her beautiful words to Naomi in vv 16-17, "wherever you go I will go", were darshened by the rabbis as stating her complete acceptance of the Torah (her "conversion"). "Wherever you go, I will go" – I will only walk within the Sabbath limits. "Wherever you lie down to rest, I will lie down to rest" – I will not go into forbidden seclusion with a male. "Your people is my people" – I accept the 613 commandments by which your people are distinguished from all others. "And your God is my God" – I will not worship idols. "Where you die, I will die" – I accept on myself the Four Death Penalties of the Court (stoning, burning, decapitation and strangulation). "…and there I will be buried" – I accept that there are separate areas in the cemetery for executed sinners (see Rashi on vv 16-17). V 21: "I went out full but HaShem has brought me back empty…" Having returned to Israel, Naomi is now the very epitome of poverty, lowliness and humility, and with her is Ruth, the former princess, who must now go out into the field to gather fallen gleanings in order to survive. Poverty and humility are the attributes that God chose as the most fitting vessel through which to receive His Torah!

Chapter 2 V 1: "Now there was a relative of Naomi's husband…" The rabbis taught that Elimelech and Sal'mon (the father of Boaz, Ruth 4:21), Peloni Almoni (Ruth 4:1) and Naomi's father were all brothers, the sons of Nachshon ben Aminadav, Prince of Judah. "And his name was Boaz…" Bartenurah explains: "The allusive meaning is that the name of the Holy One blessed be He has the power and might to restore the captivity of Israel. V 3: "…and she happened to come." A higher Hand was guiding Ruth to her destiny. Of the Hebrew words, VA-YEEKER MEEKRE-HA, Rabbi Yochanan said, "Everyone who saw her had a KERI" (Yalkut Shimoni) – Ruth was exceptionally beautiful. V 4: "…and he said to the reapers, HaShem be with you". From here we learn that HaShem's name may be invoked in blessing others (Berachos). V 5: "And Boaz said… Whose maiden is this?" – "Could it be that Boaz was in the habit of asking after women? No! Rather, he saw in her the ways of modesty and wisdom. Two fallen ears she would take, but if three had fallen together, she would not take them [as prescribed by the halachah]. Ears that were standing up she picked while standing; those lying on the ground she sat down to pick in order not to bend over…" (Rashi). Vv 8-9: "And Boaz said to Ruth…" The deep allegory contained in this verse is darshened at length by Rabbi Nachman (Likutey Moharan I, 65, see "Rabbi Nachman on Suffering" translated by R. Avraham Greenbaum, pub. Breslov Research Institute).

Vv 10-11: Why did Boaz show Ruth exceptional kindness going beyond the letter of his obligations under the laws of LEKET? Because of Ruth's exceptional kindness to Naomi and her having left her parents, homeland and native culture in order to join a people she had not known before. Kindness begets kindness.

Chapter 3 V 1: "And Naomi her mother-in-law said to her…" Having seen how God's guiding hand had brought Ruth to reap in Boaz' field and how generously Boaz had responded, Naomi now seized the initiative, priming her widowed daughter-in-law to throw herself before him in the hope that he would marry her. (It is a sad reality that the convert is not generally perceived as having a high value in the marriage market, particularly not a Moabitess for the reason that will be discussed in the commentary on Chapter 4.) The dramatic initiative whereby Ruth at the bidding of her mother-in-law went into Boaz to plead with him directly is somewhat reminiscent of Esther's dramatic appeal to Ahasuerus at the bidding of Mordechai. V 2: "And now, is not Boaz our relative…" Naomi was not merely trying to make a good match for Ruth. From the ensuing narrative we learn that Naomi wanted Boaz to fulfill the Biblically-ordained role of the "redeemer" of an impoverished relative's field, as laid down in Leviticus 25:25. Naomi and Ruth had been reduced to complete poverty, and they were forced to sell the field that had been the ancestral portion of Ruth's late husband Machlon. In order not only to retain the family property but also to keep the name of Machlon alive, Naomi wanted Boaz to buy the field AND marry Ruth so that Machlon's name would live on when people would see her going in and out of the field and say "She was Machlon's wife" (see Rashi on Ruth 3:8). What Naomi wanted to accomplish was NOT exactly identical with YIBUM, the "levirate" marriage in which the widow of a man who dies childless is married by her dead husband's surviving brother in order that the child she will hopefully bear him will perpetuate the dead brother's name (Deuteronomy 25:5-6). Nevertheless, the mystery of YIBUM lies at the very center of the story of Ruth and Boaz, just as it lies at the heart of that of Boaz' illustrious ancestors, Judah and Tamar (Genesis ch 38). Thus the ceremony described in Ruth ch 4 whereby Boaz in the presence of the elders at the gate "purchased" the field, and Ruth with it, from the other candidate for "redeemer", including the taking off of the shoe as a mark of the transaction, is conceptually bound up with the ceremony of HALITZAH in Deut. 25:7-10. V 3: "Wash yourself and anoint yourself and put your dress on…" – "Wash yourself from the filth of idolatry, and anoint yourself with mitzvoth" (Rashi). Was Ruth naked so that Naomi had to tell her to put a dress on? No! She was telling her to change her clothes and put on her Shabbos dress! (Yalkut Shimoni). Ruth, symbolizing repentant Israel, was about to go to seek out her Redeemer, and she had to prepare herself. V 6: "And she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had instructed her". In fact Ruth reversed the order, because Naomi had told her to get ready first and then go to the threshing floor. Wisely, Ruth understood that if she were to go through the streets adorned and bedecked people could get a very bad impression, which is why she adorned herself only after arriving at the threshing floor. All of this took place at NIGHT-TIME, signifying the darkness of exile, whereas the redemption of Ruth by Boaz, symbolizing God's redemption of Israel, takes place in the full light of the morning.

V 8: "And it came to pass at midnight…" These are exactly the same words as in Exodus 12:29 when Israel was redeemed from Egypt. "…the MAN was startled… and behold there was a WOMAN lying at his feet" – "The MAN alludes to the Holy One blessed be He, while the WOMAN lying at his feet alludes to Israel, as in the Talmudic phrase '[the sign of the 3rd watch of the night is] a WOMAN talking to her HUSBAND' (Brachos 3a; Bartenurah on Ruth 3:8). V 9: "And she said… spread your garment over your handmaiden, for you are the redeemer." Rashi (ad loc.) explains that the spreading of his garment over her is a euphemism for marriage. On the esoteric level, Bartenurah explains that Ruth was requesting that God Himself should redeem Israel rather than a mortal hero like one of the ancient judges such as Samson or Gideon, for He is their true Redeemer. V 10: "And he said, blessed are you to HaShem…" – "Reish Lakish said, A man should never hold himself back from going to an elder to bless him, for Ruth was forty years old and she had never had children [the rabbis said she was congenitally barren, Yalkut on Ruth 4:13 'And HaShem GAVE her conception'], but after that Tzaddik prayed for her she was granted a child" (Yalkut Shimoni). V 12: "…and also there is a redeemer who is closer than me". The other candidate to fulfill the Biblical precept of redeeming Ruth's field was a relative "closer" than Boaz, because, as the rabbis explained, this PLONI ALMONI, "Mister Someone" (Ruth 4:1), who was also called TOV (in our present chapter in the very next verse if we construe the Hebrew text literally) was the surviving BROTHER of Elimelech and Sal'mon (who had also died already), whereas Boaz was Sal'mon's SON and therefore not as close (see Rashi on our present verse). Bartenurah, discussing the mystery of the other candidate for redeemer, explains that the redemption of Israel can take place in one of two ways. Either Israel repents and they are redeemed immediately, or they fail to repent and have to be redeemed by God Himself. The first way in which redemption takes place is "closer", and indeed there were times in the history of Israel when they merited redemption in virtue of their repentance, as in the time of Hezekiah. (This explains the opinion of R. Hillel in Sanhedrin 99a that Israel will not have any further Mashiach, because they already "ate" him in the days of Hezekiah.) The second way in which redemption takes place is "further off" because it will only happen at the end of days. Bartenurah explains that esoterically, Boaz' praise of Ruth for "not going after the young men, whether poor or rich" (Ruth 3:10) indicates that even though redeemers like Samson and Gideon etc. had great power and strength, Israel prefers that the redemption should come from God Himself. "You have shown more loyalty at the end than at the beginning" – because Israel wants the final redemption to come from God, as opposed to the earlier redemptions, which came about through human leaders, the earlier redemptions were followed by further exile while God's redemption will be final and everlasting. V 13: "Stay this night and it shall be in the morning…" If Israel waits for God to redeem them, they may have to stay longer in the darkness of exile, but in the end the morning will arrive and then God will redeem them (Bartenurah). The rabbis taught that the oath that Boaz took in this verse was that despite being sorely tempted, he would not lie with Ruth without first formally marrying her (see Rashi ad loc.) V 15: "And he measured SIX measures of barley…" – "He hinted to her that a son would come forth from her who would be blessed with SIX blessings, 'a spirit of

wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of God' (Isaiah 11:18; Rashi on our verse).

Chapter 4 V 1: "Then Boaz went up to the gate…" Boaz' intended marriage with Ruth was fraught with halachic complications since Ruth was a convert from Moab, and the Torah clearly states that "an Ammonite and a Moabite shall not enter the assembly of HaShem even in the tenth generation (=forever)" (Deuteronomy 23:4). According to the oral tradition, the use specifically of the masculine form of AMMONI and MOAVI in the verse teaches that the prohibition does NOT apply to Ammonite or Moabite WOMEN. However, this halachah flies in the face of the apparent simple meaning of the text to the point that it was frequently forgotten. This happened in the generation of David after he killed Goliath, when Saul's counselor Do'eg argued that David was not even eligible to enter the assembly, being descended from a Moabitess (see Rashi on I Samuel 17:55 and Yevamos 77b). And according to our commentators, the same forgetfulness was also present in the time of Bo'az, because the even closer relative who was the other candidate for redeeming Ruth thought that the Biblical prohibition applied to Moabite women as well as men, and he was afraid of marrying her for fear of putting an inerasable blemish on his issue. "And [Bo'az] said, Turn aside, wait here Mister so-and-so [PLONI ALMONI]." The Hebrew word PLONI is from the root PELE meaning something hidden (cf. Deut. 17:8) – Rashi explains that his actual name is not written in the text because he did not want to redeem Ruth. Rashi explains ALMONI (from the root EELEM, "speechless", "dumb") as meaning that he is "without a name", and also that he was dumb and a "widower" (ALMAN), bereft of Torah, because he did not know that the halachah forbids only a MOAVI from entering the assembly but not a MOAVIAH!!! V 2: "And he took ten men from the elders of the city…" Boaz intentionally assembled a MINYAN (quorum) of men of stature in order to publicly teach the correct halachah that a MOAVIAH is indeed PERMITTED to enter the assembly (Kesuvos 7b). We also learn from this verse that the marriage ceremony must be performed in the presence of a MINYAN of ten men (ibid.). Vv 3ff: When Boaz began to explain to PLONI ALMONI, the other candidate for redeemer, that he was being asked to buy Elimelech's field, initially he was willing to do so (v 4, "I shall redeem it"), until Boaz started to explain that there were some "strings attached" as he would also have to marry Ruth. At this point PLONI ALMONI baulked "lest I harm my own inheritance" (v 6), because he thought Ruth's children would not be Israelites. V 7: "Now this was the custom in former time…" The removal of the shoe is parallel to the present-day custom of formalizing an act of KINYAN, "acquisition", through the parties lifting up a SOODAR ("scarf" or other garment or vessel, often a "gartel") whereby through the law of CHALIFIN the acquisition comes about (KINYAN SOODAR). As discussed in the commentary on the previous chapter, the taking of the shoe also relates to the mystery of YIBUM and HALITZAH. In this way Bo'az formally acquired Ruth. V 11: "And all the people that were in the gate said with the elders as witnesses, Let HaShem grant that the woman coming to your house shall be like Rachel and like Leah…" Boaz and the people of Bethlehem were from the tribe of Judah, Leah's

fourth son, yet they gave primacy to Rachel as Jacob's principal wife (Rashi). Judah must respect Joseph and his offspring!!! V 13: "And Boaz took Ruth and she was his wife…" The rabbis taught that on the very night that Boaz came into her, he died (Yalkut Shimoni). This is why the child was raised by Naomi. Vv 18-21: "And these are the generations of Peretz… and Yishai begat David". The whole purpose of this remarkable story of Ruth is to trace the origins of Melech HaMashiach.

Book of Lamentations Chapter 1 The original Hebrew name of Lamentations is KINOTH, "Mourning Dirges" (see II Chronicles 35:25), but the work is more generally known by the name of EICHAH after the Hebrew word with which chapters 1, 2 and 4 all open, meaning "How???" The book of EICHAH was written in stages by the prophet Jeremiah. He wrote Chapter 4 as a mourning elegy over King Josiah, the last righteous king of Judah, who was slain in battle at the height of his efforts to cleanse Israel, and whose death signified that the sun had gone down for the House of David (Ta'anis 22b). "And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their laments to this day, and he made them an ordinance in Israel, and behold they are written in the laments (KINOTH)" (II Chron. 35:25). Rashi writes on this verse: "When they are struck by some trouble or occasion for weeping and they mourn and cry over what happened, they recall this trouble with it, as for example on the Fast of Tisha B'Av, when mourning dirges are recited over those who died in the decrees that have occurred in our days, and likewise they weep over the death of Josiah" (Rashi ad loc.). The other chapters of EICHAH were written prophetically by Jeremiah not many years after the death of Josiah, in the fourth year of the reign of his son, the wicked King Yeho-yakim, as a warning of the disaster that was to strike Judah and Jerusalem if the people did not repent. The full account of how Jeremiah composed Eichah and how it came to be read before Yeho-yakim, who cut the scroll to shreds and burned it in the fire, is contained in Jeremiah ch 36. Jeremiah had previously prophesied to the women of Judah: "Teach your daughters wailing and each one her neighbor lamentation" (Jer. 9:19). Now in the scroll that he composed as a graphic warning to the people of the coming doom, he depicted the relentless destruction of Jerusalem as if it had already happened, penning words of mourning and lamentation that the people would have to repeat from generation to generation in order to make amends for having failed to repent in time to avert it. The Mishneh in Mo'ed Katan 3:9, discussing mourning practices, explains that a KINAH dirge (e.g. at a funeral) would be recited responsively: "One woman speaks a verse and all the others answer, as it is written, '…and each one her neighbor lamentation'". Chapters 1-4 of EICHAH are written in the form of alphabetical acrostics. Chapters 1, 2 and 4 each consist of 22 verses starting with successive letters of the Aleph-Beis, while Chapter 3 consists of 66 verses, the first three of which begin with Aleph, the second three with Beis and so on. Prior to the availability of printed texts for everyone, alphabetical acrostics were a useful mnemonic device. Moreover, "Rabbi Yochanan said, Why were Israel punished with troubles depicted in verses beginning with the letters of the Aleph Beis? Because they violated the Torah, which was given with the letters of the Aleph-Beis!" (Sanhedrin 104a). "Rabbi Abahu began expounding on the scroll of EICHAH quoting the verse, 'And they, like the man (KE-ADAM), have violated the Covenant' (Hosea 6:7). What does

'like the man' mean? The verse is comparing the people to Adam, the first man. The Holy One blessed be He said: I brought Adam into the Garden of Eden and gave him a commandment, but he violated My commandment so I drove him out and banished him and mourned over him with the phrase, 'Where are you?' (=AYEKAH, Genesis 3:9, consisting of the same Hebrew letters as EICHAH). Likewise I brought his children to the Land of Israel and gave them commandments, but they violated My commandments and I banished them, and I mourned over them with the word EICHAH!!!" (Introduction to Eichah Rabbah). This Midrash is teaching us that the disaster which befell Judah and Jerusalem must be seen as part of the greater cycle of human sin and consequent suffering and chastisement that began with Adam and continues until today. Just as God's call to Adam, "Where are you???" (Gen. 3:9) was a call to repentance, so is the scroll of EICHAH, a call to repentance, challenging us to see the meaning and purpose of the suffering with which Israel has been afflicted. There are many ways in which humans react to terrible reverses and suffering. Sometimes they fall into the depths of helpless grief, despair and depression. In other cases, they react with rage and anger, kicking and rebelling against God or "fate" for sending them such troubles. But in putting the laments of EICHAH onto the lips of Israel, the prophet Jeremiah was providing them with words and images by means of which they could not only give expression to their pain and grief but also come to terms with their suffering by understanding its meaning and purpose through the recognition that it was divinely sent to chasten and purify them from their sins. The prophet (NAVEE) draws his words from the level of BINAH, "understanding", sweetening the bitter pill of suffering by justifying the ways of God. "For great as the sea is your breach: Who (MEE) can heal you?" (Lam. 2:13). Kabbalistically, the word MEE alludes to BINAH, which lies at the root of God's judgments and through which they are "sweetened" when we gain deeper understanding of their meaning and purpose. Not only is EICHAH full of allusions to the historical disasters that struck Israel with the destruction of the Temple and the exile. The multi-layered text is also replete with allusions to the metaphysical roots of Israel's fall, which lie in the "Breaking of the Vessels" as explained in the Kabbalistic writings. For "He cast from heaven to earth the glory (TIFERET) of Israel and did not remember the stool of His feet (=MALCHUS) on the day of His anger. The Lord has swallowed up (BEELA) and has not shown pity" (Eichah 2:1-2). BEELA has the same Hebrew letters as Bela son of Be'or, first of the Seven Kings of Edom, who correspond to the shattered vessels of the Sefirot. Rabbi Hayim ben Attar, author of the commentary OHR HA-HAYIM on the Five Books of Moses, explains in his commentary RISHON LE-ZION on EICHAH that the way the Elegist accomplishes his purpose, which is to arouse weeping in his listeners, is by crafting each and every verse as "a lamb's tail with a thorn caught in it". Without digressing to give expansive explanations and background, each verse is designed to pierce the listener in the heart with a sharp evocation of some detail of the calamity. The opening verses of EICHAH chapter 1 contrast the lost greatness, power and prestige of Jerusalem with her present abject state of subjection, isolated like a leper, having been betrayed by those she thought were her friends. "She weeps sore in the night" (v 2). The doubled Hebrew verb for weeping alludes to the weeping over the destruction of the two Temples, which came about because of the needless weeping of the Children of Israel in the wilderness on the night after they received the Ten Spies' negative report about the Land (Numbers 14:1). This

was on the 9 th day of the month of Av, which was thereafter marked out as a day of weeping for all the generations (Ta'anis 29a; see Rashi on Lam. 1:2). Already in verse 5 the Elegist weaves into his depiction of the overthrow of Israel at the hands of their enemies the understanding that it came about "because HaShem has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions" (Lam. 1:5) – for "Jerusalem has sinned a sin…" (ibid. v 8). Israel is depicted as a widow (v 1), an unclean Niddah-woman (v 8) and a raped virgin (v 15). The pathos of Israel is increased by the fact that there is none to comfort her. This leads the Elegist to call upon God Himself to look on her in her wretchedness (verse 9), thereby drawing into us the understanding that everything is under His watchful providence. The Elegist depicts the full horror of the calamity, evoking the fire that burned in the people's very bones, their sense of being helplessly trapped in a snare (v 13), the destruction and devastation of the youth (vv 15-16) etc. Yet after all this he says, "HaShem is righteous, for I have rebelled against His mouth…" (v 18). Israel's pain over her suffering at the hands of the nations brings her to call for vengeance against them, but this is because they are truly guilty. For if Israel must suffer because of her sins, so should they (vv 21-22).

Chapter 2 The first nine verses of Chapter 2 depict the calamity that struck Zion in such a way as to emphasize that it was God who sent it. As the text states explicitly later on in the chapter: "HaShem has done that which He devised: He has fulfilled His word that He commanded in the days of old…" (Lam. 2:17). The cycle of sin and consequent suffering that culminated with the destruction of Jerusalem is deeply rooted in God's plan for the world, which is laid down in the Torah: "If you will not listen to me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins" (Lev. 26:18, see Rashi on Lam. 2:17). The Elegist makes no attempt to "sweeten" the suffering by trying to minimize how terrible it was. On the contrary, he heightens our sense of the horror by repeatedly emphasizing the way in which the kind, merciful God became like an enemy in the fury with which He brought death and destruction upon the people and their land (vv 1-8). All who were pleasant to the eye were slaughtered (v 4). The precious Temple was ravaged (v 6). The rejoicing of the Sabbath and the festivals became forgotten. Without respect for person, the king and the princes were sent into a humiliating exile, the prophets were bereft of vision, and all that was left for the people to do was to mourn as children fainted in the streets and little babies starved (vv 7-12). It is precisely through articulating the full intensity of the horror and showing how the soothsaying false prophets had betrayed the people while their mocking enemies gloated triumphantly over their plight that the Elegist leads his listeners to the understanding that they have no recourse except to cry out to God (vv 18ff). The moral of EICHAH is: "Rise, cry out in the night at the head of the watches, pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord…" (v 19).

Chapter 3 Like Chapters 1, 2 and 4 of EICHAH, Chapter 3 takes the form of an acrostic built upon the Aleph-Beis, except that in this case each of the letters of the Aleph-Beis is used in succession as the initial letter of three short verses or triplets. "I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath" (v 1). Starting with this verse, the first six triplets in this elegy (vv 1-18) all pour forth from the heart of the Elegist himself – a righteous prophet – complaining that God has set him up as His target: "He is to me like a bear lying in wait and like a lion in secret places" (v 10). The entire passage is somewhat reminiscent of Job's complaints that God was tormenting him for no reason, and the rabbis of the Midrash point to a GEZERAH SHAVAH (identical phrase in two disparate texts indicating a midrashic connection between the two) between the first verse of our present chapter, "I am the man (GEVER)…", and a verse in Job where his interlocutor Eli-hoo criticizes him, saying "Which man (GEVER) is like Job, who drinks up scorning like water?" (Job 34:7). "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi commented: 'I am the man…' – I am the same as Job, of whom it is written, 'Which man is like Job, who drinks up scorning like water?' Everything You brought upon Job, You have brought upon me!" (Eichah Rabbah). The Elegist is simultaneously pouring out his own pain and giving expression to the national pain. Rashi on v 1 explains the pain of Jeremiah himself: Jeremiah was complaining that he "witnessed greater affliction than all the other prophets who prophesied about the destruction of the Temple , because it was not destroyed in their days but in mine!" In Job's case it was Eli-hoo who brought him to understand that although he may have been righteous, he had perhaps not been righteous enough and that was why he suffered. But in the case of the present elegy here in EICHAH, it is Jeremiah himself who is in dialog with the thoughts in his own heart, and simultaneously with those in the hearts of his people, who felt that the cruelty of their plight meant that God had become their enemy. [Many have felt similarly about the Holocaust.] "And I said, My strength and my hope are perished from HaShem" (v 18). But immediately after this expression of despair, there is a change in the tone of the elegy in the seventh triplet (vv 19-21). Having given expression to the real feelings of despair in his heart, Jeremiah begins to pray to God to remember his suffering even as his soul is bowed down within him, and he discovers how to reply to that inner voice of despair: "With this shall I give an answer to my heart, therefore I have hope" (v 21). The ensuing message of hope begins in the beautiful passage in vv 22ff: God's kindnesses and mercies are truly unending. They are renewed every morning! It is this gives the Elegist the courage to address God directly: "Great is Your faithfulness!" (v 23). Since we can rely on the constant renewal of God's kindness, there is always hope, and because there is always hope, it is fitting for man to bear his suffering patiently in the knowledge that God sends it for his own ultimate benefit. Having delicately reached this point, Jeremiah now teaches the suffering people the proper way to respond to their suffering. [1] We must always wait for God's salvation (v 26). [2] It is necessary to bear our suffering with patience (v 27). [3] We must "sit alone and keep silent"(v 28) – i.e. enter into deep personal selfreckoning without railing against fate. Here in EICHAH is one of the foundations of the pathway of HISBODEDUS – secluded meditation and prayer – that Rabbi Nachman of Breslov emphasized more than anything. [4] We must "put our mouths in the dust" (v 29). Dust or earth is =APHAR, the vessel that receives the three higher elements of Fire, Air and Water. APHAR is MALCHUS, the acceptance of God's kingship, which we do through prayer. [5] We must "turn the other cheek" to

our detractors (v 30), for it is through the silence in which we bear their insults that we attain God's glory (Likutey Moharan I, 6). Continuing on his delicate path of helping the people to accept and come to terms with their suffering, the Elegist explains beginning in the eleventh triplet (vv 31ff) that God will not reject Israel forever (v 31), and that if He has afflicted them, He will eventually have mercy (v 32), for His chastisements are not sent arbitrarily (v 33ff). Addressing deep questions about the justice of God's providence (which is also the subject of the book of Job) Jeremiah affirms that the Righteous God never twists any man's judgment, and that nothing in the world comes about except through the command of the King (v 37). "Out of the mouth of the Most High do not the bad things come and the good?" (v 38). The original Hebrew words of this verse are necessarily susceptible to a variety of interpretations that may even appear contradictory to one another. This is because the verse contains the mystery of how good and evil emanate from the One God, who is perfect goodness. Rashi (ad loc.) paraphrases: "If I were to come to say that it was not from His hands that this evil came upon me but that it was a chance occurrence that happened to me, this is not so. For whether bad things or good things occur, 'Who is this that spoke and it came to be if not that HaShem commanded it?' (v 37)… 'Why then does a man complain while he yet lives, a man over the punishment of his sins?' (v 39). Each man must complain about his own sins because it is they that bring evil upon him. 'From the mouth of the Supreme it does not go forth' (v 38): Rabbi Yohanan said, From the day that the Holy One blessed be He said, 'See, I have set before you life and goodness, death and evil' (Deut. 30:15) [i.e. man has been given free will], 'the bad and the good do not go forth from His mouth', but rather, evil comes by itself to those who do bad while goodness comes to those who do good. Therefore what should a man complain and be upset about if not about his own sins?" (Rashi on v 38). The moral is clear: "Let us examine and search out our ways and return to HaShem" (v 40). "Let us lift up our HEARTS to our HANDS to God in heaven" (v 41) – It is not enough merely to stretch out our HANDS in prayer: our HEARTS must be in our prayers – we must be sincere and mean what we say, not like those who "immerse in the mikveh while still clutching the defiling unclean creature in their hand", verbally expressing their intention to repent while still holding onto their bad ways (see Taanis 16a). "We have sinned and rebelled, but You have not forgiven us" (v 42). This verse marks a transition from the Elegist's exhortations about prayer and repentance to a further outpouring of the pain, grief and tears caused by Israel's protracted suffering – for he knows that even his wise advice in the previous section (vv 2141) cannot that quickly assuage the pain and hurt. Yes, we continue to weep –and we will weep "until Hashem will look down and see from heaven" (v 50). Again and again the Elegist delicately steers us back to knowing that we must turn only to God. "I called Your Name, HaShem, from the bottommost pit" (v 55). The following verse, "You have heard my voice; hide not Your ear at my sighing" (v 56) is among the six verses customarily chanted in unison by the congregation immediately prior to the blowing of the Shofar in the synagogue on Rosh HaShanah. The final section of this elegy (vv 57-66) are a ringing affirmation of faith that God will redeem Israel and wreak His vengeance on their enemies for all their evil.

Chapter 4 As discussed in the commentary on EICHAH Chapter 1, the elegy contained here in Chapter 4 was said by the rabbis of the Talmud to have been composed by Jeremiah on the death of the saintly King Josiah in Megiddo at the hands of Pharaoh Necho (II Chronicles 35:25; Rashi ad loc.). "How is the gold become dim!" (v 1) – "This lament was said over Josiah, and with it he wove in the other children of Zion" (Rashi on v 1). Rashi here is explaining why it is that if this is an elegy for Josiah, almost all of its contents relate not specifically to the slain king but to the entire people. The elegy is truly about the loss of Josiah, whose importance lay in the fact that he "went in the ways of David his father without turning to the right or the left" (II Chron. 34:2). As such Josiah was the last hope of Judah – had he had time to complete his mission of bringing the people to genuine repentance, he could have saved Jerusalem from destruction, and thus he had the potential to be Mashiach (as he is indeed called here in verse 20). But he was cut down in his very prime and his death sealed the fate of Jerusalem, making the destruction of the Temple and the cruel exile all but inevitable. Thus with the death of Josiah twenty-two years prior to the actual destruction, Jeremiah already prophesied the horrors of the coming calamity. "The hallowed stones are poured out at the top of every street" (v 1) – "these are the children, who radiated like precious jewels. And there is also a Midrash telling that Jeremiah gathered every cupful of blood that flowed out of each of Josiah's arrow wounds and buried it in its place, chanting, 'The hallowed stones have been poured out…'" (Rashi on v 1). The children are cast out like broken shards (v 2). Their starving mothers, who ignore their pleas for food in order to find something to eat themselves, have been reduced to a cruelty that even jackals do not show to their young (v 3, see Rashi). Those brought up in the lap of luxury are thrown out on the streets clutching at the garbage heaps (v 5). Even as Jeremiah depicts the horror, he weaves in his teaching about its cause: "For the sin of the daughter of my people is greater…" (v 6). The fire that was to consume Zion was from God (v 11). The enemy was able to do the unthinkable and enter the gates of Jerusalem "on account of the sins of her prophets, the transgressions of her priests" (vv 12-13). Verse 15 portrays the terrible victimization of Israel in their places of exile, rejected as an unclean caste by the sanctimonious nations. The face of anger God shows them in their exile is the penalty for their having failed to give the proper respect to their priests and elders in their time of tranquility (v 16, see Rashi). "As for us, our eyes do yet fail for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save" (v 17). The kings of Judah who followed Josiah expected that Egypt would intervene to save Israel from the clutches of Babylon, but in vain (see Rashi ad loc.). In our time it seems that many in Israel somehow expect the country they see as her closest ally to come to her defense, but as the threats around little Israel grow ever more menacing with the apparent complicity of her ally, it seems that any hopes that this ally will ever help may also prove to have been in vain. After the Elegist's depiction of the horrors of the calamity that was to come as a result of the death of Josiah, we now understand why it was such a disaster that "The breath of our nostrils, HaShem's anointed, has been captured in their pits – he of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations" (v 20).

The concluding verses of this elegy promise that God will take vengeance upon the nations that persecuted Israel and destroyed the Temple. Although Jeremiah was living at the time of the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians, he already sees prophetically to the eventual destruction of Edom, i.e. Rome , which perpetrated the destruction of the Second Temple . Targum on verse 21 identifies "the daughter of Edom who dwells in the land of Ootz" with "KOUSTANTINA (=Constantinople), the city of the wicked Edom that was built in the land of Armenia with a great population from the people of Edom – upon you too is He destined to bring punishment, and the Persians will destroy you…" Constantinople was indeed until its demise in the Middle Ages the center of the Latin Empire, which was actually called the Roman Empire. The Talmudic rabbis had a tradition that " Rome is destined to fall by the hand of Persia " (Yoma 10a) and "this will take place just before the coming of Mashiach" (Tosfos on Avodah Zarah 2b). Zion's punishment will then be complete and they will know no more exile (v 22).

Chapter 5 "Remember, HaShem, what has come upon us; look and see our shame" (v 1). The concluding chapter of EICHAH, unlike all the previous chapters, is not an alphabetical acrostic. It is a prayerful elegy enumerating the painful details of Israel's terrible suffering at the hands of the nations throughout their various exiles. "Because of this our heart is faint" (v 17). The Hebrew word translated here as "faint" has the connotation of menstrual impurity (cf. Lev. 12:2, 15:33 & 20:18). In the words of the Midrash: "On account of the fact that a menstruating woman has to separate herself from her house for a number of days, the Torah calls her 'faint'. How much more so are we – who have been separated from the House of our life and from our Temple for so many days and so many years – called 'faint', and that is why it says, 'Because of this our heart is faint'" (Eichah Rabbah). "But You, HaShem, dwell forever… Why do You forget us forever and forsake us for so long? Turn us to You, HaShem, and we will return; renew our days as of old!" (vv 19-21). With this prayer for God to turn our hearts to Him in repentance the Elegist concludes EICHAH – AYEKAH? "Where are you???" – a call to repent. Since verse 22 has a negative tone, it is customary to repeat verse 21 thereafter in order to conclude the reading of EICHAH on a positive note. This final chapter of EICHAH is included in the readings included in TIKKUN RACHEL, which is the first part of TIKKUN CHATZOS, the Midnight Prayer, recited every night by the very devout. TIKKUN RACHEL consisting of laments over the destruction of the Temple is recited only on those weekdays on which Tachanun is recited but not on Sabbaths, festivals and other days with a semi-festive character. However, the second part of TIKKUN CHATZOS, known as TIKKUN LEAH, may be recited every night of the year (see "The Sweetest Hour" by Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, Breslov Research Institute).

Book of Koheles Chapter 1 KOHELES (or Koheleth) is the "pen name" of King Solomon. The name comes from the Hebrew root KAHAL, which means a "gathering" or "assembly". The Hebrew grammatical form of KOHELES means "the gatherer", and the name signifies that "he gathered much wisdom" (Rashi on v 1). It also signifies that he assembled the people (cf. Deut. 31:12). In the words of Midrash Koheles Rabbah: "Why was Solomon called Koheles? Because his words were spoken in the assembly of the people, as it is written, 'Then Solomon gathered (yaK'HAL) the elders of Israel ' (I Kings 8:1)". Likewise the traditional name for Koheles, ECCLESIASTES, is from the Greek word ECCLESIA, a regularly convoked assembly, and ECCLESIASTES is one who takes part in this assembly – i.e. the Preacher. "The WORDS (DIVREI) of Koheles…" (v 1) – "Wherever the text says DIVREI, 'the words of', these are words of REBUKE" (Rashi ad loc.). Solomon son of David – "a king the son of a king, a tzaddik the son of a tzaddik" (Midrash) – had pursued wisdom all his life. "When God said to Solomon, 'Ask what I should give you' and he asked not for silver and gold but only that 'You should give Your servant an understanding heart', holy spirit immediately rested upon him and he composed the book of Proverbs, Song of Songs and Koheles" (Midrash Koheles Rabbah). Solomon wrote Song of Songs in his youth, on the day of the dedication of the Temple ; then in his prime he composed Proverbs, the rich fruits of his wisdom. But having reached the very heights, he fell to the lowest depths (as we shall see in the commentary on v 12). Finally, at the end of his life, after having seen everything, he composed Koheles – his last testament to his people: REBUKE. The wisest man that ever lived comes in Koheles to clarify what is man's destiny and purpose in this world, and what he should do to fulfill it. Everything leads up to the conclusion of the work: "The end of the matter, when all is said and done: Fear God and keep his commandments, for that is the whole duty of man" (Koheles 12:13). The intent of Koheles may to some extent be compared with that of the book of Job, which also examines man's existential situation and possible solutions as to how we may come to terms with it. While the approach and structure of the two works are radically different, they both consider the most fundamental questions in life with astonishing boldness and candor. Perhaps it was this very boldness and candor that almost lost the book of Koheles its place in the Bible canon ordained by the sages, who argued as to whether it should be included. "The sages sought to hide away Koheles because his words contradict one another. Then why did they not hide it away? Because it begins with words of Torah and ends with words of Torah…" (Talmud Shabbos 30b, where the "contradictions" between Koheles 7:3 and 2:2 and between 8:15 and 2:2 are reconciled). The dispute over the inclusion of Koheles in the canon is also discussed in Mishneh Yadayim 3:5, where the Tosephta explains that those opposed to its inclusion maintained that it consisted of Solomon's own wisdom.

The prevailing opinion, however, is that it was composed through holy spirit. For this very reason we must bear in mind that in our study of the divinely-inspired last testament of the wisest man that ever lived, we can touch little more than the surface of a work that is replete with infinite layers upon layers of Pshat (simple meaning), Remez (allusion), Drush (midrashic interpretation) and Sod (esoteric wisdom). As we learn these holy words, our aim should be to derive personal lessons that we can apply in our own lives as to how to know and fear God and serve Him through practical action: ASIYAH. THE PROLOGUE The opening section of Koheles (vv 2-11), a complete parshah in itself, is a hauntingly poetic evocation of man's existential situation in this world of endless repeated cycles – the cycles of the generations, the planets, the waters of the rivers and the sea… "Vanity (1) of vanities (2)… vanity (1) of vanities (2), all is vanity (1)" (verse 1). The Hebrew word traditionally translated as "vanity", HEVEL, means a "vapor", something barely substantial or tangible. Taking into account the singular and plural forms of the word HEVEL in the verse, a total of SEVEN "vanities" are enumerated, corresponding to the Seven Days of Creation and the seven "Sefiros of Construction" (Chessed-Gevurah-Tiferes-Netzach-Hod-Yesod-Malchus). "Koheles cries out and complains that the entire work of the Seven Days of Creation is all vanity of vanities!!!" (Rashi on v 2). "What profit does a man have in all his labor with which he labors under the sun" (verse 3). In this verse King Solomon poses man's most fundamental existential question: What is the purpose of all his efforts in this world? The Talmud points out that Solomon is specifically asking about man's efforts "under the sun". "It is from his labor 'under the sun' that he has no profit, but his labor in the realm that existed before the sun he does have profit. And which is that? This is his labor in the Torah!" (Shabbos 30b). In other words, Solomon is asking what people gain when they devote all their endeavors to the transient material world instead of laboring in Torah, which brings an eternal reward. "Under the sun" (v 3): "This signifies ever-changing time. For the sun alone gives birth to time, for the day depends on the sun from the time it rises to the time it sets, while night is from the time the sun sets until the time it rises… Likewise sowing and harvesting, cold and heat, summer and winter all depend on the inclination of the sun to the north or south… Even though the moon and stars all have their influence, it cannot be compared to that of the sun" (Ibn Ezra ad loc.) "Therefore the sun is called the 'king of the skies' (Jer. 44:17). Solomon is saying: What is the benefit of all of a person's acquisitions in this world when surely tomorrow he will die taking nothing in his hand?" (Metzudas David on v 3). "One generation passes away and another generation comes…" (v 4) – "No matter how much the villain toils to steal and rob, he cannot outlive and enjoy his gains because his generation passes away and another generation comes and takes everything from the hands of his children, as it says, 'his children will conciliate the poor'" (Job 20:10; Rashi on v 4). "…but the earth endures for ever" (v 4) – "And who are those who endure? The meek and lowly who lower themselves down to the earth, as it says, '…and the meek shall inherit the earth'" (Psalms 37:11; Rashi on v 4). Verses 5-6 describe the endless daily circuits of the sun in summer and winter, while verse 7 evokes the endless recycling of water from the rivers into the sea and

back again to the rivers. "All things are laboring…" (v 8) – "This continues from the question above, 'What profit does a man have…' (v 3): If instead of engaging in Torah one follows idle pursuits, they all involve constant labor and he cannot attain everything. If he goes after sights, his eye will not be satisfied; if he goes after sounds, his ear will not be filled" (Rashi on v 8). "That which has been is that which shall be, and there is nothing new under the sun" (v 9). This refers to the created material world, but not to the realm of the Torah, where our studies can constantly generate new understandings (CHIDUSHIM; see Rashi on v 9). "He is saying that just as there is nothing new in the created world, so this fundamental fact will never change – that nothing in this world ever yields the gains for which one hopes in one's labor and exertion, just as nothing ever has in the past" (Metzudas David ad loc.). Even if we imagine we have found something new "under the sun" that might indicate that this fundamental fact of the futility of devotion to material pursuits has changed, this is an illusion, because this seemingly new thing has in fact already been (v 10). It is just that nobody is left from the earlier generations to remember it, just as nobody in generations to come will remember us (v 11). "I KOHELES WAS KING OVER ISRAEL IN JERUSALEM " (v 12) Following the prologue to his book, King Solomon now presents his "credentials" for writing it. "I Koheles WAS king…" (v 12). "King over all the world. Then in the end king over Israel. Then in the end king over Jerusalem alone. And finally, over nothing by my walking stick! For it says, 'I WAS king in Jerusalem ' – i.e. but now I am not king" (Rashi ad loc.). "When King Solomon sat on his royal throne his heart swelled because of his wealth and he transgressed God's decree, gathering many horses, chariots and riders, silver and gold, intermarrying with foreign nations. Immediately God's anger was aroused and He sent Ashmodai king of the demons to drive him from his royal throne. He took the ring from his hand, forcing him to wander around in exile in order to chastise him. He went round all the cities of Israel weeping and crying, 'I am Koheles, who was called Solomon. Before this I was king over Israel in Jerusalem!!!" (Targum on verse 12). Just as the most successful of worldly kings, Nebuchadnezzar, was driven from his throne and brought down to the level of a wild beast in order to chastise him for his pride (Daniel chapter 4), so King Solomon, the Torah king who literally had everything – wisdom, wealth, women, power, glory, palaces, gardens, attendants, singers – had to be cast down to the very bottom in order to rise to the ultimate wisdom. "I gave my heart to seek and search out through wisdom…" (v 13). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that Solomon used his Torah wisdom to contemplate and understand the whole futile world of wickedness "under the sun", coming to the conclusion that everything was created by God to test man through being exposed to the need to choose between life and goodness on the one hand and death and evil on the other (cf. Metzudas David ad loc.). In vv 16ff Solomon explains that even the pursuit of wisdom can be dangerous and break a person's heart – "for with too much wisdom a person depends on his own wisdom and does not avoid what the Torah prohibits, causing God great anger" (Rashi on v 17). Moreover, "a wise person understands the true nature of men's deeds and when he sees that they are not good, he himself becomes angry because these things are contrary to his will, and anger is very damaging. And someone who understands one thing from another increases his pain because he can now

understand the consequences of his own faulty behavior and this brings pain to his heart" (Metzudas David on v 18).

Chapter 2 "I said in my heart, Let me try you (i.e. myself) with mirth" (v 1). In the words of Rashi (ad loc.): "Since it is so (i.e. since wisdom is dangerous and painful) let me stop pursuing wisdom and devote myself to SIMCHAH (happiness and joy) at all times". Those seeking to fulfill Rabbi Nachman's "great mitzvah to be in Simchah at all times" will surely want to know the lessons Koheles teaches based on his trying out the path of happiness and joy as an answer to man's existential dilemma. These lessons are brought out in the Talmudic resolution of one of the apparent "contradictions" in Koheles. Here he says, "I said of laughter, It is mad; and of Simchah, What does this accomplish" (v 2) whereas later on he says, "And I PRAISED Simchah…" (ch 8 v 15). "'And I praised Simchah…' – This is the Simchah of a mitzvah. '…and of Simchah, What does this accomplish?' – This is Simchah that is not connected with any mitzvah. This comes to teach you that the Shechinah does not rest in a state of sadness or lethargy or through laughter, light headedness, chatter and idle pursuits but through the Simchah of a mitzvah" (Shabbos 30b). In verse 3 Solomon explains that in pursuit of his goal of understanding if Simchah is the purpose of life, he sought to continue guiding his heart with wisdom while simultaneously indulging in "wine" and laying hold of "folly" (SICHLUS). The latter refers to all the things that people crave for in the material world, such as beautiful buildings, musical instruments, etc. (see Metzudas David ad loc.). In verses 4-10 Solomon describes his palaces, orchards, gardens, fountains, servants, sheep and cattle, gold, silver and other treasures and delights. "Does the text tell us only about Solomon's wealth? It is surely speaking only about Torah… 'I built myself houses' – synagogues and study halls. 'I planted vineyards' – these are the Torah scholars, who sit in rows as in a vineyard. 'I made myself gardens and orchards' – these are the MISHNAYOS. 'I planted in them every kind of fruit tree' – this is the Talmud. 'I made myself fountains of water' – these are the preachers. 'To water the forest with them' – these are the children. 'I acquired male and female servants' – these are the gentiles… 'And also cattle, oxen and sheep' – these are the sacrifices. 'I also gathered silver and gold' – these are words of Torah… 'I acquired men singers and women singers' – these are the Tosephtas. '…and delights' – these are the aggadas (narrative midrash)…" (Koheles Rabbah). "…and THIS was MY share from all my labor" (v 10) – "And after my having done all this, I have nothing from all of it except THIS. One of the pair of Talmudic rabbis, Rav and Shmuel, said that THIS refers to his walking stick while the other said it refers to the earthenware pot from which he drank" (Rashi ad loc.; Gittin 68b). In other words, after his downfall, left with nothing but his stick and a primitive mug, Solomon realized that all his endeavors to pursue Simchah "under the sun" were nothing but vanity and striving after wind (v 11). Having followed one possible answer to the existential dilemma to its ultimate conclusion only to find it a dead end, in verse 12 Solomon turns to clarify how the pathway of wisdom (i.e. Torah wisdom, Rashi on v 12) is superior to madness and folly (i.e. sin and the embrace of the material world). "For what can the man do who comes after the king?" (v 12) – "How can a man despise folly as if he is wiser than the King of the world, seeing that He has already created folly? Even though it is proper to despise folly, nevertheless He has not created it for nothing, for the

superiority of wisdom is revealed precisely through the contrast with folly, without which the beauty of wisdom would not be recognized, because a thing can only be know in relation to its opposite, just as the benefit of light is known only through darkness, which is its opposite…" (Metzudas David on vv 12-13). In verses 14ff Solomon explains that wisdom is superior to folly even though the wise man and the fool both die in the end. This existential fact poses a challenging question to the wise man (v 15), but Solomon rejects the possibility that the eternal destiny of the wise man after death could possibly be identical with that of the fool (v 16, see Targum, Rashi and Metzudas David ad loc.). In verses 17ff Solomon explains another vexing issue for the wise man – that after all his efforts "under the sun", when he leaves this world all his achievements are liable to fall into the hands of someone who may not be wise or worthy at all. The issue was greatly sharpened for Solomon himself by the fact that he knew prophetically that in the reign of his son and successor Rehaboam, the kingdom would split, leading to the eventual destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple and the exile of Israel (see Targum on Koleles 1:2). This thought almost brought Solomon to the point of despair (v 20) until he came to a new conclusion: "There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor" (v 24). "Rabbi Yonah said: Wherever the concept of eating and drinking appears in this Megillah, it is speaking of Torah and good deeds" (Koheles Rabbah). In other words, true joy in this world comes through doing one's best to pursue the path of Torah and mitzvos. "…But this also I saw – that this is from the hand of God" (v 24). It is a gift of God to reach this level. If so, we must earnestly ask and beg Him to grant us this precious gift.

Chapter 3 The conventional chapter breaks in Koheles in our printed Bibles whether in Hebrew or translation are mainly for convenience of reference but do not correspond to section-breaks (parshiyos) in the hand-written Hebrew scrolls, where the entire Megillah consists of only three parshahs: (1) The "prologue" – Koheles ch 1 vv 111; (2) The lengthy section from ch 1 v 12 to ch 6 6 v 12; (3) The lengthy section from 7:1 to the end of the book. The first verse of our present chapter is thus the direct continuation of the preceding passage, which ended in the last verse of the previous chapter (2:26) with the contrast between the chosen Tzaddikim to whom God grants true wisdom and joy in life as opposed to the sinner who tries to make gains by force, only to end up seeing them pass to the righteous. The futility of trying to force matters in order to make gains in this world is underlined by Koheles' exploration – beginning in verse 1 of the present chapter – of how God has already foreordained the entire order of time in creation, so that if a person makes unlawful gains today, he will be brought to justice tomorrow, whereas if he had trustfully waited for the right time, he could have made legitimate gains. "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (v 1) – "Let not he who gathers vain wealth rejoice, for if it is now in his hand, the time will come when the righteous will inherit it, except that the time has not yet come because everything has a fixed time when it will come about" (Rashi ad loc.).

TWENTY-EIGHT TIMES Each of the seven verses from v 2 to v 8 contains two pairs of contrasting "times", making a total of twenty-eight different times. All of the various different changing times in the entire creation are subsumed under these twenty-eight paradigmatic "times", which span everything from birth to death (v 2) from total war to complete peace (v 8). God is perfect unity, but His creation is one of multiplicity, all of whose many facets are crafted to bring the whole, stage by stage, to perfect repair. Thus these twenty-eight times of creation are rooted in the twenty-eight Hebrew letters of the first verse of the Torah (Gen. 1:1), which are the root and power (KO-ACH, Kaph 20 & Ches 8 = 28) of all creation. Many Midrashim explore the different connotations of the various "times" in our text, which relate not only to the life of the individual but to that of entire nations. Rashi's explanations are as follows: "There is a time to give birth…" – after nine months; "…and a time to die" – after the appointed life-span of each generation. "A time to plant…" – a nation and a kingdom; "…and a time to uproot" – the time will come for it to be uprooted. "There is a time to kill…" – a complete nation on their day of retribution; "…and a time to heal" – to heal their destruction. "There is a time to weep…" – on Tisha B'Av; "…and a time to laugh" – in time to come. "A time to lament…" – when mourning the dead; "…and a time to dance" – in honor of brides and grooms. "A time to throw stones…" – these are the youths of Israel, who were cast out at the time of the destruction of the Temple , as it says, "the holy stones have been poured out" (Lam. 4:1); "…and a time to gather in stones" – to gather them in from the exile. "A time to embrace…" – as when God "attaches" Israel to Himself like a belt (Jer. 13:11); "…and a time to refrain from embracing" – as when God "banishes the man= Israel " (Is. 6:12). "A time to seek…" – the outcasts of Israel; "…and a time to lose" – those lost in exile. "A time to keep…" – "HaShem will bless you and keep you" (Num. 6:24); "…and a time to cast out" – "And He cast them out to another land" (Deut. 29:27). "A time to tear apart…" – the kingdom of David; "…and a time to sew" – to join back the Ten Tribes with the House of David. "A time to be silent…" – sometimes a man says nothing and gains a reward, as in the case of Aaron the High Priest (Lev. 10:3); "…and a time to speak" – "Then Moses sang" (Ex. 15:1), "and Deborah sang" (Judges 5:1). "A time to love…" – "And I shall show you love" (Deut. 7:13); "…and a time to hate" – "for there I hated them" (Hosea 9:15). Having surveyed all these different times, Solomon moves to the inference he wants to make about the futility of trying to make gains by force. "What profit does the worker have from his toil" (v 9). Rashi explains: "What profit does the worker of evil have from all his toil – his time will also come and everything will be lost!" (Rashi on v 9). "He has made everything beautiful in its time" (v 11) – "Everything that the Holy One blessed be He has created in His world is all beautiful, but only when one uses each thing in its own appointed time, not at any other time" (Metzudas David). Instead of trying to force matters NOW, one should trust that God will send what one needs at the right time! "…also He has put the world in their hearts without man being able to find out the work that God has made from beginning to end" (v 11). Rashi explains: "Although He has put the wisdom to understand the world in people's hearts, He did not put all of it into the heart of each and every person. Rather, one person has a small portion and someone else another, in order that man should never be able to fathom and understand God's entire work. This way he never knows when his time of judgment will come and how he will stumble. The purpose is that he should set himself to repent and live in a state of anxiety, saying, Today or tomorrow I will die" (Rashi ad loc.). In the light of Rashi's explanation, we see that Koheles is giving expression to man's basic existential predicament, which derives from his

having only partial knowledge and understanding of the world around him and the consequences of his deeds. This indeed is what gives man his freedom, for if he had perfect knowledge of the evil his bad deeds cause to himself, he would never do them. Thus Koheles comes to his conclusion: "I KNOW that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in his life" (v 12) – "There is nothing better for a person than to rejoice in his share and do good in the eyes of his Creator as long as he is still alive" (Rashi). This is further reinforcement of the point made earlier, "There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink…" (Koheles 2:24) – i.e. eat and drink Torah and good deeds – for these are the ways that God knows will bring him true gain, for God has perfect knowledge of all the different pathways and their consequences to all eternity. "I KNOW that whatever God does, it shall be forever…" (v 14). God has created all of the twenty-eight paradigmatic "times" and their offspring in order to bring the universe to ultimate perfection. If the times change, sometimes very dramatically (as in the case of Noah's flood, see Rashi), the only purpose is to bring men to know that there is a God and to fear Him. There is thus no point in men's trying to force matters in order to make unlawful gains through robbery, exploitation and the like, because it is a fundamental law of creation that "God seeks out the persecuted" (v 15) – "He exacts retribution from the persecutor, so what does the worker of evil gain from all his toil?" (Rashi ad loc.). "And I have seen yet more under the sun…" (v 16). Koheles now brings a further observation about this mysterious creation and its many paradoxes: "In the place of righteousness there is iniquity…" (ibid.). With bold candor, Koheles confronts the fact that in our world here "under the sun", we witness again and again the most abominable wickedness perpetrated under the guise of Justice and Equity. "But I SAID IN MY HEART…" (v 17). Koheles knew that we must not let the outer appearance of this world reduce us to cynicism. He answered his own doubts about the justice of creation with his firm conviction that "…God shall judge the righteous and the wicked" (ibid.). The reason is because "there is a time for every purpose" – as explained at length earlier in the enumeration of the Twenty-Eight Times: God has all the time in the world to do perfect justice "…over all the work there". "Over all the work that a man did, there (i.e. in the judgment after death) they will judge him when the time of retribution comes" (Rashi ad loc.). This leads Koheles to give expression to another article of conviction in verse 18 as the verse is explained by Rashi: "Having seen all this, namely that men have adopted the arrogant trait of ruling and lording it over those weaker than themselves, I know that the Holy One blessed be He will make them know that their power is nothing, and so too that of lords and kings, for they are simply like animals and wild beasts – out for themselves". This brings Koheles to muse on the mysteries of the body and the soul and the differences between man and the animals. When a man dies, his cadaver may seem to be no different qualitatively from that of an animal – so where is his superiority and success? But "Who knows whether the spirit of the children of men goes upwards and the spirit of the animal goes downwards to the earth?" (v 21). "'Who knows' – i.e. he who knows and understands, knows that man's soul goes above after death to stand trial, while the soul of the animal goes down to the earth and she is not required to give a reckoning and accounting. The moral is that man must not conduct himself like an animal that does not care what she does" (Rashi on vv 20-21).

At last comes the moral of the whole discussion: "So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his portion…" (v 22). Again this harks back to v 12 in the present chapter and ch 2 v 24: Man should rejoice in the labor of his own hands and eat – Torah and mitzvos – for this is the share given to him by Heaven and in this he should rejoice. What point is there in amassing ill-gotten gains if he will not see what his children will do with them when he dies? (see Rashi on our verse).

Chapter 4 "So I returned and considered all the oppression under the sun…" (v 1). "'I returned, i.e. I changed my mind and went back on what I had thought, that it is good for a man to rejoice, on account of the fact that he is unable to rejoice and be happy. This is because there is robbery in this world, and his property will be taken from him by force, or he will be exploited when some judge or officer takes a bribe or by a thief" (Ibn Ezra ad loc.). With further daring candor, Koheles confronts the terrible cruelty of this world, where the oppressed shed tears again and again yet no-one comforts them. It is noteworthy that the phrase "they have no comforter" is repeated twice in the verse in order to give emphasis to their helpless misery. While Ibn Ezra's above-cited explanation of the verse addresses the material exploitation and oppression of men by men in this world, Rashi illumines the esoteric dimension of the verse in his comment that the tears of the oppressed are those of the wicked in hell, who instead of the Torah embraced this world "under the sun", and who now weep over their souls which are oppressed by the cruel vengeful angels of destruction (see Rashi on v 1). Are we not all robbed in this world by the wicked Evil Inclination, which tempts and tricks us into doing wrong, leaving us bereft of goodness having to face terrible retribution? From the depths of the existential mire in which we find ourselves, is it any wonder that Koheles goes on to praise those who are already dead (v 2) and to say that it would be better not to be born at all (v 3)? So what are we supposed to do in this world? Even people's good deeds are motivated by jealousy of others etc. "Again I saw all the labor and every skill in work, that it comes from a man's rivalry with his neighbor" (v 4). Are we then to fold our arms and do nothing? "The FOOL folds his hands and eats his own flesh" (v 5) – "The fool is the wicked man, who makes no effort to labor honestly and robs to eat" (Rashi). We may not desist from our labors for good in this world, even if we have mixed motives. "Better is a handful with quietness than both hands full of labor and striving after wind" (v 6). "It is better to acquire a modicum of possessions through one's own toil, thereby giving pleasure to His Creator, than to acquire many possessions sinfully, causing vexation and anger before Him" (Rashi ad loc.). "Then I returned and I saw a vanity under the sun" (v 7). Having established that we are to toil in the Torah and mitzvos, Koheles goes a step further in verses 7-12 with his observations about how partnership and teamwork are better than trying to go it alone. A person may have great ambitions, but if he will not join and couple – with a friend, a partner, a wife etc. – selfishly wanting all the gains for himself, this is vanity. God wants us to link up and join together in our work to repair the creation.

Then who will lead us? "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king…" (v 13). "The poor, wise child is the good inclination (YETZER TOV). And why is it called a child? Because it does not enter a man until the age of 13. It is wise because it gives the person the intelligence to follow the path of good. The old and foolish king is the evil inclination (YETZER RA), which rules over all the person's limbs. It is 'old', because from the moment the baby is born it is put in him, as it says, 'Sin crouches at the entrance' (Gen. 4:7). It is 'foolish' because it leads the person astray on the path of evil. It 'does not know to take care any more' because having become old in his ways, the person does not accept rebuke" (Rashi on v 13). "And I saw all the living who wander under the sun – they were with the second child who was to rise up in his stead" (v 15). "All the living" are those who are righteous in their deeds. What caused them to be alive under the sun – their going after the second child, which is the good inclination" (Midrash Koheles Rabbah). However: "There is no end of all the people who come to acclaim the one who goes before them and also those who come after shall not rejoice in him, for this too is vanity and vexation of the spirit" (v 16). This verse is speaking of the foolish and wicked people who follow the old and foolish king. "There is no end to all the generations that the Evil Inclination has destroyed, and also those who come after will not rejoice if they obey him" (Midrash Koheles Rabbah). Koheles has taught us to follow the poor wise child, the Good Inclination and travel the path of the Torah and the mitzvos. Finally in verse 17 he teaches that we should be quick and eager to heed the Torah, doing good from the outset, rather than being lax and careless, ending up having to bring the sacrifices of fools – sin and guilt offerings. "Guard your legs when you go to the House of God…" (v 17). Besides the plain meaning of this verse, it is also the foundation for the law that in preparation for prayer we must cleanse ourselves of our bodily wastes, which come from between the legs (Berachos 23a). May God help us to follow His path and purify ourselves so as to come to His House and serve Him in truth! Amen.

Chapter 5 Koheles cautioned in the last verse of the previous chapter to "Guard your foot when you go to the house of God" (Koh. 4:17). In verses 1-6 of the present chapter he continues to give advice about the proper way for man to relate to God. "Do not be rash with your mouth and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God…" (v 1). All too often people are quick to protest against what they perceive as the injustice of His dealings with them or with others and to doubt and question His providence, as in the case of those who ask where He was in the Holocaust. Koheles cautions us to remember that we are puny, transient creatures on earth, while God is in heaven, way above our realm, and we cannot expect to understand His ways. Therefore we should be sparing in our words, for "silence is a protective fence for wisdom" (Avos 3:17), whereas talking too much is the hallmark of the fool (verse 2). "When you make a vow to God, do not delay paying it…" (v 3). A vow is a solemn verbal commitment that a person makes, binding himself to perform a certain meritorious act, give to charity, offer a sacrifice etc. In the case of charity, people often make commitments in the heat of the moment – sometimes to impress others, or simply to get the charity-collector off their back – only to go cold afterwards and

find every reason to defer and forget their obligation. But Koheles teaches that it would be better not to make the vow than to make it and fail to pay (v 4). "Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin and do not say before the MALACH, messenger, that it was an error…" (v 5). Rashi interprets this verse as a continuation of the counsel against taking a vow that one fails to fulfill. This can bring down retribution on a person's "flesh" – his offspring. According to this interpretation, the "messenger" is the charity officer who comes to collect the sum pledged in public. However, the Targum and Midrash give the verse a broader application to sinful speech in general – LASHON HARA – which brings the punishment of Gehinnom on the person's very flesh, limbs and body. According to this interpretation, the MALACH is the cruel accusing angel who grills and punishes the person after death. It will harm the sinner even more if he claims he made his disparaging remarks innocently. "For this comes about through the multitude of dreams and vanities and many words…" (v 6) – "Dreams, vain prophets and many other things may tell you to separate yourself from God! Don't listen to dreams but just FEAR GOD" (Rashi). "Even if the master of dreams tells a person that he is to die tomorrow, never despair of the power of prayer" (Berachos 10b).l "If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of judgment in the state, do not marvel at the matter…" (v 7). Ibn Ezra (ad loc.) explains the connection between this verse and the verses that preceded it: "You may think that He does not keep watch on what you say because you see the violent perversion of justice and nobody comes to save the oppressed… Know that there is a Watcher who sees this corruption". In the words of Metzudas David: "Do not wonder why God shows patience and does not exact retribution. For there is One who is high above all the high ones and rules over them all at every moment, but He waits until the sinners' measure is complete and only then exacts retribution. 'And there are higher ones over them': He has many agents who are high above the men of that state and can rule over them and through them repay them for their deeds" (Metzudas David ad loc.) "Moreover, land has an advantage (YITHRON) for everyone (BA-KOL)…" (v 8). According to the simple interpretation of this verse, "after he has finished giving instructions about fear of God, he comes back to teaching about the affairs of this world, discussing what occupation can best enable a person to make a living without sinning" (Ibn Ezra ad loc.). Lovers of the land will rejoice to hear that agriculture is the first choice. According to this interpretation, even a king is beholden to the field, for without it there is nothing to eat (see Targum). However Rashi and Metzudas David see the verse as the continuation of the previous verse, rendering the Hebrew word YITHRON (translated above as "advantage") has having the connotation of overweening pride (from YETHER, too much). According to this interpretation, the punishment of those who pervert justice in the state may be sent BA-KOL – "through everything", i.e. through any of His many agents (as in the case of the Roman emperor Titus, who suffered agony for years as his brain was eaten alive by a mosquito). The "king" who is beholden to the field is the Holy One blessed be He, who toils on behalf of Zion (which has been ploughed as a field) in order to avenge her shame at the hands of those who destroyed her and to pay a reward to those who build her" (see Rashi on v 8). Similarly, verse 9 – "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money – is subject to a variety of interpretations on the simple (PSHAT) and midrashic levels. On the level of PSHAT, the whole passage in verses 9-16 is a teaching about the folly of people's unquenchable craving to amass wealth, which can cause them the

greatest harm, while those who toil honestly, satisfied with their lot, sleep sweetly without anxiety. On the level of Midrash, Rashi explains that "He who loves money" refers to one who loves the mitzvos. Such a person will never be satisfied even after performing many mitzvos as long as they do not include at least one specific and highly conspicuous mitzvah, such as the building of a synagogue or the writing of a beautiful Sefer Torah (Rashi on v 9). "Sweet is the sleep of the laboring man, whether he eats little or much…" (v 11). Targum's rendering of this verse is: "Sweet is the sleep of a man who labored wholeheartedly for the Master of the World and he has rest in his grave, whether he lived few years or many, because he worked for the Master of the World in this world, and in the World to Come he will inherit the work of his hands and have the wisdom of God's Torah. And when a man who was rich in wisdom and toiled and made efforts in it in this world lies in his grave, his wisdom will dwell upon him and will not leave him alone, just as a wife does not leave her husband alone to sleep." In verses 12-16 Koheles preaches against the folly of wanting great wealth, which may be kept by its owner to his hurt. If the person has no true enjoyment from his wealth, his entire life and all his efforts will have been in vain when he goes naked and bereft to his grave. Verses 17 and 18 return to the same conclusion about the answer to man's existential predicament as Koheles gave in chapter 2 v 24 and chapter 3 v 12: "What I have seen is that it is good and beautiful to eat and drink and see good in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun…" (v 17) – "To eat and drink, i.e. to toil in the Torah, which is a good teaching, and not to amass great wealth but to rejoice in the portion he has been given, for that is his share" (Rashi ad loc.)

Chapter 6 In contrast to the honest laborer who is satisfied with his lot, the man who has wealth, possessions, honor and long life but no enjoyment from them is worse off than a still-born foetus that had no life at all (vv 1-6). Rashi on verse 3 cites King Ahab as an example of the case of one who has no enjoyment since he had many children and great wealth but he coveted what belonged to others and had no satisfaction from his own wealth, and in the end he was eaten by the dogs. On the level of Midrash, "Even if a Torah scholar has 'wealth, possessions and honor' – i.e. he knows Bible, Mishneh and Aggadah, but 'God does not give him the power to eat of it' – i.e. he does not attain to the level of understanding Talmud and therefore is unable to determine the correct legal ruling – then 'a stranger will eat it' – this is the master of Talmud" (Rashi on v 2). "For all a man's labor is for the sake of his mouth…" (v 7) – "That he should eat in this world and the World to Come" (Rashi). "For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool or over the poor man who knows how to make his way among the living?" (v 8). Even one who is "rich" in wisdom but has no satisfaction from his "wealth" (as in the case of the scholar who does not know how to give practical rulings) is no better than the fool, or the poor man who is satisfied with his portion and who knows how to reach the life of the World to Come through the simple performance of the mitzvos (see Rashi on v 8). "Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the soul…" (v 9) – "It would be better if a man would see with his eyes the journey of the soul after death and to which place the soul of the righteous goes and to which place that of the wicked

man goes, for if so, he would understand the difference between them, and as a result he would straighten his path" (Metzudas David ad loc.). For even the greatest man cannot escape "the one who is mightier than he" (v 10) – i.e. the angel of death (Rashi). We therefore need to find out "what is good for a man in life during the limited number of days of his life of vanity" (v 12), because life passes like a shadow. "With only this verse I would not know if it is like the shadow cast by a wall or a palm tree, which have some substance. But King David came and specified: "His days are like a PASSING shadow" (Psalms 144:4) – like the shadow of a bird that flies past and its shadow flies off with it" (Koheles Rabbah).

Chapter 7 The letter Teth at the head of the Hebrew word TOV ("good", "better") with which Chapter 7 begins is traditionally written large (RABASI) in the parchment scroll, emphasizing how much better is a good name than even the best oil. Above all else is the Name of HaShem, to which the verse alludes on the level of SOD (esoteric wisdom). In the handwritten Hebrew scrolls this large letter marks the beginning of a new Parshah (section) of the Megillah, which runs continuously without any further breaks until the end of the book. Compared to the earlier part of the work, this last section often seems to be less of a continuous discourse and more of a succession of proverbs, each of which is a precious jewel joining with those that precede and follow it to make a Torah mosaic providing the deepest insights into the meaning and purpose of life in this world with its many paradoxes and mysteries, in order to clarify how man should best spend his days of vanity here. The present commentary, which is largely based on Targum and Rashi, seeks to throw light on the PSHAT (plain meaning) and REMEZ (allusions) contained in these verses while touching only in passing upon some the many levels of DRASH (rabbinic interpretation) and SOD (esoteric wisdom) they contain. Verse 1: "A good name is better than precious ointment…" – "Better is the good name that the righteous acquire in this world than the anointing oil that was poured on the heads of kings and priests. And better is the day on which a man is released and lies in his grave with a good name and with merit than the day on which a wicked man is born into the world" (Targum). Verse 2: "It is better to go to the house of mourning…" – "It is better to go to the house of a man who is in mourning in order to comfort him than to go to the house of drinking and lasciviousness, because everyone must eventually go to the house of mourning, because the decree of death applies to everyone, and by going to the house of mourning the righteous man will take to heart the fact of death and let go of any evil in his hands and return to God" (Targum). Verse 3: "Anger is better than laughter…" – "Better is the anger which the Master of the World displays to the righteous in this world than the smile He shows to the wicked, because the frown on the face of the Shechinah brings dearth and retribution into the world in order to rectify the hearts of the righteous so that they should pray to the Master of the World to have mercy on them" (Targum). Verse 4: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning…" – "The heart of the wise dwells on the destruction of the Holy Temple and is pained over the exile of

Israel, whereas the heart of fools is filled with the joy of their house of follies: they eat and drink and indulge themselves, paying no attention to the suffering of their brothers" (Targum). Verse 5: "It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise…" – "It is better to sit in the study hall and listen to the rebuke of a Torah sage than to go to hear the jingles of fools" (Targum). Verse 7: "For the oppressor mocks the wise man…" – "For the oppressor mocks at the wise man because he does not go in his way, and with his evil words he can destroy the wisdom in the heart of the sage that was given to him as a gift from heaven" (Targum). "When the fool taunts the sage, he can throw him into confusion and cause him to stumble, as in the case of Dathan and Aviram, who taunted Moses (Ex. 5:21) until he spoke against the Holy One (ibid. 6:1) with the result that he did not enter the Promised Land (see Rashi on our verse). Verse 8: "Better is the end of a matter…" – "Better is the end of a matter than its beginning. For at the beginning a person does not know what will be at the end, but at the end of something good, a person knows that it is good. And better in God's eyes is the man who is in control of his spirit and subdues his evil inclination than the one who goes in the arrogance of his spirit" (Targum). Verse 9: "Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry…" – "If rebuke is sent to you from heaven, do not be quick to let your soul rage and speak rebellious words against heaven. For if you are patient your sins will be forgiven, but if you rebel and rage, know that anger dwells in the lap of fools until it destroys them" (Targum). Verse 10: "Do not say, How was it that the former days were better…" – "In your time of trouble do not say that the reason why there used to be good in the world was because the earlier days were better. For the reason is because the deeds of the people of that generation were more beautiful than now and this was why they were sent good. Not with wisdom do you ask about this" (Targum). Verse 11: "Wisdom is good with an inheritance…" – "Even if someone has a house, wealth and an ancestral inheritance, wisdom is still of benefit, because without it his inheritance will not endure in his hands" (Metzudas David). Verse 12: For whoever is in the shade of wisdom is in the shade of wealth…" – "For when a person takes refuge in the shade of wisdom, likewise he can take refuge in the shade of wealth as long as he performs charity with it. But the excellence of knowledge of the wisdom of the Torah is that it brings its owner from the cemetery to the life of the world to come" (Targum). Verse 13: "Consider the work of God…" – "Consider the work of God and His might. For He has made the blind, the hunchback and the lame prevalent in the world, but who is wise enough to rectify a single one of them except for the Master of the World, who caused them to be flawed?" (Targum). Verse 14: "On the day of goodness, be good…" – "On the day that God does goodness to you, you too be good and do goodness to the entire world, in order that no evil day should befall you …" "…God has made the one corresponding to the other" (verse 14). On the level of SOD (esoteric wisdom) this verse is frequently cited in the literature of Kabbalah and Chassidus as an allusion to God's creation of the SITRA ACHRA ("the Other Side", source of the bad days, bad times) as the counter-image of the Side of

Holiness (source of the good days, good times) in order to give man the freedom of choice between good and evil in this world, so as to test him and enable him to earn his reward in the world to come. Verse 15: "I have seen everything in the days of my vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness…" – "Good and evil are sent into the world through God's decree on account of the destinies with which people are created. For there is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness in this world while his merit is guarded for him in the world to come, and there is a guilty person who lives a long life despite his sins, but the account of his evil awaits him in the world to come in order to exact retribution from him on the great Day of Judgment" (Targum). Verse 16: "Do not be over righteous…" – "Do not be over righteous at the time when a sinner is condemned to death in your law court so that you take pity on him so as not to kill him. And do not be excessively wise so that you follow the wisdom of the wicked in your generation: do not learn from their ways, for why should you ruin your ways?" (Targum). Verse 17: "Do not do much wickedness…" – "Do not go after sinful thoughts in your heart so as to be exceedingly sinful and do not keep your path far from the study house of God's Torah so as to be a fool – for why should you cause death to your soul and cause the years of your life to be cut short so that you die before your time?" (Targum). Verse 18: "It is good that you should take hold of this but do not withdraw your hand from that…" – "It is good for you to rejoice in the affairs of this world and benefit yourself as traders do, but also do not abandon your share in this book of the Torah…" "…for he that fears God fulfills his duty according to them all" (v 18). This rendering of the closing words of the verse is intended to bring out the halachic prescription which it contains. Many different and often apparently conflicting halachic opinions and approaches are found in the Talmud and among the various Poskim (legal authorities). Where possible, a God-fearing Jew strives to take account of as many of the different opinions as possible in the way he performs the various commandments, and it is this principle that guides the rulings of the Torah Codes (Mishneh Torah, Shulchan Aruch, Mishneh Berurah etc.). Verse 19: "Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten rulers who are in the city." "The 'ten rulers' are the ten things that make a person guilty: his two eyes, which show him sinful things, his two ears, which make him listen to idle matters, his two hands, with which he robs and oppresses, his two legs, which transport him to the sin, and his mouth and heart" (Rashi ad loc.). "Wisdom means repentance and good deeds" (Nedarim 32b). Verse 20: "There is not a just man on earth…" – "…but if a man has sinned, he should make sure he repents before he dies" (Targum). Verses 21-22: "Another benefit of wisdom is that it will teach you not to pay attention if people speak to you insultingly and disparagingly. Do not listen and pay attention even if it is your servant who insults you and you have it in your power to take vengeance on him… For you know in your heart that you have many times cursed others…" (Metzudas David).

Verses 23-24: "All this I tried with wisdom" – that is the Torah. "…I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me." And what is this that was far? "Far is what was" – i.e. the far off things that took place at the very formation of the creation. This is "…deep, deep – who can find it out?" One is not permitted to speculate about them and ask what is above and what is below, what is inside and what is behind (Rashi). Verse 25: "I cast about in my mind to know and to search…" – "…To find out the calculation of the reward of the deeds of the righteous and to know the retribution for the sins of the fools and the intelligence and trickery of the government (MALCHUS)" (Targum). Verse 26: "And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and her hands are fetters…" – "This 'woman' refers to heresy" (Rashi). This "woman" is thus none other than the "strange woman" against whom Solomon warns repeatedly in the book of Proverbs (2:16ff, 5:3ff etc.). Verse 27: "Behold this I have found, SAYS Koheles…" It is noteworthy that in this verse, the Hebrew word for "says", AMRAH, is in the feminine form, which agrees with the grammatical form of KOHELES, which is also technically feminine, even though in other appearances of the name Koheles in the Megillah the accompanying verbs are in the masculine form (1:2; 12:8, 9 and 10). Rashi here renders: "Says the assembly (KEVUTZAH, fem.) of wisdom, and says his intelligent soul (NEFESH, fem.), which gathers wisdom". "…counting one thing to another to find the sum" (v 27) – "I drew a line joining one constellation with another to find the sum of the sons of man – what will be at the end" (Targum). Verse 28: "One man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all those I have not found" – "I have not found anyone whole and righteous without flaws from the day the first man was born until the righteous Abraham, who was found faithful and worthy among the thousand kings that gathered to make the Tower of Babel. And I did not find a single worthy woman among all the wives of those kings" (Targum). "It usually happens in this world that a thousand enter into the study of the Bible but out of them only a hundred emerge fit for the Mishneh, and out of those hundred who entered into the Mishneh only ten go forth to the Talmud, and of those ten who enter into the Talmud, only one is fit to give legal rulings – i.e. one in a thousand" (Rashi). Verse 29: "God has made man upright, but they sought out many calculations" – "HaShem made the first man worthy and righteous but the serpent and Eve deceived him into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and brought down death upon him and all the generations of the earth, and they sought out many calculations in order to bring disaster upon the generations of the earth" (Targum).

Chapter 8 Verse 1: "Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a thing?" – "Thus we find that through Daniel's wisdom in the fear of heaven, the secrets of the interpretation of dreams were revealed to him" (Rashi). In verse 2 Koheles counsels that the greatest wisdom is to observe the word of God's mouth – the Torah – which Israel are sworn to keep.

Verse 3: "Be not hasty to go out of His presence…" – "In the time of God's anger, do not leave off praying before Him… Beg Him for mercy so that you do not get involved in something evil, for HaShem is the Master of the World: He does everything that He desires" (Targum). Verse 5: "He who keeps a commandment shall know nothing evil" – "Whoever fulfills a mitzvah in the proper way will not be the recipient of bad news" (Shabbos 63a). Verse 6: "For every matter (CHEFETZ) has its time and judgment (MISHPAT)…" – "When a person follows his own desire (CHEFETZ) and violates the law of Torah, there is a time to exact retribution, and justice and punishment stand ready" (Rashi). Verses 7-8: Man does not know when the time of retribution will come: no-one warns him, and it is impossible to keep one's soul in one's body because one has no control on the day of death. Verse 9: "…There is a time when one man rules over another man, to his own hurt." This verse alludes to the mystery of how the SITRA ACHRA (the "other", impure side of creation) may hold the righteous in subjection for a certain period, but the ultimate purpose is to bring about the overthrow of the wicked (as in the case of Amalek, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and Sennacherib, all of whom held Israel in subjection but were eventually destroyed, see Rashi). Verse 10: "And in truth I saw how the sinners were buried and they were destroyed from the world and removed from the holy place where the righteous dwell, and they went to be burned in Gehinnom on account of their evil sins of robbery, oppression and theft, and they were forgotten from among the dwellers of the city, and just as they did to others, so they had done to them" (Targum). Verse 11: It is because God is patient and slow to exact retribution that people imagine they can escape the consequences of doing evil. Verse 14: "There is a vanity that is decreed on the face of the earth: this is that there are cases of Tzaddikim who suffer evil as if they had acted like sinners, and there are sinners who receive a flow of good as if they had acted like Tzaddikim, and I saw with holy spirit that the evil that befalls the righteous in this world is not because of serious sins but in order for them to pay the penalty for any light sins they may have committed in order for their reward to be complete in the world to come. But the good that comes to the sinners in this world is not because of their merits but in order to pay them the reward for any minor merits they may have so that they may eat their reward in this world in order to destroy their share in the world to come" (Targum). Verse 15: "And I praised SIMCHAH!!!" The Talmudic reconciliation of the apparent contradiction between our present verse and Koheles' earlier question, "What does SIMCHAH accomplish???" has already been discussed in KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on Koheles 1:17. Whereas there he was referring to fools' happiness, our present verse speaks about the holy SIMCHAH of keeping the Torah. This verse is seen as the BINYAN AV (paradigm case) proving that wherever Koheles speaks about "eating" and "drinking", he is talking about taking joy in the study of Torah, observance of the mitzvos and the performance of good deeds, for this alone is what accompanies man to the grave after all his toil in this world (Koheles Rabbah).

Chapter 9 In the closing verse of the previous chapter Koheles declared that "a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun" (Koheles 8:17) – "The creatures are unable to fathom the ways of the Holy One blessed be He and understand what is the reward for men's actions under the sun, because they see the wicked succeed while the righteous keep sinking lower" (Rashi). Yet even though His ways may be incomprehensible, in the opening verse of our present chapter Koheles affirms that "the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God". That is to say, there is a special divine providence which governs all those who endeavor to go in God's ways. "He helps them and He judges them in order to benefit them in the end" (Rashi). God does not love or hate one person more than any other even when He helps one more than another in his endeavors to serve Him. Rather, "…all is before them" – i.e. everyone has free will. If there is a difference in the degree of divine assistance apparently given to different people, this is in proportion to the goodness of each person's intentions in his efforts to serve Him (Sforno on v 1). Notwithstanding the special providence that God extends to those who serve Him, we must confront the fact that "there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and pure and to the impure…" (verse 2). This is death, which makes no discrimination whatever between one person and another. How to come to terms with this key factor in our existential predicament in this world is the theme of the passage in verses 2-12. What can be so confusing to us is precisely the fact that even the best of people apparently come to the same bad end as the worst. Thus the midrashic interpretation of verse 2 cites the parallel fates of the righteous Noah and the wicked Pharaoh Necho, both of whom limped; of the good Moses and the pure Aaron on the one hand and the impure Ten Spies on the other, none of whom were permitted to enter the Promised Land; of King Josiah, who sacrificed to God and King Ahab, who did not sacrifice, both of whom were killed by arrows; and of Tzedekiah, who swore and broke his oath, and Samson, who took oaths very seriously (Judges 15:12), both of whom had their eyes gouged out. As a result, "the heart of the sons of man is full of evil" (verse 3) – "Because they say that there is no retribution against the wicked, but everything is pure chance" (Rashi ad loc.). But "for him that is joined to all the living there is hope" (verse 4) – "Whoever attaches himself to all the teachings of the Torah so as to acquire the life of the world to come has hope" (Targum). "For as long as he is alive, even if he has been wicked and attached to other wicked people, he can still repent before his death". "For a living dog is better than a dead lion" (verse 4) – "Nevuzeradan (Nebuchadnezzar's captain, who executed the destruction of the Temple) was a wicked servant but he converted before he died and was thus better off than Nebuchadnezzar his master, who was called a lion (Jer. 4:7), and who died in his wickedness and lies in hell while his servant sits in the Garden of Eden" (Rashi). "When King David died, it was Shabbos, and Solomon sent a message to the sages in the study hall asking what to do because his father's body was lying in the sun and the household dogs were hungry. They replied that the maximum that would be permissible would be to cut up carrion meat to throw to the dogs (to divert them from the body), and the only way the corpse (which was MUKTZEH, not to be touched on Shabbos) could be moved would be if this were done indirectly, as by

carrying it together with a loaf of bread or a baby. This was a case where a living dog was better off than the dead 'lion' – David" (Shabbos 30b). Verse 5 teaches the fundamental article of Torah faith that as long as a person is alive in this world of ASIYAH, action, he can repent, serve God and acquire merits, but after death "they do not have a reward any more" – "There is no possibility for them to fulfill any further commandments in order to receive a reward for their performance" (Metzudas David). Verse 6: "Also all their love and their hatred and their envy are now long perished…" – "After the death of the wicked, there is no further need for them. Their love, hate and envy are already perished from the world, and they have no good share with the righteous in the world to come, nor do they have any benefit from all that is done in this world beneath the sun" (Targum). On the other hand, verse 7 addresses those who follow the path of righteousness: "Go, eat your bread in joy…" (v 7) – "You, the tzaddik, whose good deeds God has already accepted and who will merit the World to Come: go eat your bread in joy" (Rashi). "Solomon said with a prophetic spirit from God: The Master of the World is destined to say to all the Tzaddikim – to each and every one by himself – Go and joyously taste the bread that has been prepared for you in return for the good bread that you gave to the poor and needy when they were hungry, and with a good heart drink the wine that has been hidden away for you in the Garden of Eden in return for the wine that you poured out for the poor and needy when they were thirsty…" (Targum). Thus after death, the destiny of the souls of the righteous is quite different from that of those of the wicked, and it therefore behooves the righteous to do everything in their power to acquire merits as long as they are alive in this world. Therefore – "Let your garments always be white" (verse 8): "Rabbi Yochanan ben Zaccai said: If the verse is talking literally about white garments and good oils, we see how many white garments and good oils the idolaters have! Rather, the verse is talking only about mitzvos and good deeds. Let your garments always be clean of sins, and never let the oil of mitzvos and good deeds be lacking from upon your head" (Shabbos 153a). "See life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vanity…" (verse 9). Our sages interpreted this prescription to "see LIFE" with your wife as a counsel to pursue a worthy occupation in order to make a livelihood, learning from our verse that just as a father has an obligation to help his son to marry, so he must teach him a trade (Kiddushin 30b). "See and understand that you must learn a craft in order to make a living together with your study of the Torah. And if you do so, your share will be life in this world through the livelihood you gain from your craft, and life in the world to come. For toil in both of them – Torah and making a living – causes sin to be forgotten" (Rashi on verse 9). "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your strength…" (verse 10). In this verse, Koheles drives home the message that "there is no action or reckoning… in She'ol where you are going". After death, it is impossible to take any further ACTION in order to acquire merits to be added to the RECKONING. For the only place of action is this world of ASIYAH. Accordingly, as long as we are alive here, we must apply ourselves with all our strength to the acquisition of merit through mitzvos and good deeds. This is because neither the swift nor the mighty nor the wise nor those of understanding can escape death, which spells the absolute end of the period assigned for action and endeavor (verse 11). Man never knows when his

time will come: we are helplessly trapped in this world – like fish in a net or birds in a trap (v 12). Since the key to our taking advantage of our life in this world to acquire merits lies in CHOCHMAH, Koheles now turns to acclaim the virtues of CHOCHMAH in the closing verses of our present chapter (ch 9 vv 13-18) and opening verses of the next (ch 10 vv 1-4). "Having said above that the wise do not necessarily have bread (v 11), he now goes back to praising wisdom, for even though it may not help to bring in bread, one should not reject it because there is a certain wisdom that is of great importance in this world" (Metzudas David). The "wisdom" to which Koheles refers is not a matter of intellectual brilliance but rather the practical Torah wisdom that enables us to escape the traps of the evil inclination. "There was a little city and few men within it…" (v 14). The allegory of the "little city" is explained in the Talmud: "The 'little city' is man's body. The 'few men' in it are the limbs of the body. The 'great king' who comes against it is the evil inclination, while the 'poor wise man' found there is the good inclination, which saved the city through wisdom, i.e. repentance and good deeds. But 'nobody remembered that poor man', because at the hour when the evil inclination holds sway, nobody remembers the good inclination" (Nedarim 32b). The allegory of the "little city" in this passage harks back to the allegory of the "poor wise boy" who came to rule the country in Koheles 4:13-15. "Wisdom is better than instruments of war, but one sinner can destroy much good" (v 18) – "A person should always look at himself as if he is half guilty and half worthy, and therefore if he performs a single mitzvah, happy is he because he swings himself into the scale of merit, but if he carries out one sin, woe is he because he swings himself into the scale of guilt… On account of a single sin that a person commits, he may loose many benefits" (Kiddushin 40b).

Chapter 10 The opening verses of chapter 10 continue with the praises of wisdom and the disparagement of folly. The same destructive power of folly that was the subject of the last verse of the previous chapter is the theme of verse 1 of our present chapter. "Dead flies cause the perfumer's oil to give off a foul odor" (v 1): "For example in wintertime when flies have no strength and are near death, even if a single one falls into perfumer's oil and gets mixed up in the spices, it makes it give off a foul odor causing a scum with little bubbles to rise to the surface… In the same way a little folly can have more weight than wisdom and honor because it can swing everything into the scale of guilt" (Rashi). Verse 2: "A wise man's hand inclines to his right hand (CHESSED, expansive kindness, revelation) but a fool's heart is to his left (GEVURAH, strength, constraint, restriction and concealment)". "The heart of the wise is directed to the acquisition of the Torah, which was given from God's right arm, while the heart of fools is bent on the acquisition of wealth, silver and gold" (Targum). Verse 3: "Even in the way the fool walks his heart is lacking and he tells everyone he is a fool". "The fool thinks that everyone else is stupid, but he does not realize that he is the one who is stupid while others are wise" (Koheles Rabbah). For examples of how fools walk, see M. Python's "Ministry of Silly Walks". Verse 4: "If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place". "If the spirit of the evil inclination rules in you and attacks you, do not abandon your good

place – the good practices you have been following – for the Torah was created as a healing remedy in the world in order to cause many sins to be forgiven and forgotten by God" (Targum). In verses 5ff Koheles continues his moral discourse on the path of life which the righteous should follow with a bold and candid examination of one of the greatest challenges that this world of mysterious paradoxes presents to our faith in God's justice. "There is an evil that I have seen under the sun – it is LIKE A MISTAKE that went forth from before the Ruler: folly is set in great dignity while the (spiritually) rich sit in a low place" (vv 5-6). Many sincere people are indeed deeply perplexed by the seeming injustice whereby the most unworthy people enjoy glory and splendor while the truly worthy seem to be despised and rejected. It seems all wrong – like some kind of ERROR perpetrated by the Ruler of the world!!! How could this be??? Targum's rendering of verses 6-7 is: "God has given the wicked, insane Edom mighty good fortune and heaven-sent success and his forces are haughty and multitudinous, while the House of Israel are subject to him in exile, and because of their many sins those who were wealthy have become poor and sit in lowliness among the nations. King Solomon said through the spirit of prophecy: I have seen nations that were formerly subject to the House of Israel holding sway and riding horses like governors, while the nation of the House of Israel, their masters, walk like servants on the ground". While the warning in verse 8 that "he who digs a pit will fall into it" applies to the machinations of any wicked person, Targum's rendering follows on from his application of the previous verses to Israel: "The Attribute of Judgment spoke up and answered: They themselves brought all this upon themselves, for just as when a man digs a pit at the crossroads he is brought there to fall into it, so the nation that transgressed God's decree and attacked the fence of the world will fall into the hand of a wicked king who will bite them like a serpent" (Targum on v 8). Verse 10: "If the iron is blunt and one does not whet the edge, then one must put in more strength…" – "When the people of Israel sin and cause the heavens to become hard as iron so that no rain falls, if that generation does not pray before God the whole world is ruined by famine. But when they repent and gather together and overcome their evil inclination, appointing prayer leaders to beg for mercy before God in heaven, they find favor…" (Targum). Verse 11: "If the serpent bites and cannot be charmed, then there is no advantage in the master of the tongue" – "When fiery serpents are let loose to frighten and harm the world, it is because of the sins of Israel in not engaging in words of Torah uttered in a whisper. Likewise there is no benefit to a person who speaks LASHON HARA (evil speech) because he is destined to burn in the fire of hell" (Targum). Following further disparagement of those who follow the path of folly in verses 1215, Koheles continues in verses 16-17 by contrasting the fortune of the land (=Eretz Israel) when under the rule of a king and judges who behave like young lads with its fortune under the rule of those whose might is combined with wisdom and understanding (see Rashi ad loc.). We badly need the latter today. Verse 18: "By much slothfulness the beams collapse…" – "When a person fails to fix a small crack in the roof of the house the entire structure will collapse" (Rashi). Don't leave little flaws to become bigger.

Verse 19: "For laughter they make bread, and wine will bring joy to the living, and money answers over everything" – "For laughter the righteous make bread to feed the hungry poor, and the wine that they pour for the thirsty will be for them for joy in the world to come, and their redemption money will testify to their merit in the world to come in the eyes of all" (Targum). Verse 20: "Do not curse the king even in your thought…" – "Do not anger the King of the world" (Rashi). Do not think that your words and thoughts are not heard and registered! "At the hour when a man sleeps, the body tells the lower soul and the lower soul tells the higher soul, and the higher soul tells the angel and the angel tells the cherub and the cherub tells the master of wings – that is the Saraph – and the Saraph takes the word and tells it before the One Who spoke and brought the world into being" (Koheles Rabbah).

Chapter 11 Our allotted time in this mysterious world of paradox is very short. Koheles moves towards the conclusion of his work with a few last words of counsel as to what we should do here to make the best of our situation. "Cast your bread upon the water, for you shall find it after many days" (v 1) – "Practice goodness and kindness even to a person whom your heart tells you that you will never see again, like a person throwing food into the water, for the days are coming when you will receive your reward" (Rashi). Verse 2: "Give a portion to seven and even to eight…" The simple meaning of the verse is that one should give a share of one's food and drink to seven needy people and even to another eight who come after them, without saying "That's enough" (Rashi). On the level of Midrash, "Rabbi Yehoshua says, 'Give a share to seven' – These are the seven days of Pesach; '…and even to eight' – these are the eight days of Succos, while the word 'even' (GUM) comes to include Shavuos, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur" (Eiruvin 40b). "Rabbi Eliezer says, 'Seven' refers to the seven days of the week. Give one day, Shabbos, as the share of your Creator! Eight refers to circumcision on the eighth day" (Koheles Rabbah). Verse 3: "If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth…" – "If the clouds are full of water, they don't keep it for themselves but pour it out onto the ground, and then the ground gives rise to vapors so that the clouds become filled up again. Similarly a person who has wealth should not keep it all for himself but rather, he should share his blessings with others. Then, when his time of need comes, he will receive blessings from others. As long as a tree provides fruit, people come to water it, but if it falls, nobody comes to tend it any more since it gives no fruit. Similarly if a person does not give help to others, nobody will help him in his time of need" (Metzudas David). Verse 4: "One who waits for the wind will not sow, and one who watches the clouds will not reap." Even though the wind may help the sower by spreading the seed, if he waits for the perfect wind to blow he will never sow! Likewise if we wait for perfect circumstances before carrying out our mitzvos and good deeds, we will never do what we have to do. We must understand that nothing can ever be completely perfect in this world, but we have to carry out our obligations NOW!!! Verse 5 thus goes on to teach us that man can never have full knowledge of all aspects of God's creation, just has he cannot know the nature of an embryo while it is still in the womb. He should therefore perform acts of kindness, marry, have children, study the Torah etc. without worrying if he might go lacking materially as

a result, because he cannot know God's decrees as to who will be poor and who will be rich (see Rashi ad loc.). Verse 6: "In the morning sow your seed and in the evening do not withhold your hand" – "If you learned Torah in your youth, learn Torah in your old age; if you taught students in your youth, teach students in your old age; if you had a wife and children in your youth, marry a woman with whom to have children in your old age; if you practiced charity in your youth, practice charity in your old age" (Rashi). Verse 7: "The light is sweet…" – "The light of the Torah is sweet, enlightening darkened eyes so that they see the glory of the face of the Shechinah, which in time to come will illumine the faces of the Tzaddikim, making them as beautiful as the sun" (Targum). Verse 8: "For if a man lives many years…" – Once again, Koheles reminds us to rejoice in the share God has given us in this world and use our precious time here to acquire many merits. For the "days of darkness" that come after the death of the wicked are longer than the days of their life in this world, and only merits – Torah and mitzvos – can save us from this darkness (see Rashi ad loc.). Verse 9: "Rejoice, young man, in your youth…" – "This is like a man who sarcastically tells his servant or his son, 'Go ahead and sin! Sin! For the time will come when you will be punished for all of them!' Likewise the wise man here says, 'Rejoice, young man, in your youth and go after the ways of your heart… but be assured that the Judge will bring you to judgment for all this'" (Rashi ad loc.). Verse 10: "And put aside anger from your heart and remove evil from your flesh" – "Put aside the things that make God angry and remove the evil inclination from your flesh so that you will have a heart of flesh" (Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 12 "And remember your Creator (BOR'ECHA) in the days of your youth…" (verse 1). The letters making up the Hebrew word BOR'ECHA, "your Creator" also spell out the words BE'ERCHA, "your well" and BOR'CHA, "your pit". It was on this verse that Akavia ben Mehalalel based his teaching, "Gaze on three things and you will not come to sin. From where did you come? A putrid drop (the 'well' from which you were drawn). Where are you going? To a place of maggots and worms (the grave or 'pit'). And before whom will you have to give an account and a reckoning – your Creator" (Yerushalmi Sota 2:2). Verse 1 warns about the onset of "the years of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them" – i.e. the final years of life – thereby introducing the haunting and evocative passage in verses 2-7, which our sages taught to be an allegory about the pains and troubles of old age and bodily deterioration (Talmud Shabbos 151b). Rashi explains the details of the allegory as follows: "Before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened…" – The "sun" is the forehead, which shines and radiates when a person is young but which brings up wrinkles when he is old and does not shine. The "light" is the nose, which is the glory of the face. The "moon" is the soul, which radiates to a man, but when it is taken from him there is no light in his eyes. The "stars" are the cheeks. "…and the clouds return after the rain" – a person's light is darkened after his tears of weeping over the many troubles he has endured.

"On the day when the keepers of the house tremble…" – These are the ribs and flanks, which protect the entire hollow of the body."…and the strong men bow themselves" – these are the legs, on which the whole body rests. "…and the grinders cease because they are few" – these are the teeth, most of which fall out in old age. "…and those looking out of the windows are dimmed" – these are the eyes. "And the doors are shut in the street" – these are the bowels. "…when the sound of the grinding is low" – this is the sound of the digestive organs grinding up the food. "…and one starts up at the voice of the bird" – When a person is old, even the sound of a bird can wake him. "…and all the daughters of music are brought low" – An aged person has no interest in listening to singers (cf. II Sam. 19:36). "When they are also afraid of that which is high and terrors are in the way" – An old person is afraid to go out into the streets for fear of stumbling on little bumps and clods. "…and the almond tree blossoms" – this is the thighbone, which protrudes in old age like the blossom of a tree. "…and the grasshopper drags itself along" – A person feels his buttocks like a heavy weight. "…and the caper-berry fails" – the desire for women departs. "…for the man goes to his eternal home" – the grave – "…and the mourners go about the streets." "…Before the silver cord is loosed" – this is the spinal cord, which is white like silver but which after death shrivels and dries and becomes crooked inside the vertebrae, becoming like a chain. "…or the golden bowl is shattered" – this is a man's member, which used to gush with water. "…and the pitcher is broken at the fountain" – this is the stomach, which bursts after death. "…and the wheel is broken at the cistern" – the eyeball disintegrates in its hollow. "…and the dust returns to the earth as it was and the spirit returns to God who gave it." In addition to the above explanation of Koheles' allegory of old age and decline, Rashi also gives an equally detailed explanation of the same allegory as Solomon's call to Israel to remember their Creator while the Temple still stood, before the onset of the exile, when the light of Torah and the sages would become dimmed as trouble after trouble would strike. Koheles now sums up his rebuke and final testimony to Israel in the same words with which he began: "Vanity of vanities… all is vanity" (Chapter 12 v 8 harking back to chapter 1 v 2). That which does not endure – this world – is mere vapor and vanity, and therefore we should focus all our efforts on keeping God's Torah in order to attain the enduring life of the World to Come. If we ask why we should heed Koheles rather than any other wise preacher, smart thinker or philosopher, he explains: "And more than Koheles' having been wise, he also taught wisdom to the people and weighed and sought out and set in order many proverbs" (v 9). In the words of Rashi: "Koheles was even wiser than might appear from what is written in this book. He made 'handles' for the Torah, which was like a box without any handles to hold onto it. Thus he instituted the laws of ERUVS as a fence around the keeping of Shabbos, and washing of the hands as a fence to purity, and he prohibited 'secondary' incest relationships as a fence against incest…" "Koheles sought to find out acceptable words…" (v 10). Metzudas David (ad loc.) explains: "Everything he wanted to know he sought to discover, and he exerted himself to find out the truth." The Talmud comments on this verse: "Koheles sought to be like Moses, but a heavenly voice came forth and told him: 'and words of truth

written in proper form' – 'And no other prophet arose in Israel like Moses'" (Deut. 34:10; Rosh Hashanah 21b). "The words of the wise are like goads…" (v 11) – "Just like the goad directs the plow-ox in its furrow, so the words of the wise direct a man in the pathways of life" (Rashi ad loc.). There is no end to the books of wisdom that could be written. We should not say that if we cannot complete studying them all, it is not even worth starting. For the moral – the "bottom line" – can be stated very simply: "The end of the matter, when all is said and done: Fear God and keep his commandments! For that is the whole duty of man!" Amen.

Book of Esther Chapter 1 In the public reading of the Torah in the synagogue, only one person at a time may read aloud to the congregation, because hearing more than one voice would be distracting to the listeners. However, so beloved is the story of the Purim miracle told in Megillath Esther that the halachah permits two or even ten people to read aloud at the same time. The reason given for this is precisely because the Megillah so beloved (Megillah 21b; Shulchan Aruch Orach Hayim 690:2): it is intrinsically captivating. Although the book of Esther is not strictly speaking considered a prophetic work, the sages were agreed that it was written by Esther and Mordechai through Ru'ah HaKodesh, "holy spirit", and the text of this deeply veiled allegory is laden with layer upon layer of meaning and allusions. "Where in the Torah do we find an allusion to Esther? In the verse, 'And I shall surely hide (ASTEER) My face on that day…'"(Hullin 139b). The "face" of God is His revealed presence. Esther alludes to the concealment of His presence in exile as a result of Israel's sins. Yet the story of Esther proves that even when His presence is concealed, God is in complete control of everything. The revelation of God's power through the miracle of Purim came about in the merit of the Tzaddik Mordechai. "And where in the Torah do we find an allusion to Mordechai? In the pure myrrh of the holy anointing oil made by Moses, which in Hebrew is MAR D'ROR (lit. "master of freedom") and in the Aramaic Targum is MEIRA DECHYA=MoRDeCHaY" (Hullin ibid.) With the killing of Nebuchadnezzar's son (or grandson) Belshazzar and the fall of Babylon to Darius the Mede and his son-in-law Cyrus king of Persia, the focus of power shifted to their twin empires of Medea and Persia, centered in the western regions of present-day Iran. With the collapse of Babylon and the consolidation of the Persian Empire many of the exiles from Judea, including Mordechai and his orphaned protégé Esther, moved to Shushan ( Susa or Seleukia, about 150 miles east of the R. Tigris in Khuzestan province of Iran ). According to the dating system of Midrash Seder Olam, the fall of Babylon took place in the year 3389 (=371 B.C.E.) exactly 70 years after Nebuchadnezzar rose to power. Even the greatest Tzaddikim were confused as to why the Temple was not then rebuilt since Jeremiah had apparently prophesied that God would punish Babylon and restore the people to Jerusalem after seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10; cf. Daniel 9:2 and commentators there). They did not realize that the Temple itself could not be rebuilt until seventy years after its destruction, which had taken place eighteen years after Nebuchadnezzar rose to power. The redemption prophesied by Jeremiah was the first wave of returning exiles under Zerubavel, which took place in the first year of the reign of Cyrus and with his encouragement (Ezra 1:1). But Cyrus reigned no more than two years, and when Ahashverosh (Ahasuerus) ascended the throne of Persia (in 3392=368 B.C.E.), royal support for the rebuilding of Jerusalem ceased as a result of letters of denunciation sent to the new king by the returning Jews' adversaries, who according to rabbinic tradition were the sons of Haman

(Ezra 4:6). Ahashverosh's feast, at which he brought out the vessels captured by the Babylonians from the Temple in Jerusalem (Esther 1:7), was intended to celebrate the uneventful passing of the prophesied date of the restoration, which the gentiles took as a sign that it would never take place. The thwarting of the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple undoubtedly generated the darkest despair among the exiles in Shushan, many of whom reacted by allowing themselves to fall into laxity in their Torah observance, as exemplified by their participation in Ahashverosh's feast (Esther 1:5, see Targum there). The deepening Jewish assimilation was itself the fulfillment of God's warning in the Torah that "I shall surely hide My face on that day". But despite the fact that his Jewish brothers were running to join the gentiles in their celebrations in Shushan, Mordechai refused to participate in the consumption of TREIF (unkosher food), just as his saintly counterpart Daniel had refused in Babylon (Targum on Esther 1:5; Daniel 1:8). Purity of the food we ingest is the foundation of purity of mind and soul. Through Mordechai's outstanding sanctity and that of Esther, they were worthy of one of the greatest miracles of all time: everything was completely turned around (VE-NAHAPHOCH HOO, Esther 9:1), with the result that "the Jews fulfilled and took upon themselves (KEEYEMOO VE-KIBLOO) and their seed…" (Esther 9:27). The sages taught that the phrase KEEYEMOO VE-KIBLOO implies that the Jews FULFILLED (KEEYEMOO) in the days of Ahashverosh what they had already RECEIVED (KIBLOO), i.e. the Torah which they received at Sinai. Out of despair and assimilation came a national return to the ancestral Torah, and the Second Temple was built shortly afterwards. The Purim miracle took place in the thirteenth year of the reign of Ahashverosh in 3405 (=355 B.C.E.) while the Second Temple was built in 3408 (352 B.C.E.). Yet this great salvation was only revealed at the very climax of the story of Purim, which began with the most terrible darkness in which Mordechai and Esther had only their perfect faith in God to sustain them. In the book of Esther more than anywhere else in the Bible, the hand of God is concealed to the point that the very Name of God does not even appear explicitly anywhere in the Megillah. It appears only in ways that are not discernable to the casual reader: for example the initial or concluding Hebrew letters of certain phrases spell out various names of God. At least forty such cases are listed in the Kabbalistic Kavanot. (One of the most obvious examples is Esther 5:4, YAVO HAMELECH VEHAMAN HAYOM). Although the Megillah appears to be talking about King Ahashverosh, the text frequently refers simply to HA-MELECH (the King). The sages teach that this term simultaneously refers to the temporal Ahashverosh while also alluding to the King of kings (Midrash Esther Rabbah). The story of Purim apparently unfolds like a completely natural series of events, but as it develops, it becomes visible that each event was flawlessly planned and designed by the Ruler of all the world to teach a great lesson in how His providence governs every single detail of creation. How often the most enormous consequences flow from a single slight gesture or movement that nobody could have imagined would bring so much in its train. The essence of the story of Purim is nothing less than God's war against evil from generation to generation "for HaShem will have war with Amalek from generation to generation" (Exodus 17:16). Amalek is the embodiment of the evil of the primordial serpent, glorying in cruelty, bloodshed and murder of men, women and children accompanied by the amassing of God-denying power and wealth. The extirpation of Amalek, who had perpetrated a barbaric attack on the newly freed people of Israel immediately after their exodus from Egypt, was the second of three commandments they were instructed to fulfill after their entry into the Land of Israel . The first was to appoint a king. He was to lead the people in fulfilling the

second of these commandments by making war against Amalek. This was the necessary preparation for the fulfillment of the third, the building the Temple in Jerusalem (Rambam, Laws of Kings 1:1). The first king of Israel, the Benjaminite King Saul, was intended to fulfill the second commandment by wiping out all the Amalekites. However Saul failed because he allowed the people to leave the Amalekite king Agag alive, and the latter succeeded in fathering a child even after his capture, before being hacked to death by the prophet Samuel (I Samuel ch 15). Because of Saul's failure, Samuel told him: "God has torn the kingship over Israel from you today and He has given it to your companion who is better than you" (I Samuel 15:28). This was David, from the tribe of Judah. It was Mordechai and Esther who brought about the TIKKUN ("repair") of the terrible flaw left by King Saul in the form of Agag's descendant, Haman, who tried to destroy the entire Jewish people. Just like Saul, Mordechai was from the tribe of Benjamin (Esther 2:5), and moreover, he was the descendant of Shimi, who had come out to deliver the worst curses against King David when the latter fled from Jerusalem to escape Absalom (II Samuel 16:5-10). When David returned to Jerusalem after the thwarting of Absalom's rebellion, he spared Shimi, who was able to bear a son before eventually being killed by King Solomon (II Kings 2:8 & 40ff). Not only did Mordechai and Esther rectify Saul's flaw through the downfall of the Amalekite Haman. They also rectified the breach between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, because Mordechai the Benjaminite is specifically called MORDECHAI HA-YEHUDI (Esther 2:5) – the Judean. To repair the MALCHUTH, "kingship" having been taken from King Saul and given "to your companion who is better than you", the royal title of Queen was taken from Vashti and "the king will give her MALCHUTH to her companion that is better than she" (Esther 1:19). Thus it was that Saul's descendant, the royal Esther, became queen. The TIKKUN, "repair", accomplished by Mordechai and Esther is expressed in the language of Kabbalah by Rabbi Moshe Hayim Luzzatto (RaMHaL) in his Kavanot (1 st edn. p. 138, Secret of Purim and Reading the Megillah):-In the days of the exile in Babylon the Shechinah was turned away "back to back". It was necessary to build her in order for her to return "face to face". This is accomplished through Abba and Imma, which enter into her and build her. Now Yesod of Abba is long and goes out from Yesod of Imma, and it enters into Yesod of Zeir Anpin as well, unlike Yesod of Imma, which ends at the chest. Even in Nukva (=Shechinah) Yesod of Abba also reaches her Yesod, and indeed her Yesod is short so that the part of Yesod of Abba that is clothed therein protrudes even more. It was from this aspect that the soul of Mordechai the Tzaddik was drawn. This took place immediately before the redemption. The wicked Haman wanted to thwart the building of this Nukva and to thwart Mordechai. Mordechai received an illumination from the above-mentioned aspect, which is his root, which had already been in existence for a very long time, and Haman, who was jealous of him, wanted to thwart him and thwart the whole repair. But the Holy One blessed be He performed a miracle and the MOHIN ("brain power") began to return to Zeir Anpin. This is the secret of "the sleep of the king fled" (Esther 6:1). This did not negate Mordechai, because the illumination which he had attained remained in all its strength, while Haman became weak and fell before him so that he was unable to harm the Jews, because the King of the Universe was already aroused. Mordechai's illumination strengthened him and enabled him to accomplish the great feat of saving Israel. Esther is the Malchuth, which was for Mordechai a "daughter" (BAS) and a "house" (=wife, BAYIS) through the mystery of the repair of the Nukva… (Ramchal, Kavanot).

Lovers of Rabbi Nachman will be delighted to know that ESTHER has the numerical value of 661 = TIKUN HAKLALI, the Complete Remedy!!! Esther Chapter 1 Verse 1: "And it was (VAYEHI) in the days of Ahashverosh" – "We have a tradition handed down from the Men of the Great Assembly that wherever the text says 'and it was (VAYEHI) in the days of…' it means they were days of suffering, VAY!!!" (Megillah 10b). Vv 1-8 illustrate the wealth, grandeur and magnificence of Ahashverosh's world center, capital of an enormous empire of hugely diverse nations, languages and cultures. V 9: Queen Vashti was the daughter of Belshazzar and because of her own lineage from Nebuchadnezzar was somewhat contemptuous of Ahashverosh, whom she saw as a self-made upstart (cf. Megillah 11a, "he made himself ruler"). Our sages taught that through the hidden hand of God, Vashti was smitten with leprosy on the day Ahashverosh called her to appear naked except for her crown at his banquet, and she did not wish to go out of shame. She was afflicted by the leprosy as punishment for having forced Jewish girls to work for her naked even on Shabbat. V 16: "And Memuchan answered…" Having been mentioned last among Ahashverosh's advisors (v 14), why did he jump in first to tell the king to have Vashti killed? Our sages teach that this MEMUCHAN was none other than Haman (Targum ibid. etc.), who was MUCHAN, prepared by God for the purpose of bringing about punishment. What motive had Haman for wanting to kill Vashti? It is said that he knew from astrology that he would die at the hand of Ahashverosh's wife, and he mistakenly thought that this prediction referred to Vashti when in fact it referred to Esther. By killing Vashti Haman wanted to get Ahashverosh to marry his own daughter so that he himself could then become king.

Chapter 2 Verse 5: "There was a Yehudi man (ISH)…" – "this teaches that Mordechai in his generation was the equivalent of Moses in his generation, as it is written, "And the man (ISH) Moses was very humble" (Numbers 12:3; Midrash Esther Rabbah). Mordechai's proactive genius was displayed in his allowing Esther to be taken to Ahashverosh when he could have hidden her away from the king's talent scouts. Mordechai had perfect faith that if God sent such an opportunity to win the jackpot and propel his adoptive exile daughter directly onto the throne of the world empire of the time, there must be some great purpose in it. Verse 15: "And Esther found favor (HEIN) in the eyes of all who saw her…" The attribute of HEIN, charismatic charm and favor, is precisely the attribute of MALCHUTH. "In the eyes of all who saw her" = "this teaches that each and every person imagined she was from his people" (Megillah 13b). "In the eyes of all who saw her" – "in the eyes of the supernal beings and in the eyes of the beings of the lower world" (ibid.). Verses 21-3: The apparently quite irrelevant conspiracy of Bigthan and Theresh, which was thwarted by Mordechai, archived in the king's book of chronicles and promptly forgotten by everyone, eventually turns out to have been the event that brings about the denouement of the whole story, because Ahashverosh wanted to belatedly reward Mordechai just when Haman was on his way in trying to get him

hanged (Esther 6:1-10). "God prepared the remedy for Israel 's trouble even before He brought the trouble upon them" (Rashi on Esther 3:1).

Chapter 3 V 1: "After these things Ahashverosh promoted Haman…" Ahashverosh's feast had taken place in the third year of his fourteen-year reign (Esther 1:3), while Esther became queen four years later, in the seventh year of his reign (Esther 2:16). It was not until five years after that, in the twelfth year of Ahashverosh's reign, that Haman laid his plot to exterminate the Jews (Esther 3:7). During all these years Haman kept himself busy. Targum Yonasan (on Esther 3:1) states that he traveled in person from Shushan to Jerusalem to prevent the building of the Temple [not unlike the foreign "activists" until today who travel to Israel to monitor and thwart every move Jews make to assert their sovereignty in their land]. Targum continues: "The attribute of Justice rose before the Master of the World to accuse Haman… but the Master of the World answered, 'So far he is not well known in the world, leave Me until he becomes great and known to all the nations and then I will exact punishment from him for all the persecution perpetrated by him and his fathers against the House of Israel.'" God allows the wicked to rise to the very peak of their power and fame before casting them down, and His glory is thereby enhanced. Vv 2-4: "And all the king's servants bowed…" Haman hung an idolatrous figurine on his coat so that all who bowed to him to show their respect were also bowing to the idol (Targum Yonasan etc.). [Such personality cults should not surprise us since in our day entertainment and other celebrities are explicitly referred to as idols.] Targum states that Mordechai would not bow to Haman for two reasons. (1) Mordechai would never bow to an idol since this contravenes the Second Commandment. (2) In any case Haman was Mordechai's slave ever since one time when Haman had nothing to eat and sold himself to Mordechai for bread – this Midrash echoes the fact that Esau had sold the birthright to Jacob for food and was thus subject to him (cf. Genesis 27:37; cf. also Rabbi Nachman's story of "The Exchanged Children", a major theme of which is the mystery of Jacob and Esau). Vv 5-6: The thought of taking personal vengeance on Mordechai was not to appease Haman for the affront to his self-importance. Only the destruction of Mordechai's entire people could assuage his wrath because the existence of even a single remaining adherent to the Sinaitic Covenant would always be a slap in the face to Haman's worldview. V 7: Like many prominent world leaders through history up until the present day, Haman used astrology and occult arts to accomplish his goals. The Second Targum on Esther, which is far more elaborate than Targum Yonasan, bringing a rich array of supplementary Midrashic lore, tells how Haman rejected month after month as being unsuitable for scheduling his planned extermination of the Jews because each month had some Jewish festival in whose merit they would be protected. The reason why Haman chose the twelfth month – Adar – was because it was on the 7 th of Adar that Moses had left the world, and the loss of their leader left Israel completely vulnerable. V 8: Haman's artful speech to Ahashverosh is one of the outstanding all-time masterpieces of anti-Semitic insinuation and slander. Vv 9-11: Haman offered to pay ten thousand talents of his own silver to Ahashverosh in order to "buy" the Jews from him so that he could then do to them as he pleased. (The reason for the sum of 10,000 talents of silver that Haman offered was that this was equivalent to paying one zuz for each of the 600,000

Israelites who went out of Egypt.) Yet we see from verse 11 that Ahashverosh did not even take the money, telling Haman he could keep it as a gift: "The money is given to you and the people to do with them as is good in your eyes". This shows that Ahashverosh was quite as happy as Haman at the thought of getting rid of the Jews, who were an affront to his own world-view as well. Rather than taking anything from Haman, Ahashverosh GAVE HIM his own ring: i.e. he gave Haman authority to do whatever he wanted. "Rabbi Abba bar Kahaneh said: "The removal of Ahashverosh's ring accomplished more than forty-eight prophets and seven prophetesses who prophesied to Israel. None of them succeeded in persuading Israel to repent, but the removal of the ring [and the dire threat of extermination to which this led] caused them to repent!" (Megillah 14a). Vv 12-15: Haman now set in motion the enormous governmental apparatus across the entire vast, sprawling Persian empire in order to execute his dastardly Jihadist plot of staging a global one-day massacre of all the Jewish men, women and children everywhere and anywhere on 13 th Adar. V 16: "…and the city of Shushan was in consternation" – because the exultation of all the Jews' enemies was mixed with the sound of Jewish wailing (Targum Yonasan).

Chapter 4 Verses 1-3: "And Mordechai knew…" – "The master of the dream told him that the Heavenly Court had agreed to the decree because they had bowed to the idol in the time of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel ch 3) and enjoyed themselves at Ahashverosh's banquet" (Rashi). Mordechai now showed his mettle as Tzaddik of the Generation, single-handedly going out to arouse the people and induce them to repent. With the dire decree staring them in the face, the people finally began to do so. Vv 5ff: "Then Esther called for Hathach…" According to rabbinic tradition, the gobetween who went back and forth from Esther to Mordechai was none other than Daniel, who had been the leading advisor of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Darius the Mede. He was called HATHACH because "all the matters of the kingdom were determined (mithHATH'CHim) in accordance with the words of his mouth" (Targum Yonasan). Our text tells us that Hathach went from Esther to Mordechai and back again. However, while in verses 10-12 we see that Esther gave Hathach instructions for a second mission to Mordechai, Hathach's name is not mentioned again thereafter, while in verse 12 it is written that "THEY told Mordechai the words of Esther". Targum Yonasan on verse 12 tells that Haman (who was obviously a control-freak) saw that Hathach-Daniel kept on coming and going to Esther and promptly killed him. Indeed a tomb said to be that of Daniel exists in Shushan. Targum on v 12 tells us who THEY were. V 11: "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that every man and woman who comes to the inner courtyard of the king without being called is to be put to death…" Targum states that Esther told Mordechai that Haman had instituted that nobody could go into the king without his permission, which again testifies to his having been a paranoid control freak. V 12: "And they told Mordechai the words of Esther…" Since Hathach-Daniel had been killed, it was the angels Michael and Gabriel who now relayed Esther's message to Mordechai, who sent them back to her with his reply (Targum Yonasan).

Vv 13-14: Mordechai's reply to Esther shows his complete faith that even if she did not go to the king to try to intercede for the Jews, relief and deliverance would definitely come to them from elsewhere: no one individual is indispensable because God has many messengers! V 15-16: Esther stood to loose everything if her mission was unsuccessful. The rabbis taught that Mordechai had taken Esther as his wife (darshening the word BAS, "daughter", in Esther 2:7 as BAYIS, "house"=wife). Having originally been taken to Ahashverosh B'O-NESS, "under duress", she was still halachically permitted to go back to her husband Mordechai since only a priest is forbidden to take back his wife if she is raped, but not an Israelite. However, the moment Esther went into Ahashverosh OF HER OWN FREE WILL, her adultery was intentional and she would subsequently be forbidden to Mordechai in any event -- even if failed in her mission. Despite the fact that the erratic and unpredictable Ahashverosh was quite likely to kill Esther for coming to him of her own volition (just as he had killed Vashti for showing that she had a mind of her own), Esther was willing to sacrifice her entire life and future in order to save her people. "Go gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me…" Esther knew that her only chance of success was if all the Jews repented. V 17: "So Mordechai went his way (VA-YA-AVOR)…" The root of VA-YA-AVOR is AVAR, which has the connotation of transgression. The rabbis stated that Mordechai "transgressed" because he agreed to the public fast despite the fact that it took place during the festival of Pesach when fasting is normally forbidden (Rashi on Esther 4:17). It must be understood that while the events described in Esther 1:1-3:6 were spread out over NINE YEARS, the events described from 3:7 until 8:2 were concentrated in the space of FIVE DAYS. Haman cast lots at the beginning of the month of Nissan, and the decree became public knowledge on the 13 th of Nissan (Esther 3:12). Mordechai went into action immediately, and his exchanges with Esther took place on the very same day. The three day fast called by Mordechai started on 14 th of Nissan and continued on the 15 th and 16 th (both of which were Yom Tov in Shushan since it was in the Diaspora). It was on the 16 th of Nissan – the third day of the fast -- that Esther invited Ahashverosh and Haman to the first banquet (Esther 5:4) and it was held on the same day. Ahashverosh's sleep was disturbed that night (eve of the 17 th Nissan, Esther 6:1) and the second banquet, Haman's downfall and hanging took place the next morning – the third day of Pesach. Despite the fact that we today celebrate Purim in Adar, which is when the decree of extermination was intended to be fulfilled, the actual miracle took place during Pesach, the festival of redemption.

Chapter 5 V 1: "And it was on the THIRD day…" – " Israel are not left in trouble for more than three days. Joseph put his brothers 'into custody for THREE days' (Genesis 42:17); Jonah was in the belly of the fish 'THREE days and three nights' (Jonah 2:1); and in time to come, 'on the THIRD DAY He will raise us up and we shall live in His presence' (Hosea 6:2)" (Midrash Esther Rabbah). "…and Esther clothed herself in royalty" – "The verse should have said 'she clothed herself in garments of royalty'. Rabbi Haninah said, 'She clothed herself in holy spirit, as it says, "and the spirit CLOTHED Amassay" (1 Chronicles 12:19). From here we learn that Esther was a prophetess'" (Talmud, Megillah 14b).

"…and she stood in the inner court of the king's house over against the king's house…" In accordance with the principle that when the word MELECH appears in the Megillah without further qualification it alludes to God, this verse is interpreted to mean that Esther prayed before the Heavenly Temple, which is aligned directly with the earthly Temple in Jerusalem (cf. Targum Yonasan). V 2: "And it was when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the courtyard…" – "When she reached the chamber of the idols, the Divine Presence left her. At that moment she said, 'My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?' (Psalm 22:2). Immediately, the king saw her and she found favor in his eyes" (Megillah 15b). It is customary to recite Psalm 22 on Purim at the end of the morning prayers. The "deer of the morning" alludes to the Shechinah. V 3: "Then the king said to her, What is your wish… it shall be given to you even up to half the kingdom." The simple meaning is that Ahashverosh said that even if she asked for half the kingdom he would give it to her, but Targum Yonasan renders: "Even if you ask for half my kingdom I will give it to you but not if you ask to build the Temple which stands on the boundary of half my kingdom: that I will not give you, because I have made an oath to Geshem the Arab and Sanvalat the Horonite and Tuviah the Ammonite slave (see Nehemiah 2:19) not to permit it to be built, because I am afraid of the Jews in case they will rebel against me, so I cannot grant this request but I will grant you anything else you ask." Vv 4-9: What was in Esther's mind when she did not give the king an answer at the feast that same day but instead pushed him off to the next day? Some explain that despite the three day fast of the Jews, Esther as yet still saw no sign of redemption. It was only the next day, after Haman had already begun to fall when he had to dress Mordechai in finery, that Esther knew that God was smiling and that she could ask Ahashverosh for what she really needed with impunity. V 9: "Then Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart…" Pride comes before a fall! "But when Haman saw Mordechai in the king's gate and that he did not stand or stir for him…" Not only would Mordechai not bow to the idolatrous figurine that Haman wore. When Haman passed by, Mordechai – who was sitting in his Sanhedrin, "the King's gate" (Deut. 16:18) – merely stretched out his right leg and showed Haman the deed of purchase attesting to how he had once purchased him as his slave in exchange for bread (Targum Yonasan). This appears to allude to how Jacob holds Esau by the heel (Gen. 25:26). V 10: Targum Yonasan includes the interesting information that Haman's wife Zeresh was the daughter of Tathnay, governor of the Persian imperial provinces "over the river", i.e. west of the Euphrates, including the Land of Israel. We have encountered Tathnay in Ezra 5:3ff as a key figure in the diplomatic efforts made by the adversaries of the Jewish returnees from Babylon to Jerusalem to impede the building of the Second Temple. It would make sense that as an Edomite-Amalekite, Haman's origins lay in the desert regions south and east of the Dead Sea, which were part of the provinces "over the river" under the governorship of his father-inlaw Tathnay. V 14: In elaborating the counsel of Haman received from his wife and friends, Targum Yonasan explains that they detailed various failed plots to kill Tzaddikim: "If he is one of the Tzaddikim, then if we kill him by the sword, the sword will turn around and strike us. If we stone him, David already stoned Goliath. If we roast him in a copper pot, King Menasheh already escaped from such a pot (II Chronicles

33:11ff). If we throw him into the sea, the Israelites already split the sea and passed through on dry land. If we throw him into a fiery furnace, Hananiah, Mishael and Azara already escaped from such a furnace. If we throw him into the lion's den, the lions left Daniel unharmed. If we throw him alive to the dogs, the mouths of the dogs were closed when Israel left Egypt. If we exile him to the wilderness, they were already fruitful and multiplied in the wilderness. If we throw him into prison, Joseph came out of prison to rule. If we stick a knife in his neck, the knife could not harm Isaac's neck. If we gouge out his eyes he will kill us like Samson killed the Philistines. We don't know what to do. The only solution is to set up a great TREE (ETZ) for a gallows at the gate of his house so that all the Jews and all his friends will see…" (Targum Yonasan on v 14). "Where in the Torah is there an allusion to Haman? In God's words to Adam after his sin: 'Is it that you have eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from it?' (Genesis 3:11; Talmud Hullin 139b). The Hebrew for "is it that… from" is HA-MIN (grammatically the HA is interrogative, while MIN means "from"). Since Hebrew is written without vowels, these letters could equally well be read as HAMAN. Haman was the embodiment of the serpent that caused man to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Haman's TREE was FIFTY cubits high, corresponding to the fifty gates of the unholy Binah ("Understanding") whose power he wanted to use to destroy Mordechai, the Tzaddik of the Generation, who was teaching his people to reach God through the Fiftieth Gate – prayer. Thus the Midrash tells that when Haman passed Mordechai as he sat teaching his students, he asked him what he was teaching. Mordechai told him he was explaining the laws of the Omer offering, which would have been offered on the second day of the festival of Pesach had the Temple been standing. The Omer offering begins the 50 day count to the festival of Shavuos celebrating the Giving of the Torah, corresponding to the 50 th Gate.

Chapter 6 V 1: "On that night the sleep of the king was disturbed…" It is customary for the BAAL KOREI reading the Megillah in the synagogue to raise his voice while saying these words, because the king's disturbed sleep was the root of the miracle (Shuchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 690:15, Mishneh Berurah #52). "Why was his sleep disturbed? He was trying to understand why Esther had also invited Haman to the feast, and he began wondering if they might not be plotting to kill him. He thought to himself: 'Is there nobody who loves me enough to warn me? Could it be that someone did me some favor and I never paid him back, and as a result people are holding back from revealing information to me?' He immediately gave instructions to bring the book of records!" (Talmud, Megillah 15a). V 2: "And it was found written…" If something written in the world below for the merit of the Jews was not erased, how much more can that which is written above [God's promises in the Torah] never be erased" (Megillah 16a). V 6: "And Haman came and the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" If Ahashverosh had asked Haman directly what should be done to his arch-enemy Mordechai, he would surely have given a very negative reply. Ahashverosh thus phrased the question in such a way that Haman would not know whom he intended to honor – and of course the pompous Haman immediately assumed it was himself and answered in the grandest terms. A somewhat parallel method of ascertaining indirectly what a person really thinks was used by the prophet Nathan when he went to David to reprove him for having taken Bathsheva (II Samuel 12:1ff).

"And Haman said in his heart, To whom would the king delight to give honor more than to myself?" – "The wicked are in the power of their own heart, and thus, 'and Esau said IN HIS HEART' (Gen. 27:41), 'and the wicked says IN HIS HEART' (Psalms 14:1), 'and Jeraboam said IN HIS HEART'(I Kings 12:26). But in the case of the Tzaddikim, their hearts are under their control, and thus 'Hannah spoke TO HER HEART' (I Sam. 1:13), 'and Daniel put it UPON HIS HEART' (Daniel 1:8) 'and David spoke TO HIS HEART' (I Sam. 27:1), and in this they are like their Creator, of Whom it is written, 'And HaShem said TO HIS HEART' (Gen. 8:21; Midrash Esther Rabbah). V 12: "But Haman was pushed back to his house MOURNING and WITH HIS HEAD COVERED" – "Haman was going on his way through the streets leading Mordechai when they passed through the road where Haman's house was situated. Haman's daughter, who was standing on the roof, saw them and assumed that the person riding the horse was her father and the person walking in front of him was Mordechai. She took the toilet pan and threw it at the one walking in front, but when she looked and saw that it was her father she fell from the roof to the ground and was killed. This is why Haman was MOURNING, over his daughter, WITH HIS HEAD COVERED – because of what had happened (Megillah 16a).

Chapter 7 Seeing Esther invite Haman to her feast with the king had brought the Jews of Shushan to the highest peak of Teshuvah. Previously they believed that in the Jewish queen they had a strong ally in the royal household who might yet save them by asking the king to kill Haman, but here she was inviting their worst enemy to her feast! "At that moment the entire house of Jacob poured out their hearts and trusted only in their Father in Heaven" (Targum Yonasan on Esther 5:14). Vv 1-2: "So the king and Haman came to drink with Queen Esther. And the king said again to Esther on the second day at the feast of wine, What is your petition… even to half the kingdom?" Targum Yonasan explains here as on Esther 5:6 that when Ahashverosh offered Esther up to half the kingdom, he was explicitly refusing to allow the rebuilding of the Temple, except that in his explanation of the present verse, Yonasan adds that the king said to Esther, "Wait until your son Darius will grow up and inherit the kingdom and that too will be done". Vv 3-4: The directness, simplicity and heart-rending pathos of Esther's plea to the king to save herself and her people from destruction makes this a model that all of us can follow in our prayers to God to redeem Israel. "…for the oppressor is not concerned about the damage to the king" – "Esther was saying to Ahashverosh, This oppressor [Haman] does not care about any loss to the king! He was jealous of Vashti and killed her, and now he has become jealous of me and wants to kill me!" (Megillah 16a). By openly identifying with the Jews, Esther finally revealed her origins and people to Ahashverosh for the first time since Mordechai had instructed her not to do so (see Esther 2:20). V 5: "And the king Ahashverosh said, and he said to Esther the queen…" In this verse the word VAYOMER, "he said" is repeated twice. While the second VAYOMER is directed to Esther, the first VAYOMER is not directed to anyone and is apparently redundant. Thus Rashi (ad loc.) states: "In every place where a verse reads VAYOMER… VAYOMER twice, this is can only be explained through Midrash. The

Midrashic teaching that comes out from this verse is that previously Ahashverosh had spoken to her through an intermediary, but now that he knew that she was from a family of kings [Saul] he spoke to her himself directly (see Megillah 16a). Vv 6-8: With Haman now falling faster and faster, his every move just made things worse. He tried to appeal to Esther, but when the king saw him falling over Esther's couch he was all the more convinced that Haman was up to no good. V 9: "And Harvonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Also see the gallows fifty cubits high that Haman made for Mordechai who spoke good for the king…" Harvonah's timely intervention settled Haman's fate. Some rabbis said that it was Elijah the prophet who appeared to the king in the guise of one of his chamberlains (see Ibn Ezra on this verse). However the opinion of Rabbi Elazar in the Talmud is that Harvonah had in fact been in on Haman's conspiracy to have Mordechai hanged but that when he saw that Haman was obviously going down fast he quickly abandoned the sinking ship and changed his colors (Megillah 16a; cf. Targum Sheni on Esther 7:9). V 10: "And they hanged Haman on the gallows that he prepared for Mordechai…" – "He hewed out a pit and dug it out, and he fell into the ditch which he made" (Psalms 7:16). Similarly, Jethro saw the hand of God's justice in the way that the Egyptians were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea after having plotted to drown the Hebrew babies in the waters of the river (Exodus 18:11, see Rashi ad loc.)

Chapter 8 Verses 3-6: "And Esther spoke once more before the king…" The death of Haman had removed the Jews' worst persecutor but it did not undo the fact that a few days earlier messengers had been dispatched at top speed to all the provinces of the empire telling all the gentiles to mobilize for the 13 th of Adar to exterminate, kill and destroy all the Jews, young and old (Esther 3:12-15). This was why Esther now asked Ahashverosh to revoke the letters Haman had sent out in the name of the king. Vv 7-8: Ahashverosh replied that this was impossible, because "writing that is already written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked". This was in accordance with a law in the empire of the Medes and Persians that once promulgated, no governmental decree could ever be changed, as we find in Daniel 6:16, where even Darius king of Medea was unable to intervene to save his favorite Daniel from the decree made by his ministers' to kill anyone found worshipping any other god besides the king. Our present text also alludes to the impossibility of changing even a single word or letter of the Torah. Nevertheless, Ahashverosh now gave Mordechai and Esther permission to promulgate a new decree in the name of the king that would not revoke the previous decree but would allow the Jews to stand up against their enemies on DDay, the 13 th of Adar, and do to them exactly what they sought to do to the Jews. V 10: "…and he sent letters in the hand of couriers on horseback riding on the swift horses used in the royal service bred from the stud mares." The phrase "used in the royal service bred from the stud mares" is a translator's device to find an intelligible rendering for the Hebrew/Persian words HA-AHASHTRANIM B'NEY HARAMACHIM, whose exact meaning is not known. Targum renders HA-AHAHSTRANIM as ARTOULYONEY, which has the connotation of "naked" and apparently refers to the riders, who were stripped to the minimum gear necessary in order to be able to

travel at top speed. Targum explains that the runners had their spleens removed and that the soles of their feet were arched so that only their toes touched the ground. Using couriers of this kind was the only way to communicate at high speed across a vast empire in the days before phones, faxes, Internet and satellite technology. V 11: The king permitted the Jews not only to defend themselves and kill and destroy their enemies [which the United Nations and Israel's "allies" still do not allow until today] but also authorized them "…to plunder their goods". The last provision was exactly parallel to the provision made in Haman's letters that the enemies were to plunder the Jews (Esther 3:13). However, when it came to it, the Jews did NOT plunder their enemies (Esther 9:10), thereby showing everyone that they did not do what they did for monetary gain (Rashi on Esther 8:11). Vv 15-16 are two of the four "Verses of Redemption" (together with Esther 2:5 and 10:3) that are read out aloud, each in its proper place, by all the congregation during the public reading of the Megillah prior to their being read out of the scroll by the BAAL KOREI ("reader"; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 690:17). "The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor." – "Light" is Torah; "Gladness" is YOM TOV, festive celebration; "Joy" refers to circumcision, while "honor" refers to Tefilin (Megillah 16b). V 17: "And many of the people of the land became Jews…" Seeing the hand of God in the miracle performed for the Jews convinced them to become converts.

Chapter 9 Verse 1: "…and it was turned to the contrary…" Through the grace of Heaven and in the merit of the patriarchs (Targum), in the Purim miracle, everything was turned around diametrically opposite to the way it all seemed at first. For this reason, the celebration of Purim every year on the anniversary of the miracle is also characterized by turning everything around, such as by wearing disguises, joking and upsetting many of the social conventions that govern normal everyday life (as long as this does not turn nasty in any way). Vv 2: On the very day that had been designated by Haman's lot for the destruction of the Jews and what he hoped would be the death of their faith, they suddenly staged a one-day national Intifada against their enemies throughout the Persian empire, with complete success. Not only was this Jewish Intifada accomplished without the international chorus of condemnations, UN resolutions, sanctions etc. etc. that follow any genuine act of Jewish self-defense today; it was actually carried out with the full support of the Persian imperial governmental apparatus. V 4: "For Mordechai was great in the king's house…" This depiction of Mordechai's greatness is reminiscent of the description of Moses' greatness in Egypt, "for the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants and in the eyes of the people" (Exodus 11:3). Vv 5-18: Following the general account of the Purim miracle in the previous verses, the text now details (1) how the Jews rose up and killed their enemies throughout the Persian empire on the 13 th Adar and rested and celebrated on the 14 th ;(2) what they did in Shushan the capital, where they needed a second day to complete the work and only rested on the 15 th Adar. This narrative completes the story of the Purim miracle and also explains the reason why Purim is celebrated throughout

the world on 14 th Adar except in Shushan and certain other ancient walled cities, where it is celebrated on the 15 th , as we read below in vv 19ff. V 6: "And in Shushan the capital the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men…" Targum adds that these were all high ranking members of the house of Amalek. Vv 7-9: In the handwritten parchment scroll of Megillath Esther it is obligatory to write the Hebrew word ISH at the end of verse 6 and the names of the ten sons of Haman who were killed one under the other, each at the beginning of a new line, while the ten occurrences of VE-ETH are written one under the other at the end of each line. Each name is thus separated by a wide space from the VE-ETH that follows it at the end of the line. This way of writing the names is identical with the way the names of the 31 defeated kings of Canaan are written in the parchment scroll in Joshua 12:9-24. Separating the words with wide spaces is also how SHIRAH, "song", is written, as in the case of Israel 's song after crossing the Red Sea (Exodus ch 15) and the Song of Deborah (Judges ch 5). However in SHIRAH, the first, third and fifth lines etc. are written with one word at the beginning, middle and end of each line, while the second, fourth and sixth lines etc. have only two words each of which is positioned where the spaces between the words appear in the lines above and below them. This arrangement of the text of SHIRAH has the appearance of a solid brick wall. However, in the case of the names of the kings of Canaan and the sons of Haman, nothing is written in the middle of each line. This signifies that there is nothing to support the entire structure from collapsing, and that once it has collapsed it can never stand up again (Megillah 16b). Vv 11-15: King Ahashverosh appears to have been anxious to monitor what was going on in his kingdom, but through the hand of Heaven he did not try to interfere, and when Esther explained that in Shushan more time was needed to complete the work, he gave the green light to go ahead. In verses 6ff the text only said that the sons of Haman were killed. Now in verse 13 Esther requested that their corpses should be strung up on the tree-gallows Haman had made. This was doubtless in order to strike fear into the hearts of the Jews' enemies. Targum Sheni on Esther 9:23 explains what made Esther violate the Torah prohibition against leaving the corpse of an executed criminal hanging from the tree for more than a few moments before nightfall (Deut. 21:23). "Esther answered and said to them, Because King Saul killed the Gibeonite converts, his sons were hanged for six months (II Samuel 21:8ff). If this was done because their father killed Gibeonite converts, how much more should Haman and his sons, who wanted to destroy the entire House of Israel, be left hanging for ever." Targum Yonasan and Targum Sheni on verse 15 both give detailed though slightly different mathematical explanations of exactly how Haman and his ten sons were hung on the fifty cubit tree, one underneath the other, with equal spaces between them. Haman (disunity, separation) had wanted to extirpate Mordechai to the point that he and his people and everything they represented would be completely forgotten. On the other hand, Mordechai and Esther specifically wanted to have Haman and his sons "hung from the tree" – the tree of the Torah – to show that even evil has a place in the creation of the One God, and that the ultimate destiny of evil is to hang there dead and completely defeated, to show that God rules over all. Verse 19ff. Having completed the story of the Purim miracle, the Megillah now explains how Mordechai and Esther instituted the celebration of the festival of Purim the following year and every year forever afterwards in order to remember the miracle and give thanks and praise to God for it. The Torah forbids adding to the 613 commandments given in the Five Books of Moses, but the miracle of Purim

was outstanding because without it, there would have been no Jews left in the world to keep the Torah. For this reason the sages of the generation agreed with Mordechai and Esther in establishing the celebration of Purim not as a new commandment MI-D'ORAISA but as an institution MI-DIVREY SOFRIM. Their initiative in writing and disseminating the Megillah as part of the KESUBIM, "holy writings" in order to explain the reasons for their institution has its foundation in God's words to Moses after the battle against Amalek: "Write this for a memorial in a book" (Exodus 17:14). The annual Purim exercise in heightening our consciousness of God's eternal war against Amalek is also an aspect of the Torah commandment, "Remember what Amalek did to you…" (Deuteronomy 25:17ff). V 20: "And Mordechai wrote these things…" – "This refers to this very Megillah just as we have it" (Rashi). After the Purim miracle, the first step in the institution of the festival was its celebration for the first time one year after the actual miracle. V 22 refers to the three main Mitzvoth of Purim besides the reading of the Megillah: (1) feasting; (2) sending of two portions of ready-to-eat food to at least one friend and if possible to many more; (3) giving gifts of charity to at least two poor people and preferably to many more. V 25 on the simple level refers to Ahashverosh's having given permission in writing (IM HASEPHER) to the Jews to rise up against their enemies to thwart the earlier decree to exterminate them. The phrase IM HASEPHER, "with the book", is also taken by Targum Sheni as an allusion to the Torah commandment to "blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens" (Deut. 25:19). V 26: The festival is called PURIM because everything started with Haman's casting of the lot – PUR (Esther 3:7). He himself thereby predestined the day of his own destruction. We also see from this verse that Megillath Esther is called an IGERETH ("letter"), from the root AGAR, to "gather" (cf. Proverbs 6:8), since it gathers and puts together all the events that make up the story (Ibn Ezra). However in Esther 10:32 the Megillah is called SEPHER, a "book" or "scroll" from the root SAPER, to recount or relate. The word Megillah is from the root GALAH, "reveal". As discussed in the commentary on Esther chs 1-2, the light that was revealed through the miracle of Purim derives from the Kabbalistic Partzuf of ABBA, and in this aspect the Megillah is called SEPHER. However, this light had to spread and be revealed in all the worlds, and in this aspect the Megillah is called IGERETH, which could loosely be translated as a "broadsheet". For this reason it is customary for the reader in the Synagogue to unroll and spread out the entire Megillah before reading it (somewhat as one spreads a newspaper over a table), alluding to the spread of the light of ABBA in all the worlds. V 27: The acceptance by all the Jews of the injunction to celebrate Purim every year for ever was a KABBALAH, an "undertaking" which under the laws of Nedarim ("vows") applied not only to themselves but also to all their offspring to all the generations. The celebration of Purim is thus binding on every Jew until today. V 28: "…and these days should be remembered and observed…" We REMEMBER them through the reading of the Megillah on Purim night and morning, and we OBSERVE them through the giving of charity to the poor, sending portions of foods to our friends, and feasting. The Hebrew phrase NIZKARIM VE-NA'ASIM also alludes to the fact that every year during this season the same light that shone in the time of Mordechai and Esther shines all over again and the same events are repeated cyclically though often in a new guise. "…and these days of Purim shall not pass from among the Jews and their memory shall not cease from their seed". This teaches that Megillath Esther will never become defunct – not even in the end of

days. Rabbi Nachman taught that originally all beginnings were traced to the Exodus from Egypt , but he hinted that now all beginnings come from the Purim miracle (Likutey Moharan II:74). As we today watch the rising power of Persia-Iran and her leader's publicly stated desire to destroy Israel, we should ponder the miracles that God performed for our ancestors in that very country of Persia and trust that if we repent with the same fervor as our ancestors then, God will surely save us from all our enemies and everything will be turned to the contrary!!! Vv 29ff: After the celebration of the first Purim one year after the actual miracle, Esther and Mordechai established Purim as an annual festival forever after. This is why they wrote "this SECOND letter of Purim". V 30: "…words of peace and truth". Mordechai taught a lesson in effective outreach: start with PEACE and lead into TRUTH. V 31: "as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed with regard to the fastings and the order of lamentation". Ibn Ezra points out that after the destruction of the First Temple the Jews took upon themselves the four annual public fast days mourning the breach of the Jerusalem walls and the burning of the Sanctuary (17 Tammuz, 9 Av, 3 Tishri and 10 Tevet, cf. Zechariah 8:19). Having taken upon themselves fasts of mourning, they now took upon themselves to celebrate the great miracle of Purim with eating and drinking.

Chapter 10 The Megillah started with Ahashverosh, and he is mentioned here at the end in the unpopular role of imposing taxes on his entire empire. However Targum Sheni indicates that in recognition of the great miracle performed for them, the Jews were relieved of having to pay these taxes (HALEVAI!!!). However, the leading personality at the end of the Megillah is not Ahashverosh but rather the real hero of the whole story, Mordechai HaYehudi. He was beloved by "most" of his brothers but not all, because, as Ibn Ezra points out (on Esther 10:3), it is impossible for someone to please everyone owing to the natural jealousy that exists even between brothers. Notwithstanding this jealousy, Mordechai was always "seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his seed", and thus the Megillah ends with what we all await daily: SHALOM.

Book of I Chronicles CHAPTER 1 DIVREY HAYAMIM – literally, "The Words, or Matters of the Days" – known in English as the Book of Chronicles, may be seen as the royal archive of the records of the House of David, tracing the genealogy of King David and his seed from Adam and the Patriarchs, and following their history until the destruction of Solomon's Temple, the exile to Babylon, and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubavel, who as grandson of King Yeho-yachin was himself heir to the Davidic kingship. DIVREY HAYAMIM was written by Ezra the Priest at the time of the return of the exiles in order to establish the pedigree of Zerubavel and the House of David and also that of the Levites and Priests who would minister in the rebuilt Temple, the foundations of which had already been laid. Thus DIVREY HAYAMIM seals the unbreakable bond between the House of David and the Temple Priesthood, embodied in the marriage of Aaron the Priest to Eli-sheva, daughter of Aminadav, Prince of the House of Judah. In Rashi's opening comment on the Book of Chronicles (I, 1:1) he explains: "Ezra wrote this book of genealogies with the help of the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi during the eighteen years from when Zerubavel and Yehoshua the Priest came to Jerusalem in the time of Cyrus I [the "first aliyah" shortly after the collapse of Babylon, when the first foundations of the Second Temple were laid] until the reign of Cyrus son of Esther [who authorized the completion of the Second Temple, which had been held up for eighteen years through the machinations of Haman and his sons until after the death of Ahasuerus, Cyrus' father.] And the entire purpose is to provide the genealogy of King David and that of the Levite Temple gate-keepers, guards and singers and the Cohen-Priests in accordance with the order that David laid down for them." Rashi continues: "Accordingly he traces their lineage from Adam until Abraham. And because he had to trace the line of Abraham, he also mentions the other peoples – his [other] sons and their sons. And on account of Abraham's sons, he had to trace the other peoples – the children of Canaan – to show how Abraham inherited their land. And since he had to trace the line of Canaan , he also traces that of the other peoples. He mentions them little by little and casts them aside until he reaches the main subject of interest. This can be compared to a king who was traveling from one place to another when he lost a precious jewel. The king stopped and took a sieve to sift the dust… until he found the jewel. Likewise the Holy One blessed be He said, Why do I need to trace the line of Shem, Arpachshad… Terach? Only in order to find Abraham, of whom it is said '…and You FOUND his heart faithful before You' (Nehemiah 9:8). And for the sake of the honor of Isaac, he traces the sons of Esau and Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, casting them aside little by little and leaving them behind…" For many students, the opening chapters of DIVREY HAYAMIM, which consist entirely of detailed genealogies, can often seem a formidable barrier to entry into

the study of the book. Those who find it difficult to assimilate long lists of names may find comfort in the fact that the continuous, dense genealogies run only until the end of chapter 9 (only four and a half days of study at the rate of two chapters a day!) after which the narrative sections begin with the account of the death of King Saul (ch 10) and the beginning of David's kingship (chs 11-12, which give the names of his warriors). From chapter 13 on, the entire remainder of I Chronicles & the whole of II Chronicles consist of almost continuous narrative tracing the history of David, Solomon and their successors until the destruction of the First Temple . The historical narrative in Chronicles runs parallel to and supplements the narrative in the "historical" books of the NaCh – II Samuel and Kings I & II – but Chronicles is more focused on the kingdom of Judah, while Kings traces the history of Judah pari passu with that of the Ten Tribes. As we stand at the beginning of nine chapters consisting mainly of names and lineages, let us remember that these records of the names of the primary souls of the progeny of Adam and of the house of the messianic King David are an integral part of the precious treasure-house of the King of kings. The very names and Hebrew letters, with all the Midrashim that arise out of them, possess the same intrinsic holiness as all of the writings of the Prophets, and even their mere recital brings holiness into the soul, even if it seems difficult to assimilate or remember every detail. ADAM, SETH, ENOSH… "The text does not mention Cain and Abel because they had no surviving offspring, whereas from Seth came the line that led to Noah and Abraham and from Abraham to David" (Rashi on v 1). The focus is not on history but on genealogy. Commenting on the genealogy of Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, starting in v 4, Rashi (ad loc.) clarifies the organizational "method" underlying the arrangement of the genealogies in Divrey HaYomim, which can be highly confusing to beginning students since they often go back and forth. A line is taken up but then apparently dropped while another line is traced, and then the first is picked up again. Rashi writes: "He should have traced the children of Shem immediately in order to find the jewel, Abraham, and likewise then traced the line immediately down to David. But instead he briefly picks up and quickly throws aside the subsidiary lines and only then takes hold of the main line. This is the way of this entire genealogy in Divrey HaYamim. Likewise when he speaks of the children of Abraham – Isaac and Ishmael – he recounts the children of Ishmael before those of Isaac, and similarly, he traces the generations of Esau – the subsidiary – before focusing on Israel (Jacob), the essence." Vv 1-4: The generations from Adam down to the children of Noah. Vv 5-7: The children of Japheth. Vv 8-12: The children of Ham. Vv 13-16: The children of Canaan. Vv 17-27: The names of the descendants of Shem down to Abraham. Vv 28-33: The children of Abraham down to Israel . Vv 34: The children of Isaac – Esau and Israel.

Vv 35-42: Children of Esau. Vv 43-50: The Seven Kings of Edom. The names of these seven kings, who "ruled and died", allude to the vessels of the seven lower kabbalistic Sefirot, which "broke" and had to be rectified. Vv 51-54: The Princes of Edom. All of the above genealogies parallel and supplement the corresponding genealogies in Genesis chapters 5 (Adam-Noah), 10-11 (Noah-Abraham), 25 (Ishmael and the sons of Keturah) and 36 (Esau and Seir).

Chapter 2 Vv 1-2: Names of the sons of Jacob. Vv 3-4: Names of the sons of Judah . V 5: Sons of Peretz. Vv 6-9: Descendants of Zerach – Karmi, Eithan – and Hetzron, son of Peretz. Rashi on v 6 states that the descendants of Zerach enumerated there were outstanding sages who lived in the generations of David and Solomon (cf. I Kings 5;11). K'LUVOI listed in verse 9 as one of the three sons of Hetzron is identified by Rashi as Kaleb, founder of the line that led to Naval (I Samuel 25:3). His was the only line that was not "flawed" (because his brother Yerachmiel married Atara, who was not an Israelite, see our present chapter v 26, while his brother Ram's descendant, Bo'az, married Ruth the Moabitess. This is why Naval spoke so disparagingly about his kinsman David: see I Samuel 25:10; Rashi on our present chapter v 9). Vv 10-17: The line from Ram, second son of Hetzron down to David and his family. Vv 18-20: Children of Kaleb son of Hetzron. The Talmud associates this Kaleb with Kaleb son of Yephuneh, who together with his comrade, Joshua son of Nun, rebelled against the other spies sent by Moses to scout out the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14; Temurah 16a). However, this identification is questioned by RaDaK (on v 18). Bezalel (v 20) was the craftsman who made the wilderness Sanctuary and its vessels. Vv 21-24: Children of Hetzron from the daughter of Makhir of the tribe of Menasheh. Vv 25-41: Children of Yerachmiel son of Hetzron and his descendents. Yerachmiel's "other wife", Atarah (v 26) was said to be a non-Israelite (Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 2:3). From her son Onam derived the line that went down to Elishama (v 41), grandfather of Ishmael son of Nethanyah, who assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam, thereby destroying the last vestiges of Judean autonomy after the destruction of the First Temple (see Rashi on I Chronicles 2:35; cf. Jeremiah 41:1 and RaDaK ad loc.). Vv 42-45: Additional children of Kaleb son of Hetzron. Vv 46-49: Children of Kaleb from his concubine.

Vv 50-55: Children of Kaleb son of Hur (see Rashi on v 50 noting the ambiguity in the Hebrew text, which makes it uncertain whether this Kaleb is identical with Kaleb son of Hetzron mentioned above in vv 18f or was a different Kaleb, the firstborn of Hur). Rashi commenting on verse 42 gives another clue to understanding the "method" of these genealogies, which is apt to be somewhat confusing. "…And thus the way of this entire genealogy is not to trace the lines in order. Rather, he traces part of the line of a certain family and then picks up a different family, and after having traced the line of this second family he starts again tracing the line of the first family, and then goes back again to the second. Thus this whole book of genealogies is somewhat ME-URAV – MIXED UP!!!" It is noteworthy that the genealogy of the tribe of Judah not only gives the names of the members of its various clans but also in many cases the names of the towns and settlements in which they lived, some of which are still to be found on the map of present-day Israel.

Chapter 3 Having traced some of the principle family lines of the tribe of Judah in the previous chapter, including the line leading to King David (I Chron. 2:10-15), the chronicler now gives us the names of David's wives and children and his royal descendants, looking ahead to Melech HaMashiach, as we shall see on v 24. As a royal archive, DIVREY HAYAMIM contains many secrets, hints and allusions, some of which are explained by our commentators but many of which remain hidden except to the most assiduous students. Every family has its own codes and may call certain members by different names (or nicknames) at different times and for different reasons. Thus David's son by Avigail, called in our present chapter (v 1) Daniel ("God judges me"), because people suspected he was really the child of Avigail's first husband, Naval, is in II Samuel 3:3 called KIL-AV ("all like his father") because he looked completely like David so there should be no doubts about his paternity (Rashi). David's wife EGLA (v 6) is Michal daughter of Saul, who was dear to David like a calf (EGLA, Rashi on v 6). Vv 1-4 give the names of the wives of David and the sons they bore him in Hebron. Vv 5-9 give the names of the sons of David born in Jerusalem. Bath-shoo'a daughter of Ami-el mentioned in verse 5 is Bath-sheva, mother of King Solomon. Vv 10-14 trace all the kings of the House of David from Solomon to Josiah, who was the last saintly king of Judah one generation prior to the destruction of the First Temple. Vv 15-16 give the names of the last three kings of Judah – Yeho-yakim, Yechoniah (=Yeho-yachin) and Tzidkiahu – all sons of Josiah. [It was Tzidkiyahu son of Josiah – mentioned in verse 15 – who was the last king of Judah, not Tzidkiyahu son of Yechoniah mentioned in verse 16, for after Nebuchadnezzar exiled Yechoniah, he installed his UNCLE as king.] Vv 17ff: The miraculous story of how the royal line of King David was saved from extirpation when Yechoniah's wife was allowed to visit him in his narrow prison cell when in exile in Babylon has been told in our commentary on Ezra ch 2 ( http://www.azamra.org/Bible/Ezra%202-3.htm ). Zerubavel, mentioned here in

verse 19, was the leader of the "First Aliyah" of returnees from Babylon to Jerusalem. Our text traces Zerubavel's descendants in vv 19-24. According to tradition, ANANI (="He has answered me") mentioned in verse 24 is Melech HaMashiach who is destined to be revealed in time to come (see Targum Rav Yosef ad loc. and Rashi on our chapter v 11; see also Daniel 7:13 "and behold… with the CLOUDS – ANANEI – of heaven"). Thus DIVREY HAYAMIM encompasses the whole of the history of man from Adam (I Chron. 1:1) all the way to Mashiach (I Chron. 3:24).

Chapter 4 In chapter 2 we were given some of the main family lines of the tribe of Judah in order to trace the genealogy of King David, and chapter 3 then went on to trace his royal line until the end of days. Our present chapter (vv -23) returns to the tribe of Judah in order to complete the genealogy of this tribe and to trace in fuller detail certain lines that were mentioned only in passing in chapter 2. After this our text then goes on to trace the family lines of the tribe of Shimon (vv 24-43), who had no territory of their own but occupied territories from the portion of Judah as specified in our chapter. Vv 1-8: Names of the sons of Judah and his descendants. Vv 9-10: The greatness of Ya'abetz and his exploits. This Ya'abetz is identified by the rabbis with Othniel ben Knaz (see Targum) who is mentioned explicitly in our present chapter v 13, and whose exploits are narrated in Joshua 15:17, Judges 1:13, 3:9ff. "And Ya'abetz was more HONORED than his brothers" – "From the beginning of DIVREY HAYAMIM you find no HONOR until you reach Ya'abetz. This is because he engaged in Torah, and 'the sages will inherit honor' (Proverbs 3:35)" (Yalkut Shimoni). "Ya'abetz was a good, pure man of truth and kindness. He sat and darshened the Torah, as it says, 'And Ya'abetz called to the God of Israel saying, Surely bless me…" (Avot d'Rabbi Nathan). Darshening the Hebrew letters of his names, the Talmud says: "He was called OTHNI-EL because God ANSWERED him. He was called YA'ABETZ because he gave COUNSEL and SPREAD Torah in Israel … In his prayer, he was asking God to bless him with Torah, to expand his boundaries to encompass many students, and that God's hand should be with him so that he should not forget his studies. He prayed for companions like him and that his evil inclination should not swell his heart to the point that he would stop reviewing his studies" (Temurah 16a). Vv 11-12: Names of the men of Reichah. Vv 13-14: Sons of Knaz. Vv 15-20: Sons of Kaleb and of Yehalel-el and his descendants. While these lists of names may have little meaning for beginning students, particularly when reading them in translation and without commentary, diligent study of the Hebrew text reveals many overtones and allusions, some of which are discussed in the classical commentaries. At times what may at first seem like a dry text can be fleetingly perceived to have a unique poetry of its own and to signify something quite other than what appears on the surface. This is true in the case of verse 18, which at first appears to contain a string of seemingly unconnected family names. But according to rabbinic drash, "his wife

Yehudiyah" alludes to Batyah daughter of Pharaoh (Exodus 2:5ff) whose name is mentioned explicitly at the end of the verse, and whom Kaleb ben Yephuneh married. She is called YEHUDIYAH because she rejected idolatry. The names of the "children" whom she "bore" – YERED, AVI-GDOR, HEVER, AVI-SOCHO, YEKOUTHIEL and AVI ZANO'AH – are not the names of her children from Kaleb but all allude to Moses. She was considered to have given birth to Moses because, having drawn him from the river, she raised him as an orphan. He was called YERED because he brought down the Manna for Israel; AVI-GDOR because he healed the breaches in Israel ; HEVER because he joined Israel with their Father in heaven; SOCHO because he was like a protective Succah to them, YEKOUTHI-EL because Israel hoped in God in his time; ZANO'AH because he cleansed the sins of Israel … (see Megillah 13a). Vv 21-23: Sons of Shelah, third son of Judah (Gen. 38:5). Although Shelah was born to Judah by his first wife long before his daughter-in-law, Tamar, bore him Peretz and Zerach, the genealogies of the latter were given earlier in Chapter 2 in order to give honor to King David, who came from the line of Peretz. The rabbis interpreted the Hebrew codes in verse 22 as alluding to the prophets and scribes who issued from the line of Joshua, to the Gibeonites, who lied (CHOZEIBA) to the princes of Israel, to Machlon (=Yo'ash) and Chilyon (=Saraf), the sons of Elimelech and Naomi, who took Moabite wives, and to Boaz, who dwelled in Bethlehem engaging in the Torah of the Ancient of Days (see Targum). V 23: "These were the potters (YOTZRIM) and those who dwelt among the plantations and hedges; there they dwelt occupied with the king's work" – "These are the students of the Torah for whose sake the world was created, who sit in judgment and bring stability to the world and who rebuild the ruins of the House of Israel with the Indwelling Presence of the King through their labor in the Torah and the intercalation of the months and the fixing of the dates of the New Year and the festivals…" (Targum). Vv 24-33: Sons of Shimon and the names of their habitations. The tribe of Shimon had no real share of their own in the land of Israel, because in his blessings to his sons, Jacob had said of Shimon, "I will DIVIDE them in Jacob and I will SCATTER them in Israel (Genesis 49:7). Thus we find in Joshua 19:9 that members of the tribe of Shimon, which was relatively small in numbers, occupied some of the territories of Judah, which were extensive (see Rashi on v 27). V 31: "…these were their cities until the reign of David." Complaints by members of David's own tribe of Judah about the encroachments on their territories by members of the tribe of Shimon led him to drive the latter out from the cities in which they had been living (see Rashi ad loc.) Vv 34-38: Names of the princes of the tribe of Shimon. Vv 39-43: Under pressure to find new territories, members of the tribe of Shimon went to conquer land from the remaining Canaanites and from the Edomites and Amalekites. They dwelled there "until this day" (v 43) "because they returned to dwell there when they returned from the exile in Babylon" (Metzudas David).

Chapter 5 Vv 1-10: Lineage of the tribe of Reuven and their habitations. As mentioned a number of times, the primary purpose of DIVREY HAYAMIM was to establish the credentials of the House of David and the royal line that came from him. Accordingly, pride of place was given to the genealogy of the tribe of Judah from which David came. The tribe of Shimon was mentioned next (at the end of the previous chapter) because they initially lived in territories that were part of the tribal inheritance of Judah. The chronicler now continues with the genealogy of the tribe of Reuven, because Reuven was actually Jacob's firstborn and should thus have taken precedence over all the other tribes. Our text notes that the birthright was taken from Reuven because "he defiled his father's bed" (see Genesis 35:22f). The "double share" of the inheritance that is due to the firstborn (Deut. 21:17) was given instead to Joseph (from whom came TWO tribes, Ephraim and Menasheh), but the "birthright" itself – the kingship – was given to Judah, whose traits of character made him uniquely fit for the kingship (see Rashi on vv 1 & 2 of our present chapter). As recounted in Numbers ch 32, the tribe of Reuven took their tribal inheritance EAST of the River Jordan in territories that were taken from Sichon king of the Emorites. It is interesting to note that the war waged by the Reuvenites in the time of King Saul (verse 10 of our present chapter) was against the HAGRI'IM, who were none other than Ishmaelites (descendants of HAGAR, see Rashi ad loc.) – indicating that the Middle East conflicts of today are an ongoing recycling of a very ancient conflict (see below on vv 18ff). The area of Gil'ad that was occupied by the Reuvenites lies to the east of the River Jordan between the River Yarmoukh (which flows into the Jordan a few kilometers south of the Sea of Tiberias/Kinneret) and the River Yabok (which enters the Jordan further south at the Adam Bridge). Vv 11-17: The tribe of Gad and their place of habitation. In the time of Moses the tribe of Gad joined with that of Reuven in requesting their tribal inheritance east of the Jordan. The region of Bashan where they took their lands lies to the east of the Kinneret in the hinterlands of the Golan, north of Gilead. Vv 18-22: Wars of the tribes east of the Jordan with other nations. The tribes of Reuven, Gad and half Menashe were living on the border and had no option but to practice the martial arts (v 18). These they combined with faith and trust in God, and in the wider war they made in the later First Temple period against the Ishmaelite Hagri'im and other related nations (Yitur and Nafeesh v 19 were tribes founded by sons of Ishmael, Gen. 25:15), they turned to God for salvation, which was granted to them (v 22). Vv 23-24: The half of the tribe of Menasheh who settled east of the Jordan took their territories in the Bashan, Golan Heights and Mt Hermon. Vv 25-26: Our text laconically relates that the tribes east of the Jordan fell into idolatry and were exiled by the king of Ashur. Whereas the book of Kings deals at length with the idolatry of the Ten Tribes and the moral that must be learned from their resulting exile, the purpose of DIVREY HAYOMIM is different and accordingly the exile is mentioned only in passing.

Vv 27-41: Lineage of the High Priests. This begins a new section devoted to the tribe of Levy. It is introduced here because the previous section dealt with the pedigree of Reuven, who came next in order of precedence after Judah since he was Jacob's biological firstborn. (The tribes of Gad and half Menasheh were mentioned with Reuven only because they took their territories adjacent to those of Reuven east of the Jordan.) After Reuven and Shimon (whose genealogy was given in Chapter 4), Leah's third son was Levy, and the most prestigious of the scions of Levy were the Cohanim-Priests, who were an elite separate from the rest of the tribe of Levy since they alone were authorized to conduct the Temple sacrificial rites and they were bound by unique laws of ritual purity and marital restrictions that did not apply to the other Levites. The line of the High Priests given in this section traces the priesthood down to S'rayah (v 40) who was the father of Ezra the Scribe, the author of DIVREY HAYAMIM, as well as of Yeho-tzadok mentioned in vv 40-41. Yeho-tzadok did not serve as High Priest in the Temple but his son, Yehoshua, led the first return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem, and served there as the High Priest (see Rashi on v 41).

Chapter 6 Vv 1-6: The lineage of the sons of Gershom son of Levy. Gershom was Levy's firstborn, but the lineage of his descendants is given only after that of the priestly descendants of his younger brother Kehath (previous chapter vv 27-41) since the latter took precedence, being the ancestor of Moses, Aaron and the priestly line. Vv 7-13: Lineage of the sons of Kehath, Levy's second son. Kehath had other sons besides Amram father of Moses and Aaron. Among the most famous (or infamous) of Kehath's descendants was Korach, (son of Kehath's second son, Yitzhar) who was swallowed up alive by the earth after fomenting conflict against Moses (Numbers ch 16). Nevertheless Korach's sons were saved from the depths of hell, and his most illustrious descendant was the prophet Samuel, mentioned in our present text in v 13. Vv 14-15: Lineage of the sons of Levy's third son, Merari. Vv 16-17: It was necessary to re-organize the Levites in the time of King David because he had brought the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem, marking the end of the era when the Sanctuary had traveled from place to place prior to reaching its final resting place. As long as the Sanctuary was "portable", it was the task of the Levites to carry its component parts and vessels, but as soon as it came to rest, their role changed, and now they became the Temple singers and gate-keepers. These roles were allocated to specific families and it was not permitted to change from one role to another. Vv 18-23: The most prestigious of the Levitical roles was that of the Temple singers since music contains the deepest wisdom. The genealogy of Heyman the Temple Singer – mentioned as author of Psalm 86 – is traced back through Korach all the way to Jacob (see Rashi on Genesis 49:6). Vv 24-28: Lineage of Asaph the Gershomite, author of Psalms 50 and 73-83. Note that Asaph stands to the RIGHT (Chessed) of Heyman the Kehati, who is in the middle (Tiferet).

Vv 29-32: Lineage of the sons of Merari. They are positioned to the LEFT (Gevurah) of the Kehati singers. Vv 33-34: Functions of the Levites and the Cohanim. Besides their functions as Temple singers and gate-keepers, the Levites also skinned the sacrificial animals (see II Chron. 35:11). None of the Levites were permitted to take part in the actual burning of the sacrifices or other Temple rites that were "holy of holies", as these were restricted entirely to the Cohanim. Vv 35-38: The abbreviated line of the High Priests in these verses is traced down only to the time of King Solomon. Vv 39-45: Names of the cities of the Priests in the territories of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. First among the priestly cities was Hebron (cf Joshua 21:11). The fact that this was in the territory of Judah underlies the close bond between the royal tribe and the priesthood. The priests also received habitations in some of the cities of refuge for unwitting killers – the presence of the priests in these cities was a beneficial influence helping to rehabilitate such people. Vv 46-66: Names of the cities of the Levites among the other tribes. The cities of the Levites were scattered throughout the inheritances of the Tribes – this was how Jacob's curse of "I will scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:7) was fulfilled in the case of Levy. In addition, the presence of the Levites throughout the land was intended to ensure that teachers of Torah were at hand in all the different population centers since the Levites were given their MAASER tithes in order to be freed from the burden of earning a living so as to be able to devote themselves to the study and teaching of Torah.

Chapter 7 In the previous chapters we have been given the lineages of Judah, Shimon, Levy and Reuven (all sons of Leah) – and with Reuven, who settled east of the Jordan, we were also given the lineages of Gad and half the tribe of Menasheh, who also settled there. Altogether that is a total of six tribes. In the present chapter we are given the lineages of most of the remaining tribes of Israel: Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, the other half of Menasheh, Ephraim and Asher. It is noteworthy that the genealogy of Naphtali in our present chapter is brief in the extreme compared with those of the other tribes, while no genealogy at all is given for the tribe of Zevulun (although the territory of Zebulun was mentioned in connection with the Levitical cities in ch 6 vv 48 & 62). Nor does there seem to be any mention in our text of the tribe of Dan (although Danites and Zebulunites are both mentioned among the warriors who came to give the kingship to David in Hebron (I Chron. 12:34 & 36). Members of the tribes of Naphtali, Dan and Zebulun may have been among the early members of the Ten Tribes who went into exile. Zebulun was a tribe of merchants, who very likely traveled and may have found it easier to adapt to foreign lands. As to Naphtali and Dan, in II Chronicles 2:4 we learn that when King Asa of Judah was under attack from Ba'sha king of Israel, Asa bribed Hadad king of Aram to hit the northern territories of Israel, including Dan and some poor cities of Naphtali.

Commenting on the brevity of the genealogy of Naphtali as given in our present chapter in v 13, Rashi makes a comment that throws some more light on Ezra's methods: "The reason why no further details of the genealogy of Naphtali are given is provided at the end of Yerushalmi Megillah (cf. Sifrei on Ve-Zos Habrachah 33:27): it says that Ezra discovered three books, each of which contained various genealogies. What he found, he wrote and what he did not find he did not write – and he simply found no further details about the tribe of Naphtali. For this same reason all of the genealogies in Chronicles skip around, because he skipped from one book to the other and joined them together, and what he could not write in this book he wrote in the book of Ezra. The proof is that it says further on in our text, 'And all Israel were reckoned by genealogies and surely they are written in the book of the kings of Israel; and Judah were exiled to Babylon ' (I Chron. 9:1). This is saying, 'If you want to know the genealogy of the Ten Tribes, go to Halah and Habor, Nahar, Gozan and the cities of Medea [where they were exiled], for their Book of Chronicles went into exile with them, but as for Judah, I discovered their book in Babylon and what I found I have written." Rashi in his comment on I Chron. 8:29 mentions more about the books of genealogies that Ezra found in Babylon. They were called SEPHER ME'ONIM (the book of "residences"???), SEPHER ZATOUTI (the book of "lads", "children" or possibly "slaves" cf. Jastrow s.v. ZA'TOUTI) and SEPHER HE-ACHIM (the book of "brothers"). According to Rashi, in cases of discrepancy between them, Ezra would follow the opinion of two of the books against one. Likewise in cases where they found many genealogical scrolls, wherever there was a majority version and a minority version, he would ignore the minority and follow the majority, while if he found an even division of opinion, he wrote both genealogies – one in Chronicles and one in the book of Ezra – on account of the discrepancies between them… Vv 1-5 of our present chapter give the lineage of the descendants of Issachar and their numbers in the time of David. The tribe of Issachar were particularly prolific (see v 4), and as we will see later (ch 12 v 33) they attained great heights in the deeper wisdom of the Torah, including knowledge of the "times" (astronomy and astrology). Vv 6-12: Lineage of the descendants of Benjamin and their numbers. RaDaK (on v 6) mentions an opinion that the Benjamin mentioned here is not the son of Jacob and founder of the tribe of that name, but rather one of the members of Issaschar (because the full genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin is given in the next chapter). However RaDaK finds it more plausible that here too we are being given part of the lineage of the tribe of Benjamin. V 13: Lineage of the children of Naftali. This is brief – perhaps for the reasons discussed above. Vv 14-19: Lineage of the children of Menasheh. Vv 20-29: Lineage of the children of Ephraim and their territories. "And the sons of Ephraim… and the men of Gath who had been born in the land killed them because they came down to take their cattle" (vv 20-21). Targum on v 21 brings the story of how some of the tribe of Ephraim tried to leave Egypt and enter the Promised Land before the foreordained time, only to lose their lives: "And Zavad his son and Shoothelah his son and Ezer and Elad were leaders of the House of Ephraim and they calculated the date of the redemption from the time of God's Covenant between the Pieces with Abraham (Gen. 15:9ff), but they were mistaken because they should have counted from the day of the birth of Isaac. Thus they

went out of Egypt thirty years before the end, because the Covenant between the Pieces was thirty years before the birth of Isaac. When they went out of Egypt, 200,000 armed warriors from the tribe of Ephraim went out with them, but the men of Gath, who were born in the land of the Philistines, killed them because they came down to capture their cattle" (Targum Rav Yosef on I Chron. 7:21). The Talmud (Sanhedrin 92b) states that the dead whose bones the prophet Ezekiel brought back to life (Ezekiel ch 37) were these fallen members of the tribe of Ephraim. Indeed, Rabbi Yehuda ben Beseira declared that he himself was descended from the dead whom Ezekiel had revived and that he possessed an ancestral pair of Tefilin handed down from them. One wonders if they went to take the cattle merely to get rich or in order to use the skins for Tefilin. The reason the home-born Philistines of Gath had the advantage over them was because they were familiar with the terrain, while the Ephraimites did not know the escape routes. This teaches how well we need to learn the geography of our land. The genealogy of the other members of the tribe of Ephraim, that of Noon (v 27) goes no further than his son Joshua (ibid.) because the latter had no sons. He did, however, have daughters (he was married to Rahab, the convert from Jericho) and among his descendants were Huldah the Prophetess and Jeremiah (Megillah 14). Vv 30-40: Lineage of the children of Asher and their numbers. The Midrash mentions that because of the abundance of olive oil in the territory of Asher (cf. Deut. 33:24) their daughters were very beautiful and married kings anointed with olive oil (Rashi on v 31; Pirkey d'Rabbi Eliezer).

Chapter 8 The whole of Chapter 8 is apparently devoted to the genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin. In the words of Rashi (on ch 8 v 1): "He has already given their lineage, but because he wanted to trace the lines down to King Saul he now goes back and gives the line all the way from Benjamin. Here he calls some of them by different names… This is because Ezra found a variety of genealogical scrolls." I advisedly wrote that Chapter 8 is APPARENTLY devoted to the genealogy of Benjamin, because under the surface of the names, other things are happening as well. Verse 6 seems to be telling us of a branch of the tribe of Benjamin who were inhabitants of GEVA but who were taken into some kind of forced exile – Targum identifies MANAHAS at the end of v 6 with a town of Edom. Verse 7 then tells us who it was that took those Benjaminites into exile. Verse 8 appears to be telling us about a certain SHAHARAYIM who was one of the exiles, and who fathered a child in the field of Moab after having been released from exile. However, the Midrash on this verse identifies this SHAHARAYIM with Boaz (despite his having been from the tribe of Judah) because he had been RELEASED (SHAHRER) from sins. His fathering a child in the field of Moab alludes to his marriage with Ruth the Moabitess… "And he begat of CHODESH his wife…" This alludes to the renewal (CHADASH) in his time of the Halachah that the Torah forbids only the Moabite from entering the Assembly of HaShem but not the Moabitess (Yalkut Shimoni). Vv 1-13: Genealogy of the children of Benjamin. Vv 14-28: Names of the family heads of the tribe of Benjamin who resided in Jerusalem.

Vv 29-31: The Benjaminites who resided in Giv'on. Vv 33-40: The line of King Saul and his descendants. Since Saul's kingship and death prepared the way for King David, in whose honor DIVREY HAYAMIM was written, Saul's genealogy comes here near the conclusion of the genealogical section of the work, shortly before we launch into the story of the death of Saul and kingship of David (chs 10ff). The Talmud (Pesachim 62b) comments on the fact that in our present chapter v 38, the name of Atzel appears at the beginning and the end of the verse, which contains the names of her six children. "Between ATZEL and ATZEL there are four hundred camel loads of DRASHOS!!!"

Chapter 9 V 1: "And all Israel were reckoned by their genealogies…" As explained by the commentators, Ezra is saying: "Even though I have not set forth the genealogies of all Israel, their lineages were all investigated and are written in the book of the kings of Israel – and this book went into exile with them and is not in my hands in order to copy all of their lineages from it. But Judah went into exile to Babylon because of their sin and the book of their lineages was with them, and what I found in it I have copied, because I am located with them" (Metzudas David, cf. Rashi and RaDaK ad loc.). In verse 1 of this chapter, Ezra is summarizing and sealing the contents of the introductory genealogical chapters of DIVREY HAYOMIM (ch's 1-8). Having thus completed his overall genealogy of the tribes of Israel, Ezra takes most of the remainder of our present chapter (vv 2-38) to set forth the names of leading returnees from the exile in Babylon, including the Israelites, Priests and Levites, enumerating the duties of the latter in the Temple . This account of the population of Jerusalem on the threshold of the Second Temple era (which parallels Nehemiah ch 11) concludes the genealogical part of DIVREY HAYOMIM, the whole of the rest of which is devoted to a detailed narrative of the history of the House of David from the time of the death of King Saul until the destruction of the First Temple. Vv 2-9: Details of the members of the tribe of Judah and other tribes who returned from the Babylonian exile. The returning exiles who came to Judea with Zerubavel in the first wave of "aliyah" prior to the arrival of Ezra and his group settled mostly in their ancestral lands in the cities of Judea rather than in Jerusalem. In addition to members of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the returnees also included members of the tribes of Ephraim and Menasheh, as specified in verse 2 of our text. Metzudas David (on v 2) states that even though members of the Ten Tribes were exiled to Ashur, many had remained in their land and went into exile in Babylon with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and returned with them. Vv 10-16: Genealogies of the Cohanim and Levites. The text emphasizes the strength and devotion which the priests put into their work in the Temple (v 13). Vv 17-21: Names of the Temple gate-keepers. V 18: "…And until now they were in the Gate of the King to the east: they are the gatekeepers for the camp of the children of Levy" – "Just as David and Samuel had instituted the gate-keepers, so it remained throughout all the days that the First

Temple stood, and so it was until now in the Second Temple" (Metzudas David, cf. RaDaK ad loc.) Ezra is emphasizing the continuity between the service in the First Temple and that in the Second Temple. This would appear to contradict the view of those who theorize that Ezra made radical changes in the Temple, its music and services. V 20: "And Pinchas son of Elazar was the ruler over them; in time past HaShem was with him." Taken at face value this verse could be construed as referring to the governor of the Temple Levites in the time of the return (see RaDaK ad loc.). However, the Midrashic explanation (taking off from AVOSEIHEM in v 19, alluding to the ANCESTORS of the functionaries in the Second Temple) is that it refers to Pinchas son of Elazar, the hero of Numbers 25:7ff, who later took over from his father as superintendent over the functioning of the Levites in the Sanctuary. According to tradition, God was with Pinchas initially because he protested against Zimri's flagrant immorality, but the Divine Presence later left him because he did not go to Jephthah to release him from his vow (Koheles Rabbah 10:17). Vv 22-34: Numbers of the gate-keepers and their roles. It appears from our text that certain Levitical families traditionally provided the guards at specific gates and entrances to the Temple, and that while the captains resided in Jerusalem near the Temple precincts, other members of these families resided in their ancestral Levitical towns and villages, coming up to serve in the Temple at specified times during the year. V 22: "…these are they that David and Samuel the Seer instituted in their enduring order." The Talmud states that Moses originally instituted a rota of eight watches of priests and Levites, who took turns in serving in the Temple for a week at a time. Owing to the natural increase in the numbers of priests and Levites over the generations, David and Samuel found it necessary to reorganize these watches, which now became twenty-four in number (Ta'anis 27a). Vv 27ff: The duties of the Levites in the Temple included taking out and returning the Temple vessels for use in the sacrifices and supervising the provision of managing the necessary supplies of grain, wine, oil and incense ingredients. The actual blending of the incense spices was reserved by the priests to themselves (v 30) because only one family of priests knew the carefully-guarded secret of the MA'ALEH ASHAN – that minute quantity of a certain ingredient that caused the smoke from the incense to rise in a single column directly upwards. Other duties of the Levites included the baking of the pancake offerings brought daily by the High Priest and of the weekly Show Bread (vv 31-2). V 33: "And these are the singers…. they were EXEMPT FROM OTHER DUTIES for they were employed in that work DAY AND NIGHT" – Because of the depth and profundity of the Temple music, it was necessary to devote themselves to its study DAY AND NIGHT!!! This just goes to prove the supreme importance of soul music!!! Vv 35-38: Names of the Benjaminite inhabitants of Giv'on. This entire section together with that which follows on the genealogy of King Saul (vv 39-44) appeared at the end of the previous chapter (I Chron. 8:29-32 & 33-40), which was devoted to the genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin culminating in the lineage of Saul. Metzudas David (on v 35) explains that the section on the Benjamite inhabitants of Giv'on was introduced into the previous chapter after the account of the Benjaminites who lived in Jerusalem (at the beginning of the Second Temple period). The chronicler then digressed from the beginning of our present chapter until now, enumerating the priests, Levites and other inhabitants of Jerusalem at that time. But now, since he is coming to tell of the kingship of David, which came

after the death of Saul, he goes back again to set forth the lineage of King Saul (vv 39-44). The commentators explain that Saul's son ESH-BA'AL (v 39) is ISH-BOSHES (II Samuel 2:8) etc.) while Jonathan's son MEREEV BA'AL (v 40) is MEPHIBOSHES (II Samuel 4:4 etc.). Because BA'AL was the name of an idol, it was referred to as BOSHES, "shame", while Saul and his family strove (MEREEV) against such idolatry (cf. Gideon-Yeru-baal Judges 7:1).

Chapter 10 The sad story of the death of King Saul and his sons and their burial by the men of Yaveish Gil'ad is told in I Samuel ch 31. It is retold here since it is the prelude to the story of the kingship of David, who despite having been anointed by the prophet Samuel much earlier, only actually became king with the death of Saul. The reason why the men of Yaveish Gil'ad specifically took upon themselves the dangerous task of burying Saul and his sons just after the Philistine victory, which threw Israel into turmoil, was because early in his career, King Saul had come to their rescue from the cruel ultimatum issued against them by Nachash king of Ammon (I Samuel ch 11). Vv 13f: "So Saul died for his transgression… and He killed him and turned over the kingship to David son of Yishai". The chronicler is intent on telling his story and on concisely but surely making the moral import of the story very clear.

Chapter 11 "And all Israel gathered themselves to Israel to David…" (v 1). With the setting of the star of King Saul, the star of David now shone forth in all its radiance. The present chapter and the next tell of his following of mighty warriors and how all Israel came together in unity and submitted themselves to his leadership. The people said to him, "…You shall be shepherd over God's people" (v 2). But according to the Midrash, David replied: "How can I be shepherd? It doesn't depend upon me, for 'God is my shepherd…' (Psalm 23:1) and only then '…I shall not want' (ibid.) i.e. I shall not be wanting in what you need!" (see Rashi on v 2). V 3: "And David struck a covenant with them in Hebron before HaShem": as explained by Rashi (ad loc.), this was a three-way covenant in which the people undertook to be God's servants and also to be servants of the king in accordance with the law of the kingship, while King David undertook to treat his servants in accordance with the law and to fight their wars (see Rashi on v 3). David was not an overbearing autocrat: his monarchy was CONSTITUTIONAL! V 4ff: "And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem …" The purpose of this passage is not so much to relate the story of the conquest of Jerusalem from the Jebusites as to highlight the role of Yo'av ben Tzeruyah, who thereby became David's commander-in-chief. This introduces the account of all the other mighty warriors of David in vv 10-47. The inner essence of David, archetype of the messianic king and redeemer, is deeply hidden, but we can learn more about it through knowing about his followers. In the words of Rabbi Nachman, "It is impossible to understand the Tzaddik himself since his intrinsic essence is beyond our grasp. Only through the followers of the Tzaddik is it possible to understand the Tzaddik's greatness… This is similar to a

seal. The writing on the seal is unreadable because the letters are back to front. Only when one takes the seal and stamps it on wax can one understand the letters and designs inscribed on the seal, and one then sees what is written on the seal. Similarly, through the Tzaddik's followers one can come to understand something of the Tzaddik himself" (Likutey Moharan I, 140). "And these are the chiefs of the mighty men…" (v 10). The account of David's leading captains and warriors in the remainder of the present chapter parallels the account in II Samuel 23:8-39 with certain variations in the names and details. According to the surface meaning of our text, after Yo'av, his commander-in-chief, David had an inner "panel" of three chiefs (vv 11-14): these were (1) YASHAV-AM BEN HACHMONI (v 11); (2) EL'AZAR BEN DODO (v 12) and (3) SHAMAH BEN AGEI who is not mentioned here in Chronicles but is mentioned in the parallel account in II Samuel 23:11. These three chiefs were considered the most outstanding warriors of all. After them came another three captains, whose names are not given at all in our texts but who distinguished themselves in the self-sacrifice which they displayed in bringing David water from Philistine-dominated Bethlehem (vv 15-19). After them, certain others are mentioned who came very close to their level yet were still not considered as members of "the three": these were Avishai brother of Yo'av (I Chron. 11 vv 20-21) and Benayah ben Yehoyada (vv 22-25). The account then continues with the names of David's other mighty warriors (vv 26-47). The fact that David's chief warriors were arranged in trios indicates that they represented a perfect balance of the three Sefirotic columns of Chessed-Kindness, Gevurah-Might and Tiferet-Harmony (cf. Likutey Moharan I, 60:4). This entire chapter and the next – which speak of the unified support that the messianic king had from all Israel – deal with OLAM HATIKKUN, the World of Repair. The passages in our text that deal with David's most outstanding warriors are highly allusive spawning many midrashim. Thus Targum on v 11, which ostensibly speaks about "YASHAV-AM", renders the verse as follows: "And these are the numbers of the mighty warriors that were with the mighty David, head of the camp sitting upon the throne of law with all the prophets and sages surrounding him, anointed with the holy anointing oil. When he would go out to battle he was helped from above, and when he sat to teach Torah the halachah came out according to his opinion. Choice, distinguished, beautiful in appearance and noble in bearing, he was proficient in wisdom and understanding in giving counsel, mighty in strength, the head of the assembly, sweet in voice and multiplying songs, and a leader over all the mighty warriors. He was bedecked in armor and took his spear, on which was hung the sign of the ranks of the camp of Judah, and he went out in accordance with the voice of the holy spirit and conquered in battle, carrying three hundred dead on his spear at one time." The exploits of EL'AZAR BEN DODO (vv 12-14) and "the three" (vv 15-19) were courageous acts of defiance against the Philistines, who were flushed with their victory over Saul and were making life miserable for the Israelites. According to Rashi (on v 13) the Philistines were intending to burn the Israelites' barley, while in v 16 we learn that they had their own garrison in Bethlehem and were evidently putting severe restrictions on the free movement of the Judean population. The fact that Israel was under the shadow of the Philistines at the beginning of the messianic era marked by King David's reign may be of comfort to us today since the shadow cast over our lives by those who continue to bear their name surely signifies that we too are on the very threshold of Mashiach.

Rashi explains that David's sudden craving to taste the waters of Bethlehem (v 17) was very natural since he had grown up in the place and "the water and air that a person is used to are good for him, while if he is not used to them, they can be harmful". [David craved a taste of the vitalizing waters of Torah he knew from his youth.] The reason why David did not want to drink the water when they brought it to him was that they had risked their very lives to fetch it and he looked on the water as if it was their blood (Metzudas David). Instead he poured it out on the Altar as a libation. (Rashi on v 18 brings the view in Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 2:5 that it was the festival of Succoth, when a libation of water is daily poured on the Altar.) In this way David put himself and his personal desires aside, elevating the heroic instincts of his warriors as an offering to God. The description of the exploits of Benayah ben Yehoyada is also highly allusive. Targum (on v 22) states inter alia that one time he accidentally stepped on a dead lizard, thereby becoming ritually defiled, and despite the fact that it was the coldest snowy day, he broke the ice and immersed in the mikveh and proceeded to recite the entire halachic Midrash Sifra D'vey Rav on Leviticus in the course of one short winter's day in the middle of Teves. Such were David's warriors!

Chapter 12 Vv 1-2: "Now these are those who came to David in Tziklag… They were armed in bows and could use both the right hand and the left in slinging stones and shooting arrows from the bow…" (vv 1-2). Once again we see how David's warriors were proficient in both hands – the right hand of Chessed-Kindness and the left hand of Gevurah-Might. V 2: "…from among the brothers of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin" – "Even King Saul's own brothers came to David during the lifetime of Saul" (Rashi). David's Benjaminite warriors had the faces of lions and the speed of mountain roes (v 9). Vv 15ff: After the Benjaminites who came to David, the first of the other tribes mentioned as having come to support him are the mighty warriors of the Gad, who lived in the territories east of the River Jordan. Verse 16 suggests that they were so powerful that as they entered the river to wade across to make their way to Hebron, the very waters – swelled from the spring-time melted snow – fled. The commentators explain that it was the surrounding nations who fled. Vv 17ff: For many of the Benjaminites, David was the rival of their fallen hero Saul. David's noble gesture of reconciliation (v 18) elicited the immortal, divinely-inspired words of Amasai, which are included in the collected Biblical verses of blessings recited on the departure of Shabbos and at other junctures: "Yours are we, David, and on your side, son of Yishai: peace, peace be to you and peace be to your helpers, for your God helps you."

Chapter 13 At the conclusion of the previous chapter, we learned that with the acceptance of David as king by all the Twelve Tribes, "there was JOY in Israel" (I Chron 12:41). The new king lost no time in taking advantage of the favorable national climate in order to try to bring the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem from the house of Avinadav in Kiryat Ye'arim, where it had remained since its return by the Philistines

following the disasters that struck them after they captured it from the Sanctuary in Shilo in the days of Eli (I Samuel 4:11-7:1). The taking of the Ark to Jerusalem to dwell in its eternal resting place – the Holy Temple on Mt Moriah – would be the fulfillment of Jacob's dream as he had slept on that very spot. "…and behold a LADDER (SOOLAM) was established on the earth" (Genesis 28:12). The SOOLAM alludes to SINAI (the Hebrew letters of the two words have the same Gematria). The Sinaitic Covenant would only be complete when the Torah that Israel received in the wilderness would be brought up to God's House in Jerusalem (symbolizing the "home" of the Shechinah in the heart of each one of us) – from there to shine out to all the world, "For the Torah shall go forth from Zion and the word of HaShem from Jerusalem " (Isaiah 2:3). King David showed great humility: "And David CONSULTED with the captains…" (v 3). He asked the people what they thought. He wanted them to be wholeheartedly with him. "And David said to all the assembly of Israel … let us BREAK THROUGH and send to our remaining brothers…" (v 2). David fully knew that he wanted to accomplish nothing less than a BREAKTHROUGH – to reach out to those who were still outside the circle of Mashiach and to involve them too in the holy project of bringing the Ark , symbol of the Torah, to its eternal home. David turned this into a national event that was to be no less significant in its way than Moses' inauguration of the original Sanctuary in the Wilderness. Our commentary on the parallel narrative of this event in I Samuel ch 6 discussed how David could have erred in having the Ark transported on a wagon when even little schoolchildren know that it was supposed to be carried on poles resting on the shoulders of the Levites (Numbers 7:9). Rashi (on verse 7 of our present text) states that David was impressed by the fact that when the Philistines returned the Ark from its captivity, they had put it on a new wagon (I Sam. 6:11). When the oxen drawing the wagon caused the Ark to shift, making it seem as if the Ark was in danger of falling, Uzza's stretching out his hand to steady it was considered a deep affront to the holiness of the Ark – as if, despite the miracles with which it had returned safely from the Philistines, the Ark could somehow not take care of itself. The tragic death of Uzza (who was not a Levite, RaDaK on v 10) turned this national event into a day of mourning, just as the consecration of Moses' Sanctuary in the wilderness had been marred by the deaths of Aaron's two sons, Nadav and Avihu, who likewise showed disrespect for the holiness of the Sanctuary (Leviticus 10:1ff). The revelation of the strict hand of God's Judgment brought David to a state of deep awe and fear (v 12): he repented of his error, and when he finally brought up the Ark from the house of Oveid Edom (who WAS a Levite, see Rashi on v 13) to Jerusalem , as described in I Chron. Ch 15, David publicly confessed that he had been wrong in allowing the Ark to be transported on a wagon rather than on the shoulders of the Levites (see ch 15 v 13).

Chapter 14 "And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David… and David KNEW that HaShem had prepared him to be king over Israel …" (vv 1-2). Rashi (on v 1) notes that an ancestral love bound Hiram to the tribe of Judah – we find in Genesis that Judah had a friend called Hirah who came to his aid (Genesis 38 vv 1 and 20). It was when David saw how the kings of the nations were sending him gifts that he KNEW that God had prepared him to be His messianic king (see Rashi on I Chron. 14:2).

As noted in an earlier commentary, when David became king, it was the Philistines who were the major challenge to the people of Israel just as those who have chosen to bear their name in modern times remain the most immediate challenge to Israel today. Rashi (on verse 8) explains why the Philistines were so angry at the news that David had been anointed king over all Israel and went up precisely then to try to catch him. "The Philistines had been dominant for the whole time until the arrival of Saul and David (cf. Judges 15:11, 'and they said to Samson, Don't you know that the Philistines rule over us?'). The Philistines themselves had said, 'Be strong, and be men, O Philistines, lest you serve the Hebrews as they serve you' (I Sam. 4:9)…. During the seven years when David ruled only in Hebron, the Philistines did not say a word and they were not concerned over the fact that David was ruling over Hebron because they thought that he had been appointed as nothing but a mere local official. But when he was anointed as king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David because they did not want there to be a king over Israel but that they should continue ruling over them." In other words, they feared a Messianic king over Israel, which would spell the end of their own rule over them. It was the deepest affront to their national pride to have to serve the Hebrews. Before making any move of major significance, David "asked God" what he should do (v 10), i.e. he consulted the Urim ve-Thumim – these were the lights that appeared on the jewels of the breastplate of the High Priest, which were engraved with the names of the Tribes of Israel and whose flashing letters spelled out the answer to a question of national importance put by the king. The striking defeat of the Philistines at Baal Peratzim where God "broke through" David's enemies (v 11ff) was a consolation after the breach with which He "broke through" against Uzza when he put his hand out to steady the Ark (previous chapter v 11). However the Philistines soon regrouped and were ready for another battle. When David again consulted the Urim ve-Thumim the answer came that this time he was not to confront his enemies but to turn aside, and he was not to engage them in battle until he heard "a sound of marching on the tops of the mulberry trees" (vv 14-15). (This would be the "sound" of the angels, who would be fighting the "real" battle on the spiritual plane.) In the words of Rashi (on v 14): "The attribute of Judgment spoke before God: Why did You remove Saul in favor of David? He answered, Because he did not wait for Samuel seven days as the prophet had instructed him (I Sam.13:8-14). The Holy One blessed be He then said to the attribute of Judgment, I will now test David and instruct him to turn aside from the Philistines…" "And David did according to how God had commanded him…" (v 16). Unlike Saul, David followed God's commands to the letter – and was blessed with success. With the decisive rout of the Philistines, all the surrounding nations were filled with fear of David, who was thereby in a position to prepare to achieve his greatest goal, the building of the Temple.

Chapter 15 The Ark of the Covenant was not intended to rest in the innermost sanctum of the Temple as a mere ornament. The presence of the Tablets of Stone with the Ten Commandments and Moses' Torah scroll in the Ark on the holiest spot in the Temple came to demonstrate that the ultimate purpose of all of its services was to bind Israel to God's Torah and to the keeping of His commandments.

Before the Temple could be built, it was first necessary to bring the Ark up to Jerusalem. Having prepared a tent where the Ark would rest until the completion of the Temple (v 1), David ordered the Levites to carry the Ark up to Jerusalem in the presence of all Israel. This was an act of supreme holy boldness on the part of David since he had been deeply burned by the death of Uzza when he put forth his hand to steady the Ark the first time David tried to bring it to Jerusalem on a wagon (I Chron 13:10-11). A lesser figure would have been deterred from "tempting fate" again, but David was on the level where he could publicly admit that the mistake had been his in having the Ark transported on a wagon instead of on poles carried on the shoulders of the Levites as ordained by the Torah. David's confession of his error is contained in our present chapter in verse 13. We can understand more of the nature of the true king of Israel when we consider the narrative in this chapter and the next telling how David himself directed the arrangements for bringing the Ark to Jerusalem and personally organized and led the priests and the Levites in the triumphant procession. For the essential goal of the Messianic kingship is to establish the Temple, with the Ark of the Covenant at its center, as the primary focus of Israel's connection with God (see Rambam, Laws of Kings 11:4). As the Levites carried the Ark up to Jerusalem on poles on their shoulders in the prescribed manner, David organized the Levite singers into a choir and orchestra to accompany it on its way (verses 16ff). David's organization of the Levite singers on this occasion became the prototype for the organization of the Temple choir and orchestra, and important clues about the Temple music are contained in our present chapter and the next. The conceptual link between the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple music lies in the fact that through Israel's observance of the Covenant, the outer KELIPAH-husk (ORLAH, the "foreskin") is peeled away from the world to reveal that behind every detail of creation, including even the seemingly implacable laws of nature, lies the detailed providence (HASHGACHAH PRATIS) of God. When this is revealed, all the separate details are seen to interconnect like the notes and words of a song, which links together separate details and makes them into a single whole. (The Hebrew word for a LINK in a chain is SHER, connected with the word SHIR, "song".) Thus the song that was sung when David brought the Ark to Jerusalem – in the next chapter vv 8-36 – is the song of God's providence, alluding to His miracles in bringing the Ark out of its captivity in the hands of the Philistines (see commentary on next chapter). We can but yearn to hear what the Temple music actually sounded like. We know little about the actual nature of the various musical instruments that are mentioned in the present chapter. These include the NEVEL and KINOR (v 16), two kinds of string instruments differing mainly in the number of strings they had. Although KINOR in Modern Hebrew usually refers to a violin, it is not clear if the Temple KINOR was played with a bow or plucked. The METZILTHAYIM mentioned in our text (ibid.) was a pair of very loud brass cymbals which were used by the leading singers to direct the music (see v 19). The ALAMOTH mentioned in verse 20 was a particular kind of instrument that was specifically used for those Psalms that are prefixed LA-MNATZEACH AL ALAMOTH (Psalms 46:1; see Rashi on v 20. ALAMOTH also has deeper allusions to the hidden mysteries of God's providence, see Targum on Psalms 46:1). Similarly the SHEMINIS mentioned in verse 21 was a particular kind of eight-stringed instrument used in singing those Psalms prefixed AL HA-SHEMINIS (Psalms 6:1, 12:1; Rashi on v 21). An eight-stringed instrument can produce a considerably wider range of

octaves and chords than the contemporary six-stringed guitar! The concept of EIGHT (SHEMINI) is also bound up with that of the Covenant, which joins Malchus (this world) with Binah (the world to come): Binah is the eighth Sefirah up from Malchus, just as the top note of a scale is one octave above the bottom note. In verse 21, the SHEMINIS is described as being LE-NATZEYACH, "to overcome". Rashi (on Psalms 4:1) explains that Psalms prefixed with LA-M'NATZEYACH "were instituted by David to be chanted by the Levites who ASSERTIVELY sing the melodies of their songs from the Duchan ('platform'). The root NITZU'ACH applies to the strength and assertiveness one puts into one's work". V 22: "And Khenanyahu, chief of the Levites, was over the song: he was master in the song, because he was UNDERSTANDING." The Hebrew word that is here rendered as "he was master" is YASSOR, which literally means "he chastised". "He would chastise and rebuke them over the way they were carrying the melody to bring out the beauty of the song whether through raising their voices or lowering them" (Rashi ad loc.) In other words, he was the CONDUCTOR of the Temple choir and orchestra, and for this he had to possess understanding, BINAH, for BINAH takes things piece by piece and puts them all together. V 24: "…the priests blowing on the trumpets…" The trumpets had a special place in the Temple services and it was the Torah-given right of the priests to sound them (Numbers 10:8). V 27: "And David was clothed in a robe of fine linen and all the Levites…. And David had on him an ephod of linen." David was singing just as were the Levites and accordingly he wore the same ceremonial garments that they wore (see Rashi on v 27). V 29: The description of King David's whirling dancing and Michal's contemptuous view of it as contained in our chapter is considerably less detailed than in the parallel account in II Samuel chapter 6. Rashi (on verse 29 in our present chapter) explains that since DIVREY HAYAMIM was written in honor of King David, Michal's words to David were not written here since they were disparaging to him.

Chapter 16 After the Ark had been successfully brought up to Jerusalem, David concluded the national celebration by distributing a loaf of bread, a good piece of meat (ESHPAR) and a cake (ASHISHAH) to every man and woman. The ESHPAR was "one sixth of an ox" (Pesachim 36b; Rashi on our chapter, v 3) while the ASHISHAH was "one sixth of a HIN-measure" (Rashi ibid.) Perhaps this alludes to the fact that the Sefirah of YESOD (=BRIS, the Covenant) is "one sixth" – i.e. the sixth and last of the "Six Directions" (SHESH KETZAVOS, Chessed-Gevurah-Tiferet-Netzach-HodYesod) and contains the concentrated power of all six. The Ark was in Jerusalem, but the Temple was not yet built and the daily sacrificial rites were still being conducted by the priests at the great Altar (BAMAH) in Giv'on, as we find in v 39 of our present chapter. (After the sacking of Shilo, the Sanctuary had moved to the city of Nov, but when Saul killed the priests of Nov for supporting David, it moved to Giv'on, where Solomon continued to sacrifice until he built the Temple in Jerusalem.) For the duration of the time until the Temple would be built, David instituted two separate orders. One consisted mainly of Levites, who were to minister before the

Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem "to invoke and to thank and praise HaShem the God of Israel" (v 4) together with two priests to sound the trumpets there. This order is described in vv 4-7 and 37-38 of our present chapter, while the song of the Levites before the Ark is given in vv 8-36. There was no need for many Cohenpriests before the Ark in Jerusalem since their primary function was to conduct the sacrificial rites. In the absence of the Temple, the place for these was not before the Ark but at the Sanctuary in Giv'on. Accordingly, the second order which David now instituted was that of Cohen-priests to offer all the daily and other Torahordained sacrifices in Giv'on together with some Levites to sing there during the sacrificial services (vv 39-42). V 4: "…to invoke and to thank and praise HaShem". These are different aspects of prayer and song. Rashi explains that the Levites were "to invoke" the name of HaShem by reciting the Psalms that are prefixed "A song of David LE-HAZKEER, to make mention" – i.e. Psalm 38, which is one of deep introspection in face of God's chastisement. "To thank" means to recite "Give thanks to HaShem, call upon His Name" (Psalm 105:1) while "to praise" (LE-HALLEL) means to recite those Psalms that begin with Halleluiah (see Rashi on v 4). The text of David's song celebrating the bringing of the Ark to Jerusalem (vv 8-36) is familiar to all regular Daveners since it is recited daily at the start of the P'SUKEY D'ZIMRAH ("verses of song") that constitute the second of the four rungs of the morning service. This follows the first rung, the recital of the 18 Morning Blessings, and is in turn followed by the third rung, Shema with its blessings and the fourth rung, the silent Amidah prayer. David's song, HODOO LA'SHEM, KIR'OO BI-SHMO… is recited either BEFORE the blessing BARUCH SHE-AMAR introducing P'sukey D'Zimrah (Nusach Sefard) or immediately afterwards (Nusach Ashkenaz). Either way, David's song of HODOO facilitates the transition from the world of the Morning Blessings (ASIYAH) to the world of Song (YETZIRAH). The transition from one level to another is always accomplished primarily through the yearning of MALCHUS (the davener) to reach out to and join with YESOD (the source of the higher spiritual influence). [CHOCHMAH-BINAH-DAAS, the highest Sefirot of the lower level, which is MALCHUS in relation to the level above it, seek to "clothe" the lowest Sefirot of the upper level, NETZACH-HOD-YESOD.] Since David's song of HODOO alludes to the miracles through which God returned the Ark of the Covenant (YESOD) from captivity, it is the vehicle through which MALCHUS (David) connects with YESOD (the Ark ). V 7: "On that day David put it into the hand of Asaph to be the head in giving thanks to HaShem, and his brothers." Rashi explains that David hereby instituted the Temple custom that the leader of the singers would begin the chant and then all his brother Levites would answer after him. V 8: "Call on His Name" – "Call out HaShem! Let HaShem help His Ark" (Rashi). "Make known His deeds among the nations" – "these are the acts of might and miracles that He performed for the Ark " (ibid.) Rashi is alluding to the way that God sent the plague of mice and other troubles to the Philistines after they captured the Ark, and to the miraculous way in which they sent it back on a wagon drawn by nursing cows (I Samuel ch's 5-6). These miracles show how God carries out His inscrutable purposes with or against the consent of men. The Ark protects itself! V 11: "Search out (DEERSHOO) HaShem and His strength! Seek out His face constantly" His "strength" (OOZO) is the Torah. We seek out His face by constantly studying and darshening His Torah, thereby enhancing the prayers with which we entreat His inner presence.

V 18: "Saying, To you (singular) will I give the Land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance." God promised the land of Israel to each of the patriarchs individually, despite the fact that at the time they were mere nomads and sojourners and the future residence of their descendants there may have then seemed entirely improbable (see Rashi ad loc.). The history of the people of Israel illustrates the survival of a tiny nation against all the odds, through God's providence alone (vv 19-22). Verses 8-22 of David's song celebrating the coming of the Ark to Jerusalem are parallel to Psalm 105 vv 1-15. This was sung during the morning Temple service. The ensuing passage in David's song, vv 23-33, which is parallel to Psalm 96 vv 112, was sung in the afternoon Temple service (see Rashi on v 35). In this second section, David moves from telling of God's PAST miracles on behalf of Israel to telling of His FUTURE redemption and the ingathering of the exiles (see Rashi and RaDaK on Psalms 96:1), which are also miraculous wonders bespeaking His loving providence. The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 54:4) states that these were the two songs that the cows sang as they drew the wagon with the Ark of the Covenant up from the Philistines to Beit Shemesh (I Samuel 6:12).

Chapter 17 Verse 1: "And David said to Nathan the prophet, Here I sit in a house of cedars but the Ark of the Covenant of HaShem is under curtains!" As a true lover of HaShem, David was distressed when he compared the opulence of his own royal residence with the makeshift, temporary nature of the tent which he had erected to house the Ark in Jerusalem. David knew that man's task is to give all the glory to God, not to take it for himself. One of the most important keys to understanding the messianic quality of David's kingship is to note that the initiative to build the Temple was essentially his own: he was not directly commanded to build it. This is brought out in Rashi's comment on verse 6 of our present chapter on God's words to David: "Did I speak a word to any of the judges of Israel …?" Rashi paraphrases: "This I never did, and nor did the thought of building Me a House occur to any one of them in the way that this thought has arisen in your mind." It was not just now that the thought entered David's mind. When he first fled from King Saul and went to take counsel with his mentor the prophet Samuel, "they sat BE-NOYOS" (I Samuel 19:18). Taken literally this appears to refer to the location where they sat, but our sages taught that they were actually sitting engaged in the BEAUTY (NOY) of the world – i.e. investigating the proper place to build (BANAH) the Temple (Zevachim 54b; see KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on I Samuel ch 19). What gave David to understand that the time had now come to carry out his longcherished plan was the fact that now "HaShem had given him rest round about from all his enemies" (II Samuel 7:1). As Rashi explains on verse 1 of our present text, David reasoned: "God has fulfilled what He promised in the Torah, 'and He will give you rest from all your enemies around' (Deut. 12:10). Now the obligation rests on me to carry out what is written immediately afterwards, 'And it shall be that the PLACE where HaShem your God will choose to cause His Name to dwell, there shall you bring all [the sacrifices] that I am commanding you' (ibid. v 11). That is to say, I shall make Him a Sanctuary" (Rashi on I Chron. 17:1).

Despite David's longing to build the Temple, he was not destined to do so because he was a man of war, whereas the Temple was to rise out of perfect peace and tranquility "for if you raise your sword upon it you will profane it" (Exodus 20:22). The actual Temple would only be built by Solomon, SHLOMO, the man of peace. God quickly sent Nathan prophecy that very night to stop David from carrying out his plan. In the words of Rashi, "This man that I am sending you to is wont to take vows – go and stop him before he swears to build it… The man I am sending you to is quick and energetic – go and tell him before he hires builders" (Rashi on v 3). V 9: "And I will ordain a PLACE for my people Israel …. And they shall be moved no more, nor shall the children of wickedness waste them any more…" From this verse the sages learned that "The enemies of everyone who has a fixed place to pray will fall before him" (Berachos 7b). "And HaShem tells you that He will make for you a house" (v 10) – "You [David] thought that you would build a House to My Name. According to that exact same measure shall be your reward. The Holy One blessed be He is announcing to you that He will make You a house. HaShem will give you a son who will rule after you and sit upon the throne of Israel in your place. Everything that endures in a man's son after him is called a HOUSE, and thus He says, 'And I shall establish your seed after you' (v 11)" (Rashi on verse 10). V 13: "I shall be to him as a father and he will be to Me as a son." The parallel account in II Samuel 7:14 warns that if Solomon would sin, God would chastise him, but this is left out of the account here in DIVREY HAYOMIM as this work omits anything that would detract from the honor of the House of David (Rashi on our present chapter v 13). V 16: "And King David came and SAT before HaShem." David came to pray before the Ark of the Covenant. From the fact that he SAT, we learn that only the kings of the House of David are permitted to sit in the Temple Courtyard (AZARAH) and noone else (Yoma 69b). All acts of service in the Temple (sacrifices, singing etc.) are carried out standing. The eloquence of David's humble prayer of gratitude to God for promising him an eternal house vv 16-27 is unsurpassed. In the words of Rashi (on v 25): "If You Yourself had not promised me to bring all these benefits on my seed, it would not have occurred to me to request them, for who am I that you have brought me as far as this, to become king, but since you have said that for Your sake you will bring all these benefits to me, I therefore pray to you to fulfill Your words."

Chapter 18 "After David said he would build the Temple and God said 'You shall not build it', David said, Since it is not for me to build the Temple but for my son, I shall now prepare and order everything for him so that when my son comes to build the Temple, he will have everything ready for him. The narrative now leaves everything else aside in order to go on to tell how David prepared all the building needs for Solomon through fighting with his enemies and dedicating their booty to the building of the Temple" (Rashi on verse 1). V 4: "…and David lamed all the chariot horses". David did this because he did not want to infringe the Torah prohibition against the king multiplying horses for himself (Deut. 17:16).

V 13: "And he put garrisons in Edom." The subjugation of Edom to Israel represents the triumph of the World of TIKKUN (Repair) over the World of TOHU (chaos) because the Seven Kings of Edom (Genesis 36:31-39) are emblematic of the seven lower Sefirot in a state of breakage and destruction. The stationing of Israelite garrisons in Edom indicates the repair of the broken vessels in preparation for the building of the Temple. V 14: "And David ruled over all Israel and he practiced justice and charity to all his people." This indicates that David now withdrew from active engagement in warfare, devoting himself instead to judging the people fairly and charitably. The text goes on to tell us that Yo'av was commander-in-chief of the army, in order to make it clear that although David himself no longer fought, this does not mean that Israel ceased fighting (Rashi on vv 14 & 15).

Chapter 19 When Nachash (="serpent") king of Ammon died, King David felt under an obligation to send emissaries to comfort his son Chanoon (="gracious"!!!) in his mourning "for his father performed a kindness towards me" (v 2). This kindness had been performed when David took his father and mother and brothers out of Israel to his great grandmother Ruth's native country of Moab in order to escape Saul's persecution (I Samuel 22:3). The king of Moab killed the entire family except for David's brother Elihoo, who is the only one mentioned thereafter (I Chron. 27:18) and who escaped by fleeing to Ammon where he was received by Nachash. Suspecting that David's emissaries had come to spy on Ammon and foment revolution, the gracious Chanoon shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, exposing their private parts – just about the most demeaning and humiliating thing it was possible to do to anyone. Realizing the dangers to which this provocation exposed him, Chanoon proceeded to hire Aramean mercenary chariots and riders. The Arameans were a people spread across a huge swathe of the Fertile Crescent stretching from Aram Nahariyim (between the Tigris and Euphrates) all the way across to Damascus and the Golan Heights. Our text refers to three major Aramean centers – Aram Naharayim, Aram Maachah and Aram Tzovah (v 6) all of which were offspring of the Aramean mother people (see Rashi on v 6). The Arameans had set their evil eye against Jacob and his offspring from the times of Laban and Bilaam. The town of Meid'va where the Aramean mercenaries encamped was about 50 km south west of present-day Amman, Jordan , which, as its name suggests, was the main Ammonite center. Thus in campaigning against Ammon, David's commanderin-chief Yo'av had one enemy army ahead of him and another formidable enemy army to his rear (v 10). This was why he took a selected elite army under his command to fight the Arameans, sending his brother Avishai against Ammon. [Rashi on v 11 notes that unlike in the book of Samuel, Yo'av's brother is throughout Chronicles called AV'SHAI, because if he were called by his full name of AV-YISHAI (=father-Jesse) this would have detracted from the honor of King David, whose was Yishai's son, whereas AV'SHAI, son of David's sister Tzeruyah, was merely his grandson.] The Arameans fled and the Ammonites returned to their city, but the Arameans now called in reinforcements from their kinsmen east of the Euphrates. In II Samuel 10:16 their commander-in-chief was called SHOVACH "because he was as tall as a SHOVACH" (=a dovecote, positioned high above the reach of predators), while in our text he is called SHOPHACH, "because he used to pour out (SHOPHECH) blood like water" (Rashi on v 16).

It appears from verse 17 that King David himself led the entire people to battle against the Arameans, and scored a decisive victory which left them subject to him thereafter.

Chapter 20 Verses 1-3 of our present chapter give a highly condensed narrative of Yo'av's campaign to subdue Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, compared with the version in II Samuel chs 11-12. This is because it was during this campaign that David took Bathsheva, sending her first husband Uriah HaHitti to his death in Yoab's campaign. Since that episode does not reflect credit on King David, it is omitted from our text here in DIVREY HAYAMIM, which was written to give honor to David and his house. V 2: "And David took the crown of their king from upon his head… and it was on the head of David." The sages discussed whether David actually wore this weighty crown on his head or whether it was somehow positioned hovering above his head, held in place, perhaps, by the magnetic force of the "precious stone" it contained (Avodah Zarah 44a). [Lovers of Rabbi Nachman may be interested to consider the connection between this crown and the crown above the king's head in his story of "The Spider and the Fly".] The judgments executed by David upon the Ammonites with saws, iron harrows and axes may seem somewhat barbaric to those with delicate sensitivities, but apparently David knew better how to address cruel people in the only language they understood than those "enlightened" people today who think that terrorists and violent criminals should be handled with kid gloves. The account in our text (vv 4-8) of David's later wars against the Philistines and their monstrous champions is also somewhat abbreviated compared to the narrative in II Samuel 21:15-22, since the latter indicates that David was in mortal danger and became exhausted, which does not reflect to his credit (see Rashi on our present text v 4). There is some discussion among the commentators as to whether or not Goliath of Gath (v 5) is identical with Goliath the Philistine whom David killed at the start of his career (see Rashi and RaDaK on v 5). From Rabbi Nachman's discussion of Goliath and his death (Likutey Moharan II, 4) it is evident that he and the other giants and monsters described in our text embody tough spiritual KELIPOTH (husks) covering and concealing the unity of God, and their falling before David and his warriors was a spiritual triumph for Israel.

Chapter 21 V 1: "And an adversary angel stood up against Israel and incited David to number Israel." The same Hebrew root used here of the Satan INCITING David to count the people had been used by David himself when he encountered Saul face to face while the latter was pursuing him, and he said: "…if God has INCITED you against me…" (I Sam. 26:19). In the words of our sages: "The Holy One blessed be He said to David: You call me an INCITER??? I will surely make you stumble in something that even little school children know, as it is written: 'When you take the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to HaShem when you number them in order that there shall be no plague among them when you number them' (Exodus 30:12)" (Berachos 62b). The "adversary angel" or Satan "is the evil inclination planted in man's heart from his youth" (Metzudas David, RaDaK on v 1). "And as to the verse in I Samuel 24:1 that says 'and HaShem's anger burned increasingly against Israel and HE incited

David', from which it appears that HaShem was the inciter: the truth is that He incited him through the intermediary of the Satan because of a sin that was present in Israel on account of which they were fit to be punished, and he too is called an Angel of HaShem. It was he that David saw having the appearance of an Angel of HaShem with his sword drawn in his hand (our chapter v 16), for it is he who deceives and he who kills" (RaDaK ibid.). It is a mystery how David could have defied the Torah by seeking to take a direct census of the population instead of collecting a token charity coin ("ransom") from each person and counting the coins. It may be that as David prepared for a national event as significant as the building of the Temple, he was in too much of a hurry to find out the size of the population to see if it had reached some kind of "take off" point ready for the new era in the history of the people. But having suggested to the saintly King Saul that he might be the victim of the Yetzer Ra (evil inclination), measure for measure David was constrained to make the painful discovery that he himself could also be subject to the Yetzer Ra. Rashi (on v 1) comments: "Even though this section does not reflect credit on David, it was written here on account of what it says at the end – that David built an altar and God answered him from heaven, and this was an honor to David." Indeed, David's greatness and nobility of character come out from the fact that he had the courage to admit his mistake publicly in the presence of the elders of the people, and he asked God to punish him personally instead of striking the whole nation (vv 16-17). And on account of David's confession, not only did God relent but He also revealed to David the site of the Altar that was to be the centerpiece of the Temple he so yearned to build. "The place of the Temple Altar is aligned with the ultimate precision and its place may not ever be changed, as it is written, '…and THIS is the altar of the burned offering for Israel ' (I Chron. 22:1). It was on the site of the Temple Altar that our father Isaac was bound, as it says, 'Go take yourself to the land of MORIAH, and it says in II Chronicles 3:1, 'And Solomon started to build the House of HaShem in Jerusalem on Mt MORIAH where God appeared to David his father, in the place which David had prepared in the threshing floor of Arnan the Jebusite'" (Rambam, Laws of the Temple 2:1). It is one of the deep mysteries of God's inscrutable providence that the precise location of the Temple Altar – the place of atonement for all mankind – could be revealed to David only through his sin in counting the people, which led to a plague that was only stalled when the Angel of Death stood at that very spot. With complete self-effacement, the repentant David prayed that he should be substituted for the people and punished personally in order to save them. As his reward, he discovered the place where atonement for individual sinners and for the whole nation is accomplished through the mystery of substituting an animal for the sinner. David's Yetzer Ra had been so strong that he would not even listen to objections from his own commander-in-chief, Yo'av, who was uneasy in the extreme about departing from the Torah norm in order to count the people. Grasping the attendant dangers, Yo'av did everything he could to wriggle out of making a complete count. He did not include the Levites on the grounds that the rules for counting them had been different from the rules governing Moses' counts of the other tribes (Numbers 3:15), and he did not include the Benjaminites because they had lost so many in the battles following the episode of the Concubine in Giv'ah (Judges 19-21) that they would be in danger of extinction if they lost any more through a plague on account of being numbered (I Chron 21:6, see Rashi ad loc and RaDaK on v 5).

When the hand of God struck and David realized his sin, the prophet Gad was sent to offer him the choice of which punishment would be sent to expiate the sin: famine, military defeat at the hands of the nation's enemies or plague. "And David said to Gad, I am in great distress: let me fall rather into the hand of HaShem, for very great are His mercies, but let me not fall into the hand of man" (v 13). This verse is recited introducing the Tachanun supplications during the daily morning and afternoon services. David was in great pain because even the lightest of the options was harsh. "It can be compared to the case of a man who is told, You are going to die – which grave would you like to be buried in? Next to your father or your mother?" (Rashi on v 13). David rejected the idea of famine because it forces people to depend on one another yet they do not have mercy on each other (Metzudas David) and also because the rich suffer less than the poor (Rashi). He also rejected defeat at the hands of his enemies because he knew they would surpass all bounds of cruelty. He preferred the plague, which is sent directly by God – for God can always relent, as indeed He did: V 15: "…and as [the angel] was about to destroy, HaShem SAW and relented of the evil" – "What did He see? He saw the ashes of Isaac, as it is written, 'God will SEE the lamb for Himself' (Gen. 22:8; Berachos 62b) – "for it was in the place of that threshing floor that Abraham had offered Isaac his son" (RaDaK on v 15). Vv 22-25: Just as Ephron had ostensibly offered to GIVE Abraham the Cave of Machpelah as the burial site for Sarah FOR NO CHARGE (Genesis 23:11ff), so Arnan offered not only the site of the Altar but even the sacrificial animals and his threshing tools as wood for the offering FOR NO CHARGE. But David did not want the favors of flesh and blood, which always carry a price tag. He wanted the Altar to be a national ACQUISITION (KINYAN) and therefore paid Arnan 600 talents of gold – fifty talents from each of the Twelve Tribes – for the site. Despite the fact that Israel purchased the site of the Altar on Mt Moriah with real GOLD, the present robber occupiers of the site continue to deny Israel's ownership until today, and the same applies in the case of the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. Even after David built the Altar on Mt Moriah, the Sanctuary remained in Giv'on (v 29) and the Altar continued to be used for all the sacrificial services until the time of King Solomon, who also sacrificed there until he inaugurated the Temple in Jerusalem, which from that time on became the only place where Israel were permitted to sacrifice.

Chapter 22 The revelation of the site of the Temple Altar was a great encouragement to David in his mission to prepare for the building of the House. David employed new converts in the difficult work of quarrying the great stones that would be needed. Rashi (on v 2) explains that his reason for employing the converts was that he did not want to burden the home-born Israelites with this work. (Perhaps he reasoned that the Israelites had already done enough of such work in their earlier incarnation building store cities for Pharaoh in Egypt, and it was now time for the converts to earn their place amidst the chosen people by also having a taste of hard labor.) Solomon was only twelve years old when he came to the throne, and he was even younger when David began to prime him for the task of building the Temple, as described in the present chapter. David also gave instructions to all the officers of the nation to help Solomon (vv 1719). Let us take to heart David's words to the nation's leaders: "And now give your hearts and your souls to search out HaShem your God, and arise and build the

Temple of HaShem, God…" (v 19). Just as David stood on the very threshold of the building of the Temple and did everything in his power to make all the necessary preparations for it, so do we stand on the threshold of the building of the Future Temple, and each of us should make his or her own personal reckoning of what we can do to prepare for it.

Chapter 23 V 1: "And when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel." Solomon's candidacy as David's successor was by no means uncontested since his older half-brother Adoniyahu considered himself the obvious successor to the throne and was already maneuvering to take over, as we see from I Kings chapter 1. Nathan the Prophet in coordination with Solomon's mother Bathsheva alerted King David to Adoniyahu's activities, causing the king to swear an oath to Bathsheva that Solomon would indeed be his successor – for he knew prophetically that Solomon was destined to become king and build the Temple, as we saw in the previous chapter (I Chron. 22:9-10). David's giving over the kingship in his lifetime to the son for whom such a glorious future had been prophesied was surely an event of the utmost joy for himself and for all Israel . [Cf. Rabbi Nachman's story of the Seven Beggars, introductory section.] Not only did David prepare the materials for the building of the Temple so that everything would be ready for Solomon. In this and the following chapters we learn how David reorganized the Levites and Cohen-priests to be ready to take up their duties in the new Temple. V 3: "And the Levites were counted from the age of thirty years and upwards…" Initially David counted the Levites fit for service using the same age criterion as God commanded Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 4:3) – only those above the age of thirty were eligible. Later, however, for reasons that will be explained below, the age for beginning their service was reduced to twenty (see vv 24-27). The tasks of the Levites in the Temple are specified at the end of the present chapter vv 28-32. V 13: "…and Aaron was separated that he should be sanctified as most holy, he and his sons forever…" Although Aaron and his sons were from the tribe of Levi, they alone were entrusted with the actual offering of all the Temple sacrifices and with blessing the people with the priestly blessing. They were therefore set apart from the rest of the tribe. The Cohanim-priests were a caste on their own with numerous mitzvos concerning limitations on their possible marriage partners, ritual purity, the consumption of Terumah-tithe produce etc. that only they were required to keep. As a mark of the unique holiness of the Cohanim, it is customary until today for all the rest of the people to give them special honor. Thus whenever a Cohen is present in the synagogue he is called first to the Torah reading, followed by a Levi, and only then are Israelites in the congregation called to the reading. The Talmud cites our present verse as the Biblical source of this custom (Gittin 59a). V 14: Despite Moses' unique status as master of all the prophets and the nation's law-giver, and despite the fact that he himself served as the Cohen when he first inducted Aaron and his sons into their role as priests at the time of the consecration of the Sanctuary in the wilderness (Leviticus 8:5ff), Moses' children were not considered Cohanim but were counted with the other Levites. V 16: "…and the children of Rehaviah multiplied above" – "Rav Yoseph taught that they multiplied over 600,000" (Berachos 7a). Rabbi Nachman taught: "Know that there are children that are born into this world, but in addition there are very great

'children of ascent' who are born as souls that are above the souls that are clothed in the children born into this world. For all the souls in this world are included in the 600,000 souls of Israel , and even though there are greater numbers of people, this is only because the sparks are divided. But the souls that cannot be clothed in this world are above these 600,000 souls… and even when they enter this world they are not considered part of this world at all. This is the category of the children of Moses, of whom it is written that 'the children of Rehaviah multiplied ABOVE'. This is why the Rabbis taught that they were 'over 600,000' – because they are not considered to be included in the 600,000, for they are above and beyond them (Likutey Moharan I, 273). Verses 24ff explain why David eventually counted all the Levites who were over 20 years old rather than only those who were above the age of 30. Now that God had "given rest to His people" and chosen to dwell in Jerusalem forever (v 25), the burden of carrying the Sanctuary and its vessels from place to place would no longer fall upon the Levites, who from now on would only be required to sing in the Temple and perform guard and other duties there. For these they would not require the full strength of a mature man of thirty but could already start to serve at the age of twenty (Metzudas David on v 26). V 27: "For by the last ordinances of David, the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above…" – "This means that even though in David's own words above (v 3) only those Levites above the age of 30 were counted, in his final ordinances those over 20 were also counted. Initially, however, this did not occur to him and he counted them only as prescribed in the Torah (Numbers 4:3) from the age of 30 and above" (Metzudas David ad loc.). Verses 28-32 give us many important insights into the varied functions of the Levites in the Temple. It is evident from numerous Talmudic sources that they continued carrying out the same functions allocated to them by David until the end of the Second Temple period. "…Because their station was at the side of the sons of Aaron [the Cohanim]" (v 28). The role of the Levites was to do everything necessary in the Temple to enable the Cohanim to conduct the sacrificial services. Thus the Levites were responsible for the guarding and maintenance of the entire Temple precincts including all the different courtyards and chambers, and they also had to ensure the ritual purity of all the Temple areas, vessels and sacrificial offerings (v 28). They prepared and baked the Show Bread and other grain-based offerings (v 29) as well as providing the singers for the Temple services (v 30). They had to ensure that the requisite sacrificial animals were ready and checked for blemishes prior to all the daily, Sabbath, New Moon and festival offerings (v 31) and provided squadrons of guards in key positions around the Temple (v 32). There were times when the Levites also assisted the Cohanim in flaying the sacrificial animals (Rashi on v 31, cf. II Chron. 29:34).

Chapter 24 Having organized the Levites and allocated them their duties, David proceeded to reorganize the Cohanim into twenty-four priestly squadrons that would serve in the Temple on a rota basis week after week. V 4: "And the males of the chief families of the children of Elazar were found to be more numerous than those of the children of Ithamar." Rashi (ad loc.) explains: "Initially in the Sanctuary in Shilo there was a total of only sixteen priestly squadrons, eight from the descendants of Elazar and eight from those of Ithamar, as is explained in Tractate Taanis 27a. But when David saw that the males in each of the chief families of the descendants of Elazar were twice as many as those of

the families of Ithamar, he organized the descendants of Elazar into sixteen squadrons while leaving the descendants of Ithamar in their eight existing squadrons, and we find proof of this in the Hebrew text of verse 6" (Rashi on v 4; see also Metzudas David on v 6). V 5: "And they divided them by means of lots, these with those…" The purpose of the lots was to determine in which order the squadrons would serve week by week in rotation. The average Jewish year is 51 weeks. During the three annual pilgrim festivals all twenty-four squadrons would take part in the festival sacrificial services, leaving about 48 weeks for the regular rota. Thus each squadron had an average of two weeks of Temple service during the year besides the time they served on the festivals. V 6: "And Shemayah the son of Nethan-el the scribe from the tribe of Levi wrote them in the presence of the king…" The apparent PSHAT of this verse is that Shemayah the scribe recorded the order in which the priestly squadrons would serve week after week as revealed through the lots. However the Targum darshens that Shemayah ben Nethan-el is another name for Moses, "the great scribe", and that it was he who wrote down the original order, which was later read in the presence of the king (see Targum Rav Yoseph on v 6). Verses 7-18 give the names of the twenty-four priestly squadrons and their order in the rota. Verses 20-30 review the names of the principle families of the Levites. While many of the functions performed by the Levites in the Temple appear to have involved continual service throughout the year, the Levitical singers were divided into twenty-four squadrons corresponding to those of the Cohanim, and they took turns week by week in singing in the Temple choir. The twenty-four Levitical squadrons consisted of nine from the descendants of Gershon, eight from those of Kehath and seven from those of Merari (see Metzudas David on v 30). V 31: "And these also cast lots in the same manner as their brothers the sons of Aaron…" – "The purpose of the lots was to see which squadron would serve first, and their work was to sing with their mouths" (Metzudas David ad loc. He specifies that they sang with their mouths in order to distinguish them from the other Levitical MESHORERIM who played instruments.] V 31: "…the head of each father's house in the same manner as his younger brother": this means that the order of the various families' seniority in terms of age was of no consequence in determining their order in the rota of service: there everything was determined by the lot – GORAL – which was determined by the Almighty.

Chapter 25 Our present chapter gives us the details of King David's organization of the Levite Temple singers into twenty-four divisions corresponding to the twenty-four divisions of the Cohanim. The organization of the Levite Temple gate-keepers and keepers of the Temple treasures is then set forth in the following chapter. V 1: "And David and the captains of the army SEPARATED for the service…." "The service" refers to the sublime service of song that accompanied the performance of the sacrificial offerings by the Cohanim and which was the element of GEVURAH, "might," that "elevated" the sparks of holiness to the Almighty. [Levy=GEVURAH.]

It takes focused strength and understanding – left column attributes – in order to really sing! David "separated" the Temple choristers from the other Levites. They were a hereditary order drawn exclusively from three Levite lines headed in the time of David by Asaph, Heyman and Yedoothoon, as detailed in verse 1. According to the KSIV (the Massoretic Hebrew text as written in the scroll), they are called HANEVI'IM, "the prophets", but the KRI (traditional pronunciation) is HANIB'EEM, which is a verbal adjective meaning that "they used to prophesy with harps and lyres and the cymbals" (i.e. the KRI emphasizes the action and not the person). In the words of Rashi (ad loc.): "When they would play with these instruments they would prophesy, as we find with Elisha, who said 'Bring me a player, and it was when the player played that the hand of HaShem was upon him'" (II Kings 3:15). RaDaK (on our verse here in Chronicles) adds: "The children of Asaph would play the instruments and then holy spirit would rest on Asaph and he would start singing with his mouth to the sound of the harps. Likewise Heyman and Yedoothoon were all prophets with musical instruments. For the book of Psalms was composed with holy spirit and it contains prophecies and visions of the future dealing with the exile and the redemption." "…and the number of the workmen according to their service was:" (v 1). These closing words of verse 1 introduce the following section (vv 2-7) which enumerate the four sons of Asaph, the six sons of Yedoothoon and Heyman's fourteen sons – a total of twenty-four. These became the heads of the twenty-four divisions of Levite singers, each of which consisted of twelve singers in the time of David, making a total of two hundred and eighty-eight, as we find in verse 7. V 3: "The children of Yedoothoon… SIX…" – "But in the verse you only find FIVE. This is because at that time [i.e. in David's fortieth year, when all these arrangements were made, see chapter 26 v 31] his wife was pregnant with Shim'i and Yedoothoon saw with holy spirit that he too was destined to be a head of a division, and this is why the verse says six" (Rashi ad loc. cf. RaDaK). V 5: "All these were the sons of Heyman, the king's seer, according to the word of God, who bade to lift up his horn." Heyman's "horn" was the SHOFAR of prophecy that spoke through him to the king (cf. Rashi). "…and God gave to Heyman fourteen sons and three daughters" – "That is to say, If not for the fact that God gave him these children it would not have been possible for him to have fourteen sons and three daughters, with all his sons fit to be divisional heads" (Rashi ad loc.). Heyman and his large family were all descended from Korach, as was the prophet Samuel. Indeed, "It was when Korach saw the illustrious lineage was to come from him that he thought he would be able to stand up against Moses – but while he saw, he did not see well enough, because he did not understand that only on account of his children's repentance would these illustrious descendants arise" (Yalkut Shimoni). V 7: "And their number with their brothers… was two hundred and eighty-eight." Since there were twenty-four rotating divisions each consisting of twelve choristers, there was a total of 288 Temple singers. The number 288 is of great significance kabbalistically. As a result of the "breaking of the vessels", 288 holy sparks fell into the realm of the unholy. This is alluded to in Genesis 1:2, "and the spirit of God was HOVERING (MERACHEPHES) over the face of the depth". The first and last letters of MeRaChePHeS spell out MEIS – "dead", while the sum of the numerical values of the three middle letters Reish (200), Chet (8) and Peh (80) is 288. It is these holy sparks that vitalize the realm of the unholy to perform its assigned task in creation. These sparks are redeemed through the spread of God's CHESSED, loving kindness. This comes about through its successive revelation in each of the four basic

expansions of the name of HaVaYaH – AV, SaG, MaH and BaN – through the expansion of the AVs specific to each one in turn. The gematria of AV is 72. 4 x 72 = 288. Thus as the succession of twenty-four divisions of the Levites sang in the Temple week by week, their prophetic songs elevated and redeemed all the sparks that had fallen into the realm of unholiness. The order that David instituted for the Temple singers derives from the World of Tikkun (Repair). V 8: "And they cast lots…" As in the case of the priestly squadrons, the order in which the divisions of the Levite Temple singers sang week after week was determined not on account of seniority or expertise but purely through the will of God as expressed through the lots. V 9: "And the first lot came out for Asaph to Yoseph; the second to Gedaliah: he with his brothers and sons were TWELVE." From the fact that the original divisions of the Levite Temple singers as organized by King David consisted of twelve choristers each, our sages taught: "There should never be fewer than twelve Levite singers standing on the platform [although there could be more]… Twelve corresponding to what? Rav Papa said, Corresponding to the nine harps, two lyres and one cymbals. As it says, '…he and his brothers and sons were TWELVE'" (Erchin 13b. The cited sugya in Erchin is the most detailed of our Talmudic sources relating to the Temple music.)

Chapter 26 The Levite Temple gate-keepers did not serve in rotation. Rather, specified Levitical families were allocated by lot to specific Temple locations, where members of the families in question performed their guard duties constantly throughout the year (see Rashi on v 1). The leaders of the families of the Levite gate-keepers are enumerated in vv 1-11. Vv 4-5: "And the children of Oveid-Edom… for God blessed him." Oveid-Edom was blessed in virtue of his having given his home to house the Ark of the Covenant for three months after David's first unsuccessful attempt to bring it up to Jerusalem when Uzza died setting his hand forth to steady it on the wagon (I Chron. 13:14). V 12: The divisions of the Temple gate-keepers were twenty-four in number corresponding to the divisions of the Temple singers, except that they did not serve in rotation week by week as did the singers. Instead each division was assigned its own hereditary location in the Temple through the casting of lots, as detailed in vv 14-19. The total of four thousand gatekeepers in the time of David (I Chron. 23:5) were distributed more or less evenly among the twenty-four divisions (see Metzudas David on v 12). THE TEMPLE TREASURERS V 20: "And of the Levites, Ahiya was over the treasures…" – "He was in charge of the funds with which sacrificial animals etc. were purchased for the Temple" (Rashi ad loc.). V 24: "And Shevoo'el the son of Gershom, the son of Moses was ruler over the treasures." According to rabbinic tradition, Shevoo'el is identical with Yehonathan, the Levite who ministered before Michah's idol (Judges ch's 17-18, see the KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary there). He was called SHEVOO-EL because he returned to God with all his heart. King David saw that he had a very great affection for money

and appointed him over the Temple treasures (Bava Kama 110a). This shows the greatness that can be attained when one learns to elevate the very thing that caused one to stumble so as to use it in the service of God, and also David's greatness in perceiving clearly how to help and elevate Baaley Teshuvah! It is noteworthy that no less than Moses' own grandson was appointed to the office of chief Temple treasurer, which was one that involved enormous responsibility. V 29: "Of the family of Yitzhar, Kenanyahu and his sons were for the outward business over Israel , for officers and judges." This "outward business" refers to the work that had to be done outside the city for the sake of the Temple, such as preparing the timber and stones. These Levites provided the officers in charge of supervising this work (Metzudas David). V 31: "…in the fortieth year of the kingship of David they were sought for…" This verse indicates that all of the organization of the Cohanim and Levites described from chapters 23 until our present chapter was carried out in the very last year of King David's life. This shows his extraordinary vitality and power to the very end! V 32: "…and King David appointed them over the Reubenites, Gaddites and the half tribe of Menashe…" These tribes lived in the territories east of the Jordan stretching from those to the east of the Dead Sea all the way up into the Golan Heights. Officers were required to supervise the preparation of materials from these areas for use in the forthcoming Temple building project.

Chapter 27 Having completed the account of King David's organization of the divisions of the Cohanim and Levites for the Temple services, our text continues with an account of his organization of the Israelite population into twelve divisions that took it in turns to attend to the king's business month by month. Our commentators explain that, unlike the divisions of the Cohanim and Levites, which were instituted in their final form as described in our text (chs 23-26) only in the last year of David's reign, the divisions of the Israelite population as described in the present chapter were in fact instituted at the beginning of his reign. The account of the latter is placed here because the listing of the names of the officers whom David appointed over the Israelite divisions follows on naturally from the previous sections listing the officers he appointed to supervise the building and administration of the Temple (see Rashi and Metzudas David on I Chron. 27:1). Rashi (ad loc.) also explains that each of the twelve divisions of Israelites included only 24,000 men even though the overall Israelite population was greater than 12 x 24,000. However, David chose only the stronger, more forceful characters and those who possessed sufficient wealth to be able to put aside their own affairs in order to attend to the king's business, but he did not recruit poorer people who were preoccupied with earning a basic living. The functions of these twelve divisions were to serve in David's army and to attend to all the king's other business (Rashi on v 1). A later section in our chapter (vv 2521) enumerates the chief officers appointed over David's grain stores, agricultural work, viniculture and winemaking, olive cultivation and oil production, cattle, camels, donkeys and sheep, giving us a picture of some of the main areas comprised under the heading of the king's business. Under the laws of the kingship, the king was not allowed to confiscate other people's private property for himself unless they were traitors, but he was entitled to requisition people, animals and other requirements in return for compensation, and to impose taxes, customs dues

and agricultural tithes in order to provide for his own needs and those of his household, staff and armies etc. (see Rambam, Laws of Kings ch 4). What emerges from our present chapter is that the royal business was conducted not by an entrenched establishment of permanent salaried administrators and workers, but rather by the most talented, able and financially successful members of all of the tribes taking it in turns month by month to run the royal affairs – from the upper levels of the administration down to the actual plowing of the king's fields and the herding of his cattle. Conceptually, the king is the embodiment of the Sefirah of Malchus, which channels PARNASSAH ("livelihood") by mobilizing all the resources of the twelve tribes of Israel upon which he rides (corresponding to the twelve permutations of HaVaYaH revealed through Malchus), just as the Sea of Solomon (the circular Mikveh in the Temple) rested upon twelve oxen. [See KNOW YOUR BIBLE on I Kings ch 4.] Vv 2-15: Names of the officers appointed over the twelve divisions of the Israelite population and the months in which they served, starting from the first month of the year (=Nissan). The officers themselves were not drawn from all of the twelve tribes but came mainly from the tribes of Judah, Ephraim, Benjamin and the priesthood. Vv 16-22 give the names of the leaders of the Twelve Tribes in the time of King David. V 23: "But David did not count the number of those who were twenty years old and below, because HaShem had said he would increase Israel like the stars of the heavens." This and the following verse help throw a little more light on the mysterious episode in which King David sought to number the Children of Israel, only to cause a plague (above, chapter 21). Our present verse is saying that even when David made his fateful count of the population, he did not count those aged only twenty or below in deference to God's promise to increase Israel like the stars of the heavens – "Just as a man cannot count the stars, so he cannot count Israel " (Rashi ad loc.). The text (v 24) then goes on to say that even when Yo'av tried to count those above that age, he did not succeed in completing the count because of the anger that broke forth against the people, because the very thought of counting the people runs counter to God's promises to Abraham: " I will make your seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered" (Genesis 13:16) and "Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you can count them… so shall your seed be" (ibid. 15:5). Vv 25-31: Names of the officers appointed over the king's agriculture and livestock. Vv 32-34: David's inner circle of advisors. "And Houshai the ARKHI, FRIEND of the king" (v 33). The Midrash Rabbah states that after David sinned with Bathsheva, he asked Houshai whether, if he repented, God would accept his repentance and grant him healing (AROUKHAH). Houshai replied in the affirmative (see Rashi on v 33). Encouraging others to return to HaShem is an act of true friendship.

Chapter 28 At the end of his life, David assembled the entire leadership of the people, -- the leaders of the Twelve Tribes, those of the twelve divisions of the population who

served the king, the higher and lower rank officers over the people and all his warriors – in order to impress in their hearts and that of his successor, the tender twelve year old Solomon, that there was now one item only on the national agenda: building the Temple. V 2: "And King David rose on his feet…" – "As if to say, despite the fact that his strength was diminished on account of old age, he nevertheless determinedly stood on his feet in honor of the leaders of Israel gathered before him" (Metzudas David). "Hear me, my brothers and my people": in his humility, David puts himself on the same level as the people, addressing them as his brothers. David impresses on the people that his mission was to build the Temple, and that having been unable to do so because his hands were bloodied with war, this mission must now be carried out by his son Solomon, whom God had chosen for this task out of all of his many sons. The success of the mission would depend upon faithful adherence to the Torah by Solomon and by the entire people (vv 2-10). Vv 11ff: "And David gave to Solomon his son the plan…" In the parallel account of the end of David's life and the start of the reign of Solomon at the end of II Samuel and beginning of I Kings, there seems to be no reference to David's having given Solomon the exact plan of the Temple that he was to build. It can easily appear from the account of the building of the Temple in the early chapters of I Kings as if the conception and design of the Temple were essentially Solomon's, incomprehensible as this may seem since he was only 12 years old when he reigned. The missing link is filled in here in DIVREY HAYAMIM, explaining how David already had the exact blueprint of every hall, chamber and courtyard in the entire Temple complex as well as details of the functioning of the Cohanim and Levites and precise specifications for all the different Temple vessels, including the altar, ark, cherubs, candelabra, tables, bowls etc. etc. (vv 11-18). "All this, [said David], is put in writing by the hand of HaShem, Who instructed me in all the works of this plan" (v 19). Rashi (ad loc.) states that David had received the Temple plan directly from the prophet Samuel, who darshened all the dimensions of the Temple courtyards, buildings and vessels from the Torah through holy spirit (See KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on I Samuel 19:18-19). In the presence of the entire leadership of the people, David gave over the precious plans to his wise young son. David had devoted his entire life to making all the preparations necessary to implement the prophetic vision that had been entrusted to him by Samuel. Now it was up to Solomon to take the gold, silver, bronze, timber and stone that David had prepared and mobilize the national apparatus of officers and functionaries that he had established in order to actually build the Temple.

Chapter 29 In the previous chapter (I Chron. 28) we learned about the great assembly of all the leaders of the people whom David called to Jerusalem in order to hand over the kingship to Solomon and to deliver his last will and testament – that all the people and Solomon in particular must follow the commandments of the Torah, and that they must build the Temple according to the plan received by David from the prophet Samuel. In our present chapter David now turns to the assembly with an eloquent appeal to contribute to the Temple building project. David's call to Israel to donate to the

building of the Temple bears comparison with Moses' call to the people in the generation of the wilderness to contribute to the building of the Sanctuary (Exodus 35:4ff). Vv 1-3: David emphasizes the youth and softness of Solomon, his divinely-chosen successor, and the magnitude of the task lying ahead of him – to build a "house" not for a man of flesh and blood but for the great and awesome One whom even the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain (Rashi on v 1). Before turning to the people to make their contributions, David – who knew that the best way to teach and inspire is through example – recounts how he had put all his strength into preparing the materials for the Temple. Before the entire assembly David now announces that he still has a special treasury of gold and silver which a lesser king might have kept for his successors, but which David dedicates to the Temple project (vv 3-5). Having led the way with his own exceptional display of generosity, David now asks the assembled leaders of the people to take up the challenge: "And who [among you] is going to volunteer to dedicate himself to HaShem?" Vv 6-9: The dedications by the heads of the various families in each tribe and by the captains of the people and the king's officers. V 9: "Then the people rejoiced… because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to HaShem" – "They gave with one heart with the desire of their souls and not with two hearts. For sometimes a person gives because he is constrained to do so, not because he really wants to – he may be ashamed of what others might think if he doesn't. This is called 'with two hearts', but in their case, they gave with the will of their very souls" (Rashi ad loc.) "AND DAVID BLESSED HASHEM…" (v 10) When David saw the people's great joy in donating to the Temple, he was overjoyed, because all the souls of Israel were unified in this greatest of all projects – to make a House for His Indwelling Presence in Jerusalem, the eternal city. David's beautiful prayer of thanksgiving for God's blessings of wealth and abundance (vv 10-13) is incorporated into the daily morning Shacharis service at the climax of P'SUKEY DEZIMRA (the "verses of song" which precede Shema and its blessings) after the conclusion of the Halleluiahs (Psalms 145-150), before the Song of the Sea (Ex. 14:30-15:19). V 10: "Blessed are You HaShem the God of Israel our father" – "The reason why he mentions Israel (=Jacob) rather than Abraham and Isaac is because Jacob also vowed to make dedications, as it says: 'And Jacob vowed a vow' (Genesis 28:20)" (Rashi ad loc.). V 11: "Yours HaShem is the greatness (=Chessed) and the might (=Gevurah) and the glory (=Tiferes) and the victory (Netzach) and the majesty (Hod) for all-that-isin-the-Heaven (=Yesod) and on the earth (=Malchus) is Yours…" This verse unites all of the seven lower Sefiros, affirming that all the plurality of creation is under the rule and control of the One God. David thus used this occasion on which all the leaders of Israel dedicated many different kinds of wealth to the Temple to teach about the underlying unity of God. Vv 14f: "But who am I and who are my people that we should be able thus to offer willingly…?" Lest the generous donations to the building of the glorious Temple become the cause of a swell of national self-satisfaction and arrogance, David reminds the people that everything belongs to God and we only give Him what is

His – for we are nothing but temporary residents on His earth. "Rabbi Elazar a man from Bartotha says, Give Him from what is His, for you and what is yours belong to Him, and so David says, 'For everything is from You and from Your hand they have given to You'" (Pirkey Avos 3:7). "Our days are as a shadow over the earth" (our chapter v 15) – "And not like the shadow of a tree or even the shadow of a bird as it flies over… but like the shadow of the wings of the bumblebee, which has wings yet does not cast a shadow [because of the great speed at which they move]" (Midrash Koheles 1:2, see Rashi on v 15). V 18: "O HaShem God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Your people and direct their hearts to You." This verse containing David's prayer that the generosity exhibited at the time of the dedication to the Temple should be eternally planted in the hearts of Israel is also included in the daily prayer services as part of the section U-VA LETZION GO'EL ("And a redeemer shall come to Zion") recited after ASHREY following the daily morning AMIDAH and TACHANUN prayers and also prior to the afternoon AMIDAH prayer on Sabbaths and festivals and at the conclusion of the Sabbath. Vv 20ff: David now leads the assembly in prayer, followed the next day by sacrifices of burnt offerings and peace offerings. But on the day of the assembly itself the people did not have time to sacrifice because they had to go in search of animals to buy for their offerings – Rashi on v 21. V 22: "And they appointed Solomon the son of David king a second time…" Solomon had already been publicly anointed as king in succession to David after the thwarting of the conspiracy of Adoniyahu (I Kings 1:39). Now he was reconfirmed as the new king with the mission of building the Temple. Tzaddok was concurrently anointed as High Priest because Eviathar, who had served previously, had rebelled by anointing Adoniahu (I Kings 1:7; Rashi on our verse). V 23: "And Solomon sat on the throne of HaShem as king…" – "Here it is appropriate to say that he reigned on the throne of HaShem, because the throne is HaShem's to appoint whoever He wants as king upon it. The Midrash explains that his throne was full just like the moon on the fifteenth of the month. For from Abraham to Solomon there were fifteen generations: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah , Peretz, Hetzron, Ram, Aminadav, Nachshon, Salmah, Bo'az, Oved, Yishai, David, Shlomo… And from Solomon onwards the kings became successively diminished in their greatness, like the moon that steadily wanes, until Tzedekiah, whose eyes were finally blinded" (Rashi ad loc.). "And ALL Israel listened to him [Solomon]" – "Which had not been so in the case of Saul – see I Samuel 10:27 – and David too initially ruled only in Hebron for seven years" (Rashi). V 24: Whereas David's warriors had not given their hand to Adoniahu, the entire people and all the rest of David's sons now gave their hand in support of Solomon. V 29: "And the acts of David the king, the first and the last, are surely written in the book of Samuel the seer and in the book of Nathan the prophet and in the book of Gad the seer." It is a tribute to the greatness of King David that so many books were written recording the events of his life and times (cf. Rashi ad loc.). Metzudas David (ad loc.) comments that the book of Samuel is that which we have in our hands today, while Nathan and Gad wrote books that we do not have. However this does not answer the question who wrote the sections of the book Samuel that describe the events after the death of Samuel (i.e. from I Samuel ch 25 to the end

of II Samuel). It seems plausible that these actually consist of a weave of the writings of Nathan and Gad, both of whom prophesied until the last days of David.

Book of II Chronicles Chapter 1 It is quite obvious that II Chronicles is a direct continuation from I Chronicles. In the parchment scrolls of the prophets and holy writings (NaCh), the Hebrew DIVREY HAYAMIM is all one book, but in printed Bibles and for reference purposes it is divided into two books for greater convenience, to avoid an unwieldy work of 65 chapters. Vv 1-6: The first act of Solomon's reign was to assemble all the leaders of the people who had been present at David's final assembly in Jerusalem to Giv'on. It was here that the Sanctuary had been located since Saul's killing of the priests of the town of Nov, to which it had been taken after the destruction of Shilo by the Philistines in the time of Eli the High Priest. After the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant, David eventually brought it up to Jerusalem, but the sacrificial altar still remained in the Sanctuary courtyard in Givon. Solomon's sacrifices in Giv'on were to initiate the Temple building project with which he had been entrusted by his father David. "With WISDOM (Chochmah) shall the house be built" (Proverbs 24:3). Whereas the Future Temple that we daily await is rooted in the highest Sefirah, KETER, the crown, Solomon's Temple was rooted in the first emanation from KETER, i.e. CHOCHMAH, as explained by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto in "Secrets of the Future Temple". This is why the narrative of the building of Solomon's Temple is preceded by the narrative of his dream at Giv'on, in which he asked for the Wisdom he needed in order to rule the people and accomplish his mission. "The king needs a wise heart in order to know how to judge the people – and I am but a young, soft lad! Even a thousand wise men would find it hard to judge a great people like this. It is impossible without enormous effort because many people are constantly coming for legal decisions and he does not have the time to examine their cases. One person starts complaining and doesn't stop talking, and then immediately someone else arrives and starts screaming. Who can decide a thousand cases in one day unless he is a wise and understanding man who has the spirit of God in him? This is what I ask – that you should give me the wisdom and understanding to judge this great people, for this is what I need You to give me" (Rashi on v 10). God gave Solomon what he requested "…because a person does not ask for such a thing except one who has fear of Heaven in his heart" (Rashi on v 11). Not only did He give him the wisdom he asked for, but also the wealth and glory that he did not request. "Because upon the wisdom that I am giving you depend also wealth and glory and length of days, as it is written, 'Length of days are in her right hand, and in her left wealth and honor' (Proverbs 3:16)" (Rashi on v 12).

Chapter 2 The cooperation given by Hiram king of Tyre to King Solomon in building the Temple in Jerusalem is a shining example of how the rectified Middle East should be. In striking contrast to the ceaseless hatred and hostility shown to Israel by the peoples of the neighboring countries in our era, Hiram, a man of outstanding vision as well as immense practical achievement, showed genuine love for the tender, wise young son of his old friend King David, helping to provide Solomon with the physical means to actualize the Temple dream in this material world. During Hiram's reign Tyre had grown from being a satellite of Sidon into the most important of the Phoenician cities and the center of a large Mediterranean trading empire. Through his alliance with Solomon, Hiram assured himself access to the major trade routes to Egypt, Arabia and Mesopotamia, and with this trade both kings became very wealthy. As recounted in our present chapter, Hiram sent Solomon not only the immense cedar timbers and other precious woods etc. required for the Temple building project, but also the master craftsman who executed the work. This craftsman, who was also called Hiram, has become a legendary figure particularly in the lore of Freemasonry, where he is revered as the builder of Solomon's Temple. To distinguish him from Hiram king of Tyre who sent him, Hiram the craftsman is sometimes called Hiram Avi or Hiram Abif (based on possible interpretations of II Chron. 2:12, see Metzudas David ad loc. and of II Chron. 4:16, see Metzudas David & RaDaK ad loc.). Although Hiram's father, who had himself been a master craftsman, is described as a Tyrian man (v 13) this is not to say that he was not an Israelite but only that he resided in Tyre . According to Rashi (on v 13) Hiram's father had been from the tribe of Naphtali (cf. I Kings 7:14) while his widowed mother was from that of Dan. As discussed in KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on I Kings ch 7, it is significant that Dan and Naphtali were both sons of Bilhah, the handmaiden of Rachel. Just as Moses' Sanctuary in the Wilderness had been built by Bezalel (from the tribe of Judah son of Leah) with the help of Oholiab (from the tribe of Dan, foster son of Rachel), so the Temple of Solomon, who came from the tribe of Judah/Leah, could only be built with the help of Hiram the Naphtalite, who was from the children of Rachel. Like the Sanctuary, the Temple had to be built through cooperation between the descendants of the two Matriarchs, Rachel and Leah, who are the embodiment of the two fundamental modes of government through which God runs the world – the kabbalistic Partzufim of Rachel and Leah. "And Solomon numbered all the strangers (GERIM) who were in the land of Israel" (verse 16). As recounted in I Chron. 22:2 King David had already appointed these GERIM in the role of hewers and carriers of the immense stones that would be used in the building of the Temple. According to Rashi (on I Chron. 22:2) these GERIM were converts. However, RaDaK on verse 16 in our present chapter suggests that they may have been the residue of the Emorite, Hivvite, Perrizite and Jebusite Canaanites whom Solomon requisitioned for these tasks and who are called GERIM because they had ceased practicing idolatry, which was stamped out at the height of Israelite power during the reigns of David and Solomon.

Chapter 3 "And Solomon began to build the House of HaShem in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah …" (v 1). The text emphasizes that the Temple was built on the exact spot that had

been divinely revealed to King David. This was the place where Abraham had bound Isaac and where Jacob had dreamed of the ladder reaching up to heaven. In our present chapter and the next (chs 3-4) we are given an account of the details of the Temple building and its vessels which is less than half the length of the parallel account in I Kings chs 6-7 but which supplements it in various ways. All of the dimensions of the Temple buildings and the design and number of its vessels had been received prophetically by Samuel and given to David, who entrusted them to Solomon. They all involve the deepest secrets of sacred geometry and art, through which combinations of divine names and attributes become embodied, expressed and revealed through the stone walls of physical halls and chambers and through the gold, silver and bronze etc. of the vessels. The kabbalistic meaning of the physical Temple buildings and vessels is the subject of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "Secrets of the Future Temple", which mainly focuses on the vision of the coming Third Temple as seen by the prophet Ezekiel (chs 40ff) but which also clarifies the principles through which the design of King Solomon's Temple can be understood. The author of this commentary is not familiar with any kabbalistic text that specifically discusses the meaning of the First Temple in detail. "Secrets of the Future Temple" can be read in its entirety online at http://www.azamra.org/secrets.shtml . Vv 4-7: The best stone, wood, gold, silver and precious gems were used in the Temple for the sole purpose of glorifying God and providing a fitting "House" for the dwelling of His presence in this world. Wealth is rectified when it is devoted to the service of God. Vv 8-13 give the dimensions of the innermost sanctum of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, which was to house the Ark of the Covenant. The gold-coated Ark, which had been made by Bezalel in the time of Moses, had a golden cover (KAPORES) on which stood two golden cherubs with outstretched wings. These are NOT the same as the cherubs described in our present text vv 10-13, which were made for Solomon according to the specifications given to him by King David and which stood with their wings stretched over the Ark of the Covenant and the two cherubs of the KAPORES (see Rashi on v 13). The Hebrew word for "cherub", K'ROOV, is explained by the rabbis as having the connotation of "like a child" (K is the comparative "like", ROOV from RAVIA, the Aramaic for a child or lad; Chagigah 13b, Rashi and Metzudas David on v 10). One cherub was male and the other female, alluding respectively to KUDSHA B'RICH HU, "the Holy One blessed be He", and His SHECHINAH, "Indwelling Presence". They were face to face, signifying the perfect alignment of the Supreme God and His immanent Presence. According to our text, the span of the four wings of Solomon's cherubs was equivalent to the entire floor space of the Holy of Holies, apparently leaving no space for the bodies of the cherubs. Accordingly our sages stated that "the cherubs stood through a miracle" (Bava Basra 99a), although Rashi (on verse 11) suggests that in simple terms the cherubs' wings can be envisaged like the outstretched wings of a bird whose body protrudes underneath. Only here in the Temple was it permitted to make golden statues of the cherubs (see Rashi on Exodus 20:20). All other statues in the human form are prohibited by the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4f). "And before the house he made two pillars…" These two pillars flanked the entrance to the OOLAM, the Vestibule of the main Temple building. The names given to these pillars – YACHIN and BO'AZ – signify respectively the moon and the sun, because the royal house of David is compared to the moon, which receives all its light from

the sun (see Rashi on v 17 where proof texts are provided establishing the relationship between the two names and what they signify). According to another interpretation (Rashi ibid.), Hiram called one pillar YACHIN as an allusion to the heroic judge Samson, who came from his mother's tribe of Dan, while Solomon called the other BO'AZ to allude to his own illustrious ancestor from the tribe of Judah. Kabbalistically, the two pillars allude to the two "legs" of the Sefiros, i.e. the Sefiros of Netzach and Hod.

Chapter 4 Following the description of the Temple building in the previous chapter, our text continues with an account of the Temple vessels made by Solomon. V 1: "And he made an altar of bronze…" Metzudas David (ad loc.) explains that the altar that Solomon made was actually of stone (as prescribed in Exodus 20:22) but it is described as being of bronze because it came to replace the portable bronze altar that had been made by Moses in the wilderness (Exodus 27:1-8). SOLOMON'S SEA "And he made a molten sea…" (v 2). Verses 3-5 describe the great molten bronze pool made by Solomon, while verse 6 explains that its purpose was to serve as a purificatory ablution mikveh for the Cohanim before commencing their daily service in the Temple. On the basis of a careful analysis of the specifications of this pool as given here and in the parallel text in I Kings 7:23-26, the rabbis in Talmud Eiruvin 14b deduced mathematically that in order to contain the measure of 2000 bats of water (as given in I Kings 7:26), the upper two cubits of Solomon's Sea must have been round, as stated explicitly in our text, while the lower three cubits must have been square (see Rashi on our text v 3). In contrast to the text in I Kings, our present text gives the cubic capacity as having been 3000 bats. The rabbis explained that if a pool of the dimensions given in our text were filled with DRY material that could be HEAPED UP, it would indeed contain 3000 bats, while the actual cubic capacity for LIQUID is as given in the text in I Kings. Each bat measure is the equivalent of three SE'AH's. The minimum measure of water for a valid Mikveh is 40 se'ahs. Thus Solomon's Sea contained sufficient water for ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MIKVEHS. Verses 3 and 4 speak about two different sets of oxen. The two rows in the "likeness of oxen" that circled it under its rim (verse 3) are the knobs (or "colocynths", a lemon-shaped fruit) described in I Kings 7:24. Our text is saying that these knobs were fashioned in the form of ox-heads. Verse four then describes the twelve oxen on which the entire Sea of Solomon stood, three in each direction of the compass. (The square formation of the oxen as described in our text supports the above-cited rabbinic teaching in Eiruvin 14b that the lower part of the pool was square.) Solomon's "Sea" – the actual pool itself – alludes to the Sefirah of Malchus, "Kingship", for in order to enter the service of God we must first immerse ourselves entirely in the acceptance of the yoke of His kingship. The twelve oxen allude to the twelve angels upon which the Shechinah "rides" in the world above – with four camps of three angels each in each direction of the compass – and to the twelve tribes of Israel upon which she "rides" in this world – with four camps of three tribes each surrounding the Sanctuary in each direction of the compass. The twelve angels and twelve tribes correspond to the twelve permutations of the essential

Name of HaShem, each of which rules through Malchus at its appointed time. The twelve oxen of Solomon's Sea correspond to the twelve words in the verses SHEMA YISRAEL HASHEM ELOKEINU HASHEM ECHAD and BARUCH SHEM KEVOD MALCHUSO LE-OLAM VA-ED. When we recite these words with the intention of taking upon ourselves the yoke of the kingship of Heaven, we bind ourselves with all the souls of Israel – the twelve tribes – and we become the chariot of the Shechinah (Zohar Vayechi 241a; Likutey Moharan I, 36:3). V 6: The ten bronze lavers made by Solomon were in addition to the original bronze laver of Moses (Exodus 30:18), which was now placed in the Temple with five of Solomon's lavers flanking it on each side. Vv 7-10: In accordance with the same principle as in the case of the lavers, Solomon made ten MENORAHS (candelabra) and ten SHOW-BREAD TABLES to stand flanking Moses' Menorah and Show-Bread Tables respectively. Moses' Menorah stood on the south side of the Sanctuary with Solomon's Menorahs flanking it to its south ("right") and north ("left"), while Moses' Show-Bread Table stood on the north side of the Sanctuary with Solomon's tables to its north and south (Shekalim 17b). There is a division of opinion in the Talmud (Menachos 98b) as to whether all of the Menorahs were lit daily or only that of Moses and whether bread was placed on all the tables or only on that of Moses (see RaDaK on II Chron. 4:6). In the case of the Menorahs, our text says that he made them "according to their prescribed form" (KE-MISHPATAM). This indicates that Solomon did not make these additional Menorahs and Tables on his own initiative but on the basis of instructions he received from King David founded on prophecy and midrashim on Biblical verses (see Rashi on II Chron. 4:7 and RaDaK on II Kings 8:6). Following the account of the sacrificial vessels made for Solomon by Hiram (verse 11) the text in vv 12-18 gives a summary of all the bronze vessels that he made, as described in detail in the previous chapter and the earlier part of the present chapter. V 17: "The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan … between Succoth and Tzereidah." Rashi points out that Tzereidah was the hometown of Jeraboam, who in the reign of Solomon's son and successor, Rehaboam, led the rebellion of the Ten Tribes against the authority of the House of David and prevented them from going up to the Temple in Jerusalem. Rashi brings a midrash of his uncle that TZEREIDATHA as found in our text indicates that Jeraboam CONSTRICTED (TZAR) the LAW of the Torah (DATH). Vv 19-22 give a summary of the Temple vessels that were made of gold. The "perfect gold" mentioned at the end of verse 21 was said by the rabbis to have been the product of casting one thousand talents of gold into the crucible and successively refining them until only a single talent of purest gold remained (Shekalim 18a).

Chapter 5 Verse 1: "And Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated…" Rashi (ad loc.) explains that on the level of PSHAT the verse suggests that Solomon brought into the Temple whatever was left of his father's dedications after using the rest for the work. Rashi also brings a midrash of the sages that Solomon brought into the Temple treasury EVERYTHING that David had dedicated from the treasures plundered from the nations he defeated because Solomon did not want to use them in the Temple building. This was because he knew prophetically that it was destined to be destroyed, and he did not want the idolaters

to be able to say that this came about through the vengeance of their gods after the plunder from their temples was used for the Temple in Jerusalem. Vv 2ff describe the great assembly called by Solomon in the eleventh year of his reign at the conclusion of seven years building the Temple in order to bring in all the vessels to their proper places and inaugurate the Temple service. The account in our text of how the Levites brought the Ark of the Covenant to its place in the Holy of Holies (vv 5ff) supplies the outer facts but does not give any indication of the great drama that took place when Solomon tried to get the Ark through the entrance of the Holy of Holies, only to find that "the gates were firmly stuck together and could not be opened. Solomon recited twenty-four prayers but he was not answered. He started saying, 'Lift up your heads, O gates…and let the King of Glory enter' (Psalms 24:7) but the gates ran after him to swallow him up… Even when he concluded, 'HaShem of Hosts, He is the King of glory, Selah!' he was still not answered. At last he said, 'O God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed one, remember the kindnesses of David Your servant' (II Chron. 6:42; cf. Psalms 132:10). Only then was he answered – and all the faces of David's enemies turned black as the bottom of a pot because the entire people and all Israel knew that the Holy One blessed be He had forgiven him for that sin [with Bathsheva]" (Talmud Shabbos 30a). Verse 9: "And they drew out the poles of the Ark so that the ends of the poles were visible from the Ark before the Sanctuary but they were not seen outside." The commentators provide a variety of explanations of this verse. The most plausible seems to be that of RaDaK (ad loc.): that the poles on which the Ark used to be carried were now drawn forward towards the eastern partition of the Holy of Holies to indicate that the Ark was now positioned in its permanent resting place and no longer needed to be carried from place to place as in the days before the Temple was built. However the poles could not simply be removed, because they were needed to guide the High Priest on Yom Kippur when he had to burn incense and sprinkle the sacrificial blood in front of the Ark and not on either side. According to the Talmudic sages (Yoma 53b) the poles extended to the PAROCHET (screen) dividing the Holy of Holies from the main Sanctuary, protruding just a little so that while the poles themselves could not be seen in the Sanctuary, two protrusions were visible on the Parochet like two nipples, in order to fulfill the verse, '…He dwells between my breasts' (Song of Songs 1:13). V 14: "And the priests were unable to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of HaShem filled the House of God." With all the vessels in their proper places, the Divine Presence came to dwell in the House and the Temple was complete.

Chapter 6 "THEN Solomon said, HaShem has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness" (v 1) – "When Solomon saw the cloud [in the last verse of the previous chapter, II Chron. 5:14] he said, Now I see that the Shechinah rests in the House that I have built, for He indeed promised to come and dwell in it from the midst of cloud and thick darkness. And where did He say so? 'For in a cloud I shall appear over the cover of the Ark '" (Leviticus 16:2; Midrash Sifri). The text of King Solomon's prayer on the inauguration of the Temple as given in our present chapter, II Chron. 6:1-39, is almost completely identical with the text as given in I Kings 8:12-52 with minor verbal differences, except that our text here in Chronicles adds the extra detail that the king – who was aged only 23 at this

time – positioned himself on a bronze laver where all Israel could see him while he kneeled and spread his hands to heaven in order to offer his prayer (verses 12-13, see Rashi on v 13). "God has spoken once; twice I have heard this" (Psalms 62:12). It is surely significant that the lengthy text of Solomon's prayer is given twice in our Scriptures in almost identical versions, as if to emphasize the great importance of the lessons it teaches us about the true meaning of the Temple that he built, whose rebuilding we await daily. King Solomon makes no mention of the animal sacrifices that are to be brought in the Temple as ordained in Leviticus and Numbers, but only of the prayers that Israelites and gentiles alike are to direct to God through the House and of the repentance in the heart that is necessary in order to elicit God's forgiveness and favor. Solomon begins with thanksgiving for God's fulfillment of his promise to King David to establish his son as the king who would build the Temple, because this shows His detailed providence over all the affairs of the world. Nothing is subject to fate or chance, and this is why prayer and repentance "work", because everything is in the hands of God, who is responsive to men's prayers, deeds and efforts. Vv 22-23: "If a man sins against his neighbor and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear and the oath comes before Your Altar in this House, then hear from heaven and do and judge Your servants by requiting the wicked by recompensing his way upon his own head and by justifying the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness." Rashi (ad loc.) explains that these verses refer to an Israelite who is engaged in a law suit before the Beth Din (rabbinic court) who forces his opponent to take an oath in God's name swearing that he is telling the truth. [Under the Torah law of court procedure, imposing oaths of various kinds on one or both sides in a case is one of the most important sanctions that can be taken to pressure them to tell the truth or else risk the terrible consequences of the curse included in the oath. Imposing of oaths is rarely if ever practiced today because the great majority of people do not understand the seriousness of lying under oath.] If the side that imposes the oath does so truthfully while the side that swears does so falsely, God will hear in heaven, and so will He hear if the side that imposes the oath does so unnecessarily, in which case he is called wicked. Another explanation of the oath in verses 22-23 is given in Tosephta of Tractate Sotah cited by Rashi, where the man who "sins against his neighbor" is the adulterer who goes with someone else's wife, and who is liable to the consequences of the oath and curse administered to the wife by the priest in the Temple when she drinks the bitter waters in accordance with the laws of Sotah, the disloyal wife (Numbers 5:19). In the light of Rashi's explanation and that of Tosephta Sotah we see how Solomon's prayer teaches that God watches providentially over all the deeds and affairs of men in detail and knows the intentions in their hearts, and repays each one according to his ways. Vv 24-25: "And if Your people Israel are smitten before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and they repent… forgive the sin of Your people Israel and bring them back to the Land which You gave to them and to their fathers." With Israel today being smitten by our enemies virtually every day on the military, strategic and international diplomatic battlefields, we must learn from these verses and from verses 34-39 below that the only sure way to have our territories restored and to live in them in peace is through repentance and prayer.

Vv 26-31 teach that prayer and repentance are also the first remedy for various natural disasters such as drought, famine, crop failure, locusts and other plagues as well as illness and disease. Vv 32-3: "Likewise concerning the stranger who is not of Your people Israel… and You hear from the heavens… and do according to everything for which the stranger calls out to You" – "In the case of an Israelite I prayed that You should give him IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS WAYS, but in the case of the stranger, that You should give him according to EVERYTHING for which he calls out to You. This is because Israel recognize the Holy One blessed be He and know that He has the power in His hand to carry out what He wants and if the prayer of an Israelite is not answered, he attributes it to his own sins and examines his deeds. However if the stranger is not answered, he complains of injustice and says, I heard His fame through all the world and I made a great effort and followed many roads until I came and prayed in this place, and I have not found anything of substance here just as in the case of other gods. This is why Solomon prays that 'You should do according to all that the stranger calls out to You'" (Rashi on v 33). Vv 36-39: Even in exile near or far from their land, Israel must direct their prayers to God specifically through their Land, through the city of Jerusalem and through the Temple – even if it be in ruins. For in their very essence, the Land of Israel , Jerusalem and the Temple all attest to God's watchful providence over all the details of creation and to His responsiveness to prayer and repentance. V 41: "And now arise, HaShem O God, to Your resting place… "so as not to wander about as until now, from Shilo to Nov and from Nov to Giv'on". "…You and the Ark of Your strength" – "The reason why it is called the Ark of Your STRENGTH is because through it He executed His wonders and mighty deeds against the Philistines" (Rashi ad loc.). These wonders attest to His protective providence over the Ark and over all Israel.

Chapter 7 The parallel account of King Solomon's prayer on the inauguration of the Temple as given in I Kings ch 8 continues in vv 55-61 with his blessing and address to the people, asking God to incline our hearts to Him so as to follow His pathways and keep all his commandments, and urging the people to serve Him with all their hearts (I Kings 8 vv 58 & 61). This blessing and appeal to the people is not recorded in our present text here in Chronicles. On the other hand our present text adds a most important detail that is not recorded in the parallel account in I Kings – namely the descent of FIRE FROM HEAVEN to consume the sacrificial offerings brought by Solomon and the people (I Kings 7:1 & 3). This was the greatest possible testimony to God's watchful providence over the Temple and the indwelling of the Shechinah as well as being the greatest honor to Solomon, the scion of the House of David in whose honor Chronicles was written. The account of Solomon's inaugural sacrifices and the conclusion of the celebration of the consecration of the Temple as given in our present text vv 4-10 is parallel to the account in I Kings 8:62-66. In verse 7 of our present text, we read: "And Solomon sanctified the middle of the courtyard that was before the House of HaShem… for the altar of bronze that Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offerings and the meal

offerings and the fats" (v 7). There is a difference of opinion in the Talmud (Zevachim 59a) as to whether Solomon literally sanctified the floor of the Temple courtyard (AZARAH) with the sanctity of the Altar so as to be able to offer sacrifices on it, or whether this verse in fact alludes to the Altar of stone which Solomon built attached to the floor of the courtyard in order to replace the bronze Altar made by Moses for the Sanctuary in the wilderness (see Rashi on II Chron. 7:7 and KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on II Chronicles 4:1). Verses 12-22 in our present text recounting God's second appearance to Solomon in a dream (following His first dream-revelation to him at Giv'on, II Chron. 1:7-12) are almost identical to the parallel account in I Kings 9:1-9, except for verses 13-16 in our present text, in which God specifically answers Solomon's prayers that He should heed the people's supplications and repentance if He sends them drought, famine and plague (see II Chron. 6:26-28 and Rashi on II Chron. 7:12-13). God concludes His revelation to Solomon with a warning that the durability of the House of David, the Temple and Israel's possession of their land is conditional upon our observance of the Torah.

Chapter 8 With the completion of the Temple the Shechinah came to dwell on earth, and during the reign of Solomon the kingdom on earth fully reflected the heavenly kingdom just as in the middle of the lunar month the moon (MALCHUS) is directly aligned to the sun (TIFERES) and reflects its light to perfection. Solomon's reign was thus a time of splendor and glory in which peace reigned throughout the land and kings, queens and princes came to listen to his wisdom. V 2: "And as for the cities that HIRAM GAVE TO SOLOMON, Solomon built them and settled Israelites there." In I Kings 9:12-13 we only hear of twenty cities that SOLOMON GAVE TO HIRAM in the Galilee (which in fact did not find favor in Hiram's eyes) while in our present text we only hear of these cities that HIRAM GAVE TO SOLOMON. In the words of Metzudas David (ad loc.): "This is the way of the Biblical text: what one verse passes over in silence another reveals." RaDaK (ad loc.) suggests that Hiram gave Solomon cities in his own land in which the latter settled Israelites in order to keep them in his possession, while Solomon gave Hiram cities in the Galilee in order to strengthen the covenant between the two of them. In sad contrast to the international amity that prevailed in the time of Solomon, in today's Middle East the Arabs demand the right to settle the entire Land of Israel while strictly prohibiting any Israelis from taking up residence in any of their territories. But at a time when the earthly kingdom truly reflects the heavenly kingdom as in the reign of Solomon, it is possible for the kind of "population exchange" that is indicated by our present text in Chronicles and that in Kings, in which Israelites can live at peace in the territories of other nations and vice versa. V 4: "And he built Tadmor in the wilderness…" Rashi (ad loc.) notes that in I Kings 9:18 its name is written in the parchment scroll as TAMOR (the "KSIV") although it is traditionally pronounced as TADMOR (the "KRI"). Rashi quotes the Talmud Yevamos (16a) as saying that converts are not accepted from the TARMOODIM, citing Bereishis Rabbah on the Akeidah giving the reason as being because they assisted Israel's enemies, thereby CHANGING themselves (HEIMEERO, from the same root as TAMOR, cf. TEMURAH). "This is why in Kings the name is written as TAMOR having the connotation of exchange (TEMURAH) because they should have acted kindly towards Israel just as Israel acted kindly to them. However in honor of Solomon the text here in Chronicles does not call it TAMOR but TADMOR, a city of

importance, as it would not be an honor to Solomon to say here that he built a city that rebelled against him" (Rashi on v 4). [Kabbalistically, the HEICHALEY TEMUROS, "Palaces of Exchanges", are the source of all the confusion in this world in which evil appears to be good and vice versa; see Rabbi Nachman's comments on his story of The Exchanged Children, Rabbi Nachman's Stories p. 231.] In fact, even in the reign of Solomon the seeds were planted for the disasters that befell Israel later on, particularly through the degeneration that set in as a result of his marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh (v 11), but in honor of the House of David, Chronicles glozes over the negative aspects, focusing only on the positive. Thus our text describes how Solomon built, embellished and consolidated his kingdom on all sides (vv 3-6 and 17f). While the Canaanites who still remained in the land despite the Israelite conquest were usually a thorn in their sides, during the reign of Solomon they were fully subjugated and set to work to build the Torah kingdom, while the Israelites directed the work (vv 7-9). The Temple functioned in accordance with all the laws of the Torah and the arrangements of the Cohanim and Levites in their various orders as established by David (vv 12-16).

Chapter 9 We cannot call the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon a case of "international cultural EXCHANGE" because although the two exchanged many kinds of material gifts, the cultural influence was all in one direction, from Solomon to the Queen of Sheba. The Targum calls her the Queen of Z'MARGAD (=Emerald? Turquoise? Cf. Targum on Ex. 28:18). Likewise the Targum on Job 1:15, "And SHEVA struck and took [Job's cattle]," renders: "And Lilith the Queen of Z'MARGAD attacked", thereby linking the Queen of Sheba with the legendary queen of the demons. As discussed in KNOW YOUR BIBLE on I Kings ch 10, there is a Talmudic opinion stating that "whoever says that the Queen of Sheba was a woman is simply mistaken; what is MALKHAS Sheba? It is the kingdom (MAMLEKHES) of Sheba!" (Bava Basra 15b). However, Maharsha (ad loc.) explains that all the Talmud means here is that the Queen of Sheba was not merely the wife-consort of a King of Sheba but that she was actually a Queen in her own right, and the classical rabbinic commentators relate to the story of her visit on the level of PSHAT as a visit paid by one monarch to another. Sheba is traditionally associated with Ethiopia, although the Arabs venerate a Temple of the Queen of Sheba in Yemen. It is quite plausible that the sea-faring Ethiopian kingdom colonized and held sway over the Arabian coastline, which is quite nearby across the Red Sea. It was doubtless through King Solomon's trading ventures from the Red Sea port of Eilat as described in the previous chapter (II Chron. 8:17) that his fame spread to Sheba. According to Rashi (on v 4) what impressed the Queen of Sheba about Solomon's table was the geese and other abundant delicacies, while the way his servants sat impressed her because each one knew his proper place according to his rank. Each stood at his post of duty without changing it every day, yet the apparel they wore today they would not wear tomorrow! She was particularly impressed by the special pathways by which he would ascend to the House of HaShem (for Solomon, everything led to HaShem) – "…and there was no more spirit in her". "She used to think that there was no wisdom in any of the other kingdoms except for hers, because her land was in the east and for this reason they were exceptionally wise because they gazed at the constellations… but 'the wisdom of Solomon was more

abundant than all the wisdom of the children of the east' (I Kings 5:10; Rashi on I Chron. 9:4). V 17: "And the king made a great throne of ivory and he coated it with pure gold." Solomon's throne – which expressed how the earthly kingdom reflects the heavenly kingdom – is the subject of an abundantly rich tapestry of midrashic embellishment collected at very great length in Targum Sheni on Esther verse 2. According to Targum Sheni on Esther, it was made for Solomon by Hiram the craftsman to symbolize Solomon's rule over all aspects of creation, but as a result of our sins it was captured by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon, after which it finally came to the hands of Ahasuerus. The latter was unable to sit on it and was forced to order his craftsman to make an inferior version in order to make it appear as if he was sitting on the throne of Solomon. V 29: "And the other acts of Solomon, the first and the last, are written in the words of Nathan the Prophet and in the prophecy of Ahiyah the Shilonite and in the visions of Yedo the seer against Jeraboam son of Nevat." According to Rashi, the "words of Nathan" are contained in II Samuel 12:1-25 while the prophecy of Ahiyah is in I Kings 11:29-31. V 30: "And Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years." In this respect Solomon was greater than his father David, who ruled in Hebron for seven years over the tribe of Judah and only ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for thirtythree years (Rashi ad loc.).

Chapter 10 "And Rehav'am went to Shechem…" (v 1). The town of Shechem had already been marked out for troubles from the times of Jacob and Joseph (Gen. ch's 34 and 37:13). Shechem (=" Nablus ") was in the very heartland of the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe of Yerav'am (Jeraboam). Since the book of Chronicles was written to give honor to the House of David, our present text refrains from clarifying why Yerav'am had fled from King Solomon to Egypt. However, what is lacking here is set forth in I Kings 11:26-40, which tells that Yerav'am – who had been handpicked for his diligence by Solomon to serve as his chief collector of taxes from the tribe of Ephraim – had dared to criticize the king for encroaching on the pilgrims' right of way in Jerusalem in order to build accommodations for Pharaoh's daughter and her household. This turned Yerav'am into a traitor, thereby preparing him for his subsequent role as the leading antagonist against the House of David. Thus it was that Solomon's marriage with Pharaoh's daughter kindled the popular resentment that culminated with the tearing of the kingdom into two at the start of the reign of his successor Rehav'am, as had been prophesied by Ahiyah HaShiloni (I Kings 11:29ff). V 4: "Your father made our yoke hard…" According to the simple meaning of the text (PSHAT), the people's main grudge against the monarchy was because of the heavy taxes they had to bear. In the words of Rashi (ad loc.): "[Your father] was a man who was preoccupied with the exertion of building, and he put on us the burden of financing his workers and paying taxes…" From Rehav'am's eventual answer to the people's request to lighten their burden, "My little finger will be thicker than my father's loins" (v 10), our commentators infer that the new king had every intention of further enhancing the glory and splendor of the monarchy at the expense of the people. In the words of Metzudas David (on vv 10-11): "I am on a higher level than my father and it is necessary for me to have many horses and to expand my household. And if I am going to have

more horses and a bigger household, seeing as my father already put a weighty yoke upon you, I am going to add to the burden because everything will be upon you to finance." From the program of fortifications and military strengthening which Rehav'am later initiated in Judea and Benjamin as described in the following chapter (II Chron. 11:5-12), we can only imagine what he initially had in mind prior to the split in the kingdom in order to fortify the territories of the other tribes and to build Israel into the supreme world power. One wonders if another dimension of the dispute between Yerav'am and the populace relates to the spiritual "burden" that Solomon had placed upon the people. It is known that certain important rabbinic ordinances were instituted by Solomon and his Beth Din – such as the washing of hands (NETILAS YADAYIM) before eating HULLIN (regular food as opposed to Terumah) and the practice of using an ERUV on Shabbos in order to permit carrying in enclosed public areas even though this is not forbidden MID'ORAISO without an ERUV. Were the people asking Rehav'am to adopt a new course of spiritual leadership that would involve fewer stringencies and greater leniency? If this is so, we may discern an interesting parallel between the split in the time of Rehav'am and the split inish "kingdom", where various halachic stringencies (CHUMRAS) pursued in certain sections of the Torah-observant community appear to impel other sectors to seek greater leniency and "freedom" and even to abandon Torah observance altogether. If there is any validity in this parallel, it may be that the elders who counseled Yerav'am to come towards the people were offering similar counsel to that of Rabbi Nachman, who urged us not to adopt unnecessary stringencies in our practice of the Torah but rather to strive to keep all the commandments according to the simple interpretation of the law without seekin today's Jewg to go beyond it (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #235). However the "children" who had grown up with Rehav'am (who in the age of Solomon would all have been brilliant Torah scholars) advocated what a tough, inflexible front, advising the new king not to loosen up by providing KOOLAS (leniencies) but rather to tighten up and impose even more CHUMRAHS (stringencies, vv 8-11). In this context it is highly illuminating to consider comments made by R. Baruch Halevy Epstein, author of the "Torah Temimah", about his father, R. Yechiel Michel Epstein 1829-1907, author of ARUCH HASHULCHAN, a brilliant, detailed multivolume analysis of every law and subject area in the SHULCHAN ARUCH by an outstanding GAON OLAM (luminary of world stature). The Torah Temimah quotes his father – who was a Rav in Belorussia – as having emphasized that while it is much easier to give a stringent ruling than a lenient one, the latter requires greater Torah wisdom, and wherever possible the Rav should endeavor to give a lenient ruling as long as it is fully in accord with all the principles of the Halachah. Rehav'am promised to chastise the people with scorpions, and this is indeed what happened, because when Yerav'am led the Ten Tribes in their rebellion against the House of David, he decided to stop people going to Jerusalem for the pilgrim festivals (which would have led to their reconciliation) by establishing an idolatrous festival in Beth El to rival the festival of Succoth. Yerav'am's festival was a month after Succoth on the 15 th of Marcheshvan, the astrological sign of which is SCORPIO!!! The month of Marcheshvan has often proved to be a time of chastisement and suffering for the people of Israel. "…and now, David, look to your house!" (v 16). The people's contemptuous rejoinder to Rehav'am was, in the words of Rashi (ad loc.): "We can bear neither you nor your Temple!" With this began the split between the Ten Tribes and those of Judah and Benjamin under the House of David that has been the defining feature

of the history of Israel ever afterwards, and which has ramifications until today. In many ways the gulf between today's remnant of Torah-observant faithful and the extensive rainbow of other latter-day orientations to being Jewish or Israeli is a manifestation of this same split.

Chapter 11 Civil wars among the tribes of Israel had recurred from the times of the Judges until the war between the House of Saul and the House of David, and only the generously conciliatory attitude of King David had brought peace and unity to the nation. Eighty years after the death of Saul, Rehav'am initially wanted to use military might to coerce the Ten Tribes into returning under his tutelage (our present chapter, verse 1) but he had the good sense to heed the words of the prophet Shemayah and to abstain from unleashing an all-out civil war, which could only have led to disaster because the split in the kingdom was divinely ordained. Instead Rehav'am had to content himself with a lower-key way of pursuing the expansionist ambitions of his father Solomon by building new and reinforcing existing fortified towns all over Judea and Benjamin (vv 5-12). As we learn from our text, all these towns were well provided with abundant supplies of food and water (see Rashi on v 5) as well as military arms. With the Ten Tribes under the leadership of Yerav'am deviating ever further into idolatry, they had little use for the Cohanim and Levites, whose entire function and organizational basis were bound up with their service in the Temple in Jerusalem. Ever since the marriage of Aaron the High Priest with Eli-sheva, daughter of Aminadav, Prince of the Tribe of Judah (Ex. 6:23), the priesthood had been closely bound up with the kingship of the royal tribe, and thus it was natural for the priests and Levites to continue their alliance with the House of David and gravitate to Jerusalem (verse 13). Yerav'am established his own religious functionaries to serve in Beth El and other cult centers (v 15), while the remaining Torah-faithful members of the Ten Tribes went to Jerusalem to serve the God of their fathers (v 16). Rehav'am sensibly used a series of marriage alliances within the tribe of Judah to consolidate his power over his fellow tribesmen (vv18-21). V 23: "And he DEALT WISELY (VA-YIVEN, lit. 'and he UNDERSTOOD') and dispersed all of his children throughout all the districts of Judah and Benjamin to every fortified city." Metzudas David (ad loc.) explains: "He understood that he was faced with a rebellion and he was afraid of it, and for this reason he consolidated his position by scattering all his sons to all the different territories of Judah and Benjamin and to all the fortress cities in order to guard him from any rebellion. 'And he sought many wives' – to marry them to his sons in order to consolidate his kingship with the help of the fathers of these wives."

Chapter 12 Our chapter traces the beginning of Judah's descent into degeneracy, which started in the reign of Rehav'am, and the consequences to which it led. "And it came to pass that as Rehav'am established the kingdom and strengthened himself, he forsook the Torah of HaShem and all Israel with him" (v 1). The conventional printed Bibles make this verse the first verse of a new chapter, but in the Hebrew text as written in the parchment scroll it is actually the closing verse of

the previous section, which runs continuously from II Chron. 11:18 until 12:1, while the new section (PARSHAH PESUCHAH), which opens at 12:2, relates the consequences of their deviation from the Torah – the attack on Jerusalem by Sheeshak king of Egypt. In concluding the previous section, which explained how Rehav'am consolidated his hold over Judah, by saying that he then forsook the Torah, our text seems to imply that the reason was because he fell into complacency, saying that "My power and the strength of my hand have gotten me this might" (Deut. 8:17). The parallel account in I Kings 14:22-24 specifies in what way Rehav'am and the people forsook the Torah – by making private altars after the Temple had already been built, establishing Asherah (tree-worship) cults, and permitting the spread of prostitution and immorality, all of which were strictly forbidden under Torah law. We need not assume that the people totally forsook all kinds of Torah practice in the same way that today many have become completely "secularized". The flaw lay in the fact that while they continued following the commandments, particularly those relating to the Temple, they simultaneously opened themselves to other cults and practices, which weakened their loyalty to HaShem, who wants us to serve Him with undivided hearts. In retribution God sent Sheeshak with a vast army of Egyptians, Libyans and other African peoples to invade Israel. It appears that Sheeshak may have been a Libyan general who had replaced the previous dynasty of Pharaohs with whom Solomon had been allied in marriage. Sheeshak had already showed his hostility to the royal house in Jerusalem by giving hospitality to Yerav'am when he fled from Solomon (I Kings 11:40). It appears that Sheeshak now wanted to take advantage of Rehav'am's weakness in order to turn Israel back into being essentially a province under the dominion of Egypt as it had been in former times. Sheeshak's invasion caused a wave of repentance in Rehav'am and his officers when the prophet Shemayah explained to them that they had brought it upon themselves because of their own backsliding. After two generations of national independence and dominion over others in the reigns of David and Solomon , Israel would once again taste the bitterness of threats from and subjugation to other nations in order to learn the difference between serving God and serving the kingdoms of the various lands (cf. verse 8). As a result of the repentance of Rehav'am and his officers, God did not let Sheeshak realize his imperial ambitions, but the Egyptian king did succeed in looting many of the treasures amassed by David and Solomon. Despite being chastened, Rehav'am did not repent completely and is criticized in our text for failing to set himself wholeheartedly to search out Hashem (v 14). "Now the acts of Rehav'am… are written in the book of Shemayah the prophet and of Iddo the seer…" (v 15). Rashi (ad loc.) writes that each prophet wrote his own book containing his prophecies. In the following chapter (II Chron. 13:22) Iddo's book is called a MIDRASH. It seems possible that the Book of Kings consists of a weave (MASECHET) of such writings.

Chapter 13 Having reigned for seventeen years, Rehav'am was succeeded by his son AVI-YAH, who in the parallel account in I Kings 15:1 is called AVI-YAM. There in Kings only the barest outline is given of the brief three-year reign of Avi-yah, who is simply described as having followed all the sins of his father before him and as having not been whole-hearted with HaShem in the way that David had been (I Kings 15:3).

Our present text gives us a closer look at Avi-yah, who apparently sought to bring back the Ten Tribes under the tutelage of the House of David through a combination of military might (or bluff?) and intense psychological pressure. He was bold enough to take an army of four hundred thousand soldiers against an opponent who was able to field double that number (verse 3). In his speech to Yerav'am and the Ten Tribes, Avi-yah asserts the legitimacy of the Davidic monarchy against Yerav'am's rebel regime, whose sham idolatrous priesthood of upstarts he contrasts with the authentic Cohanim and Levites who practiced all the Temple rites in Jerusalem exactly as ordained in the Torah. In the merit of their service Avi-yah was apparently confident that he would be granted an easy victory, but his army was in great danger when Yerav'am sent a detachment to attack them from the rear. They rose to the occasion with a display of trust in God, and Avi-yah was able to deliver a mighty though not decisive blow to the Ten Tribes. According to Midrash Rabbah cited by RaDaK on v 17 of our present text, "the great blow" with which Avi-yah struck them was more than just killing five hundred thousand of them. He intentionally left the bodies of the slain Israelites until their faces were unrecognizable so that they would not be able to be identified, with the result that women whose husbands had gone to the battle would not know definitely if they had been widowed or not and would thus be left as AGUNAHS never able to remarry. "Nor did Yerav'am recover strength in the days of Avi-ah AND HASHEM STRUCK HIM AND HE DIED" (V 20). The simple meaning appears to be that HaShem struck Yerav'am, who died, but in fact it is clear from our texts that Yerav'am lived for two years after the death of Avi-yah, and the Midrash learns that AND HASHEM STRUCK HIM refers not to Yerav'am but to Avi-yah, who was punished because after capturing Beth El he failed to uproot the idolatrous cult of the golden calf, and also because in his speech to the Ten Tribes he castigated Yerav'am publicly (see Rashi on v 20 and RaDaK at length ibid.).

Chapter 14 Asa already began to rule over Judah when his father Avi-yah became sick, and after his death reigned for forty-one years spanning the rule of eight kings of Israel (Yerav'am ben Nevat, Nadav, Ba'sha, Eilah, Zimri, Tivni, Omri and Ahab). Asa is considered to have been a righteous king (although this was somewhat marred towards the end of his life, as we will see in II Chron. 16). It happened numerous times in the history of the kings of Judah that one or more generations of kings who veered from the Torah were succeeded by a saintly revivalist king who effected a spiritual re-arousal in the people. This was so in the case of Asa, the fifth king after David, following Rehav'am and Avi-yah, both of whom had strayed successively further from the true path of the Torah. Asa's first acts were to remove the various idolatrous cult altars etc. that had infiltrated Judah, and as we read in our text (v 5) God rewarded him with peace and quiet after the warfare that had plagued the people in the reigns of Rehav'am (vs. Sheeshak of Egypt) and Avi-yah (vs Yerav'am king of Israel). "And Zerach the Kushite went out with an army of a thousand thousands…" (v 8). According to the rabbis (Pesachim 119a), God saw Asa's righteousness and wanted to return all the treasures that had been plundered from Jerusalem in the time of Rehav'am. He thus arranged for Zerach to carry all these treasures with him as he went out to battle. Zerach is identified by some historians with Pharaoh Assarchan I, who like Sheeshak was the founder of a Libyan dynasty of kings of Egypt and who shared his ambitions to reincorporate Israel as a province under the Egyptian sphere of influence. Zerach advanced with his million-strong army along the coastal

plain via Gaza to Ashkelon, from where he turned eastwards to Gath and onwards to Mareshah (which is about midway between Gath and Hebron), threatening the very heartland of Judea. Asa's prayer as he went out to meet these hordes in battle is in the tradition of bold Davidic faith and trust that God has the power to help even the weak and helpless (vv 10-11). God struck the Zerach and his African armies and Asa and his men chased them back to G'rar (known to us from the days of Abraham, Gen. 20:1ff) southwest of Gaza, returning with enormous plunder.

Chapter 15 The prophecy of Azaryahu ben Odeid to Asa and all the people was intended to take advantage of the atmosphere of triumph after the defeat of Zerach and his hordes in order to drive home the essential message of all the prophets: that if Israel will search out HaShem and follow His Torah, their enemies will fall before them and they will have peace in their land. "Now for a long time Israel has been without the true God and without a teaching priest and without Torah" (v 3). In the Hebrew text, the same words can be read as a comment about the past or a prophecy of what was yet to come. In Midrash Vayikra Rabbah ch 19 they are interpreted as a future prophecy that a time would come when no justice would be visible in the world, when the role of the high priest would become defunct and when there would be no more Sanhedrin. The Midrash says that on hearing this, the people of Asa's generation felt completely helpless, until a prophetic voice said to them, "But as for you, be strong and do not let your hands become weak, for there is a reward for your work" (v 7). We may learn from this that even though in our own times the world seems to be becoming darker and darker in many ways, it is up to us to strengthen ourselves and continue in the path of the Torah, "…for there is a reward for your work!" Azariah's prophecy inspired King Asa to redouble his efforts to purify the land of idolatry and to renovate the Temple Altar , after which he called a great assembly of all the people in Jerusalem , including many from the other tribes besides Judah and Benjamin who had come to join him. Being held in the third month (Sivan) this assembly was like a new Receiving the Torah (which originally took place in the month of Sivan) and Asa renewed the Covenant between God and Israel . Presentday lovers of freedom and tolerance may be interested to note that any man, woman or child who did not join in this national commitment to search out HaShem was to be killed (v 13). "And even Ma'achah the mother did Asa the king remove from being queen…" (v 16). There is some debate about the exact identity of this Ma'achah (see Rashi and RaDaK ad loc. and Rashi on II Chron. 13:2). According to RaDaK she was Ma'achah daughter of Absalom, who was not Asa's mother but his grandmother – i.e. the mother of King Avi-yah and the widow of Rehav'am. She was thus the dowager Queen Mother and a woman who presumably had formidable prestige and influence in the kingdom. That Asa was able to remove her entrenched idolatry (which according to the rabbis was sculpted with a phallus that she used regularly, see Rashi on v 16) was an enormous achievement, and in reward for his efforts he was spared war for most of the rest of his reign (v 19).

Chapter 16 The last verse of the previous chapter said, "And there was no war until the thirtyfifth year of the reign of Asa" (II Chron. 15:19). The first verse of our present chapter then continues: "In the THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR of the reign of Asa, Ba'sha king of Israel came up against Judah …" (II Chron. 16:1). As the Midrash Seder Olam points out, it is impossible to take these verses literally, because Ba'sha king of Israel had already died in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Asa (see I Kings 16:8). As explained by Seder Olam and the commentators (Rashi on II Chron. 15:19, Metzudas David and RaDaK on II Chron. 16:1), Ba'sha's attack on Judah actually took place in the SIXTEENTH YEAR of Asa's reign, which was THIRTY-SIX YEARS after the death of King Solomon (because Rehav'am reigned 17 years and Avi-yah for 3 years. 17 + 3 + 16 = 36). Solomon had married Pharaoh's daughter in the fourth year of his reign, and since he died after reigning forty years, he was with her for THIRTY-SIX YEARS. Because of this sin, it was originally decreed that the kingdom would be split into two, Judah and Israel, for THIRTY-SIX YEARS, ending in the SIXTEENTH YEAR of Asa's reign. Had Asa stood up properly to the test when Ba'sha attacked Judah, trusting only in God for deliverance, our rabbis say that He would have given him victory not only over the Ten Tribes but over the Arameans as well, and Asa would have been able to restore the kingdom of the House of David over all the Twelve Tribes of Israel, thereby bringing complete redemption. But instead of relying on prayer and faith alone, Asa employed material means to try to overcome Ba'sha through bribing Ba'sha's Aramean allies to attack him from the rear (vv 2-3). As a result the opportunity for the reconciliation of Judah-Benjamin and the Ten Tribes was lost, and at the end of his Asa became angry, tyrannical and physically sick. Ba'sha apparently wanted to recover the areas of Mount Ephraim that King Avi-yah had captured (II Chron. 13:19; 15:8). Ba'sha imposed a blockade on the northern border of Judah by fortifying Ramah to the north of Jerusalem, south of the Ephraimite cult center of Beth El (our present chapter, v 1). Asa's bribe to Ben Hadad king of Aram in Damascus (vv 2-3) persuaded the latter to stage predatory attacks on the tribes Dan and Naftali way up in the north of Israel (v 4), and news of these attacks caused Ba'sha to end his blockade of Judah (v 5). V 6: "And King Asa took ALL JUDAH and they carried away the stones and timbers of Ramah that Ba'sha built…" In the parallel account in I Kings 15:22 we learn that not only did Asa take ALL JUDAH but also that "NO ONE WAS EXEMPT" (EYN NAKI). Our rabbis explain that he considered the work so urgent that he mobilized all the Torah scholars despite the law that Torah scholars are not required to go out in person when the public is mobilized to carry out building and excavation works in the country (Rambam Talmud Torah 6:10), and he even mobilized brides and grooms from their marital canopies, contrary to the Torah law that a groom is exempt from any wartime duties in his first year after marriage in order to be "clean" and free for his house (=his wife, NAKI LE-VEISO, Deut. 24:5). At exactly this time Hanani the Seer came to reprove Asa for having relied on the stratagems of this world in bribing the king of Aram to attack Ba'sha instead of relying only on God. Had Asa put all his trust in God as he had done when Zerach the Kushi attacked with his million-strong army (II Chron. 14: 9ff), the king of Aram would have been delivered into his hands as well as the king of Israel, "for the eyes of HaShem run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards Him" (v 9). Instead, the Arameans continued as hostile enemies of Judah and Israel until the time of King

Ahaz, when they and the Ten Tribes fell into the hands of Pilessar king of Assyria (see Rashi on our present chapter verse 4). Having failed in his test, King Asa was in no mood to hear the reproof of the prophet, whom he angrily imprisoned, after which he subjected part of his own population to tyrannical oppression, presumably in order to stamp out protests. V 12: "And Asa was diseased… in his LEGS, UP TO ABOVE WAS HIS ILLNESS." The saintly Asa, whose early career had been filled with such promise, was one of five who were "created with a semblance of the supernal form" and all of whom were punished accordingly. These were Samson, who suffered with the loss of his STRENGTH; Saul, whose NECK was above everyone else's but who eventually fell with it on his own sword; Absalom, who died hanging by his Nazirite HAIR, Tzedekiah, whose EYES were gouged out, and Asa who became sick in his LEGS (Sotah 10a). Asa's "podagra" (=gout), which is said to cause pain like pins in raw flesh (ibid.) was not only a physical illness. It was UP TO ABOVE, i.e. it had spiritual ramifications at the highest levels, because Asa had been destined to be the LEGS upon which the House of David would rise and stand again but for his flaw of employing the Torah scholars, who are TOMCHEY ORAISO, the LEGS and supporting pillars of the Torah, in demeaning physical labor together with the unlearned common people. This flaw was the spiritual root of his illness, but Asa did not want to go to the prophet in order to seek out what God was teaching him through this illness. Instead he tried to cure it by physical means, turning to the doctors. Despite this tragic end, Asa was buried with the utmost honor, having in his earlier career succeeded in swinging Judah around from its descent into idolatry and immorality and bringing about a spiritual revival among the people that lasted into the reign of his son Yehoshaphat.

Chapter 17 The time of Yehoshaphat, who reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years, was a golden age in comparison with the clouded times of Yerav'am, Avi-yah and the later years of Asa. This was because "HaShem was with Yehoshaphat because he walked in the first ways of his father David…" (v 3) – i.e. as David had walked in righteousness before his sin with Batsheva and in conducting a census of the population. Solomon's reign had been marred because his foreign lives led him astray; Rehav'am had abandoned the Torah, and Asa had not depended on HaShem in war, but Yehoshaphat was like his "father" David, who was wholeheartedly devoted to HaShem (see Rashi on verse 3). At a time when the prestigious kingdom of Israel under Ahab were worshipping the Baal, Yehoshaphat remained loyal to the God of his "father" and followed His commandments (vv 3-4). V 6" "And his heart was lifted up in the ways of HaShem…" (v 6). Despite the material support that Yehoshaphat enjoyed from all Judah giving him enormous wealth and glory (v 5), he did not become arrogant as a result. For him wealth and glory were of no significance at all compared to the ways of HaShem (Metzudas David ad loc.).

THE OUTREACH KING The rabbis said of Yehoshaphat that when he would see a Torah scholar, he would rise from his throne and hug and kiss him, calling him "My teacher! My teacher! My master! My master" (Maccos 24a). His father, King Asa, had demeaned the Torah scholars in taking them out of the study halls to work side by side with the common people, carrying, digging and building. But King Yehoshaphat now took the Torah itself out to the ordinary people in order to teach and elevate them. "In the third year of his reign he sent his ministers… to teach in the cities of Judah, and with them the Levites… and with them the Sefer Torah of HaShem, and they went around all the cities of Judah and they taught the people" (vv 7-9). This mass arousal to the study of the Torah was sufficient to throw all of the surrounding kingdoms into FEAR: "And the fear of HaShem was on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah and they did not fight with Yehoshaphat" (v 10). Here in a nutshell is Israel's true and lasting solution to the entire Middle East problem and the hostility of all the surrounding countries: send outreach rabbis with Sefer Torahs into all the cities and gather the people to teach them the Torah! Simple!!! Even the Philistines (=Palestinians?) and the Arvee-im (=Arabs?) sent gifts of gratitude to Yehoshaphat (v 11) for saving them from having to make war with Israel!!! "And Yehoshaphat was continuously getting greater (HOLECH VE-GADEL) up above" (v 12). "Three were described with this same expression (i.e. using the continuous present verbal form GADEL, instead of the adjective GADOL, which would suggest that they had attained absolute greatness): Isaac, Samuel and Yehoshaphat. The reason in Yehoshaphat's case is because it says that he was getting greater UP ABOVE, and it would not be appropriate to say that he was 'great' compared to Hashem. Similar reasons necessitate the use of the same phrase in the cases of Samuel and Isaac. But three were described with the adjective GADOL, 'great' in absolute terms: Moses, David and Mordechai…" (see Rashi on v 12).

Chapter 18 "And Yehoshaphat… allied himself in marriage with Ahab" (v 1). The book of Chronicles was written in honor of the House of David and therefore, unlike the parallel texts in the book of Kings, gives only those details of the story of the kings of Israel that are strictly relevant to that of the kings of Judah. For better understanding of the narrative in the present chapter about King Yehoshaphat's joint military campaign with Ahab against Aram, which ended up with Ahab's death on the battlefield, it is necessary to keep in mind what we already know of the story of Ahab from the book of Kings Yehoshaphat's marriage alliance with Ahab – Yehoshaphat married his son Yehoram to Ahab's daughter – was itself an aspect of his policy of "outreach", which was evident in the previous chapter in his sending sages with a Sefer Torah on a circuit of all the cities of Judah in order to teach the people Torah. It appears that in reaching out now to Ahab with this marriage alliance and following it up with strategic cooperation despite the fact that Ahab "did evil in the eyes of HaShem more than all who were before him" (I Kings 16:30), Yehoshaphat was hoping to coax the sinful idolaters of Shomron back into the fold of the Torah. In this case Yehoshaphat's outreach activities very nearly cost him his life when he narrowly escaped being killed in battle (vv 31-32 in our present chapter). Ahab's campaign against the Arameans in Ramoth Gil'ad as described in our present chapter followed his miraculous victories over Ben Hadad of Aram when the

latter laid siege to Shomron, after which Ahab allowed himself to be enticed by the wily Arameans into showing entirely misplaced magnanimity in not only forgiving Ben Hadad but even making a covenant with him (I Kings ch 20). Now Ahab found it necessary to go up to the Golan Heights to fight the Arameans again. As we learn from the commentators on our present chapter, he was seduced into entering the battle in which he was to die by the vengeful spirit of Naboth, whom Ahab, at the instigation of his wife Jezebel, had killed on trumped up charges in order to take his vineyard, which the king so coveted (I Kings ch 21). Ahab asks his in-law Yehoshaphat if he will join him in his forthcoming campaign and Yehoshaphat – anxious to reach out to Ahab – unhesitatingly agrees: "I am as you are and my people are as your people" (v 3). As if to say with a face wreathed in smiles, "You may be idolaters while we are loyal to the Torah, but aren't we all one people?" Despite going so far overboard in reaching out to the sinful Baal-worshipper Ahab, Yehoshaphat was anxious to hear what the prophets would say about the prospects for the success of the coming campaign. Rashi (on v 5) deduces that the four hundred prophets that Ahab assembled must have been true prophets of HaShem as opposed to the usual run of Ahab's Baal-worshiping Shomronite false prophets, because Yehoshaphat – disconcerted by their unanimous answer – asks, "Is there not here YET ANOTHER prophet of HaShem?" (v 6). Rashi (on v 5) explains that Yehoshaphat had a tradition that no two prophets ever prophesy in exactly the same style and exactly the same words, and this was why he felt uneasy. Michayahu ben Yimla, the true prophet whose messages Ahab did not like to hear but whom he nevertheless now summoned, may already have been held in prison at this time, because in verse 25 Ahab orders him to be RETURNED into custody (see Rashi on v 26). Tzidkiyahu ben Kenaanah, who made iron horns prophesying that "with these shall you gore Aram" (v 10) and who later struck Michayahu on the jaw, is cited in the Talmud as the archetype of the false prophet who delivers messages he has not received prophetically (Sanhedrin 89a). In order to hear the prophets, the two kings are seated on their thrones attired in magnificent ceremonial garb in a threshing floor – a large open space – outside the entrance to the city of Shomron . Rashi (on v 9) explains that the reason why our text specifies that they were in this open space is to let us know that the entire spectacle was witnessed by Aramean spies, who would have aroused suspicion had they been found in the city but who could claim that they had stopped by to take a look at the assembly outside the gates because it had caught their attention while they were innocently passing by. These Aramean spies apparently knew better than Ahab which of the prophets was telling the truth and they heard how Michayahu, when pressed, told his vision of all Israel scattered on the mountains like a flock with no shepherd and no master, which clearly indicated that while the people would escape from the battle, it was decreed that Ahab would be killed (v 16 and Rashi ad loc.). This was why the king of Aram gave his troops specific instructions not to fight with any Israelite, small or great, except the king (v 30) – "targeted assassination"! In Michayahu's vision of the celestial court in judgment against Ahab (vv 18-22), the RU'ACH ("spirit") that stands before HaShem offering to entice him into battle was the soul of the murdered Naboth (Rashi on v 20). In order to avenge his killing, this spirit was permitted to inspire even the truth prophets with a false message so that Ahab would go into the battle and meet his death.

Sensing the danger he was in, Ahab attempted to disguise himself so that he would not be recognizable to the Arameans, but no human ploys can thwart the will of God and an archer innocently fired an arrow that penetrated the gap between Ahab's helmet and body armor, killing him. Interestingly, Rashi on verse 33 argues that the archer must have been an Israelite because Ahab's identity was not visible while the Arameans had been instructed to attack no-one except the king. Yet on I Kings 22:34, Rashi states that the archer was the Aramean captain Na'aman (whom Elisha cured from leprosy, II Kings ch 5).

Chapter 19 King Yehoshaphat was fortunate to escape the battle in Ramoth Gil'ad alive and return to Jerusalem, where Yehu ben Hanani castigated him for helping the wicked and showing love to those who hate HaShem (v 2). But as Yehu's prophecy shows, God prefers to look at a person's good side rather than dwelling on the bad, and He would not abandon Yehoshaphat. The king did not follow the example of his father Asa or that of Ahab, both of whom chafed against prophetic rebuke (II Chron. 16:10 & 18:25ff). On the contrary, it stirred Yehoshaphat to greater heights of spiritual endeavor. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that one of the greatest dangers to those who engage in Torah outreach is that of falling prey to the negative influence of the very people to whom they reach out, whose evil tends to attach itself and cling to them. Their way to "burn out" this evil influence is through MISHPAT, judgment, scrutinizing themselves with the utmost honesty and truth (Likutey Moharan I, 59). This seems to throw light on why Yehoshaphat, who responded to Yehu's rebuke about his alliance with the wicked by embarking on a massive personal Torah outreach campaign throughout the whole of Judah from the south to the north (v 4), then appointed JUDGES in every city in the kingdom (v 5) teaching them eternal lessons about true MISHPAT (v 6). If the judge feels tempted to twist his judgment against the weak and in favor of the wealthy, he must remember that it is the judgment of heaven that he is twisting, and that everything he does is under the continuous scrutiny of God, who knows the innermost secrets of the heart (Rashi and Metzudas David on v 6). Yet if the judge wants to step aside so as to evade the awesome responsibility of his role, he is not allowed to do so (Sanhedrin 6a). In Jerusalem too Yehoshaphat established a strong judiciary "for the judgment of HaShem and for controversies" (v 8). In this verse, the "judgment of HaShem" refers to financial cases while "controversies" are capital cases and suits for damages. In verse 10, "controversies… bet

Chapter 20 A LESSON IN ISRAELITE WARFARE The story told in our present chapter appears only here in Chronicles, with merely the faintest reference to it in the parallel account of the reign of Yehoshaphat in I Kings 22:46. This in no way diminishes the great significance of this story as a teaching about the proper way for Israel to react in the face of attacks by their enemies. The children of Moab and Ammon who now made war on Judah lived in the territories east of the Dead Sea and the River Jordan respectively. The Hebrew text of v 1 gives the third group of attackers as the AMMONIM, who cannot be identical with the children of Ammon mentioned in the same verse (as it would be redundant

to mention them again) and who some commentators suggest might be identified with the ME'UNIM (see Metzudas David ad loc.). However, Rashi, Metzudas David and RaDaK (ad loc.) all bring the Midrash saying that these were actually AMALEKITES from Mt Seir, which is part of the chain of mountains extending from the southern tip of the Dead Sea down to the Gulf of Aqaba , and which was part of the inheritance of the descendants of Esau. The main body of Edomites who lived east of Seir were not directly involved in the present war – it was in the reign of Yehoshaphat's son Yehoram that they rebelled against Judean sovereignty (see next chapter). The Amalekites themselves were a clan of Edomites, and according to Rashi and Metzudas David (ibid.) the reason why they are here called Ammonim is because they disguised themselves in Ammonite costumes and also used the Ammonite language in order to try to conceal their true identity (cf. Numbers 21:1 and Rashi thereon). King Yehoshaphat was informed that this great multitude had "come… from beyond the sea from Aram ". The "sea" is the Dead Sea, and Aram in this verse is not to be confused with Aram to the northeast of Israel (whose wars with Ahab and Yehoshaphat were the subject of Chapter 18). Rather, it is identified with ARAN (Gen. 36:26; I Chron. 1:42), whose name is preserved in that of the town Jibel Aram about forty kilometers to the east of Aqaba. (Targum on our present chapter v 10 renders Seir as GIVLA.) This invading army was intent on striking at the very heart of Judah and Jerusalem. They either marched around the southern end of the Dead Sea or else they crossed its narrow tongue on rafts, after which they advanced to the ancient strategic town of Eyn Gedi in order to make their way inland through the mountain passes along Nachal Arugot to Teko'a in the heart of Judea. "And Yehoshaphat was AFRAID…" (v 3). What he did was not to summon his military advisors but rather to "set his face to seek out HaShem". He called a national fast, assembling all the people in the Temple in Jerusalem (vv 3-4). The "new court" before which he rose to address the people was not a newly-built addition to the Temple. It was "new" in the sense that – perhaps as part of the campaign to bring everyone to higher levels of repentance and purity – a new decree was made prohibiting the entry of a TVUL YOM (one who had only purified himself from impurity by immersion on that same day) even into the "Levitical Camp", the EZRAS NASHIM or "Women's Courtyard", let alone into the AZARAH itself, the main Temple Courtyard, the "Camp of the Shechinah", which is prohibited by the written Torah (Numbers 5:2-3; see Pesachim 92a and Rambam Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 4:17). Yehoshaphat was turning to God in the Temple at this moment of national emergency in exactly the way that Solomon had taught in his prayer on the inauguration of the Temple (II Chron. ch 6). Yehoshaphat began his prayer affirming that it is God who rules over all the kingdoms of the nations and who therefore has the power to defeat Israel's enemies. "Are you not our God who… gave this land to the seed of Abraham Your friend forever?" (v 7). Rashi (ad loc.) explains Yehoshaphat's argument: "Therefore it is Your obligation to strengthen Israel's possession of the land and to drive these peoples out, because even a king of flesh and blood or indeed any man who has given a gift to his friend only to find someone else coming to rob him of it would surely exert himself in every way to keep the gift in his friend's hand – how much more so should You!!!" In vv 10-11 Yehoshaphat addresses the present attack of the peoples of Ammon, Moab and Mt Seir (the king was in no way deceived by the Amalekites' disguise),

arguing that it exemplified the utmost ingratitude since when the Children of Israel had originally journeyed from Egypt to Israel, they had specifically refrained from attacking the Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites (Deut. 2:4, 9 & 19). Yehoshaphat concludes by asking God Himself to judge the invaders, because Israel had no strength in the face of such a multitude. In the merit of the king's prayers and the national repentance, Yahazi-el the Levite immediately received prophecy that God would fight for Israel. Yahazi-el was one of the Levitical Temple singers from the family of Asaph, and the spectacular salvation that he prophesied was very much bound up with song and thanksgiving to HaShem. Thus immediately after he delivered his prophecy (vv 14-17) Yehoshaphat and all the people prostrated in gratitude while the Levite singers rose to sing praises "in a great voice ON HIGH". Their songs shook the very heavens!!! The following morning everyone went out of Jerusalem southwards to the wilderness of Teko'a to witness the salvation that they believed with perfect faith would surely come. Yehoshaphat led the way not with weapons but with a call to the people to strengthen their faith in God. Marching before the armed warriors went not an advance contingent of fighters but Levitical SINGERS offering praises and thanksgiving. They sang HODU LA-SHEM KI LE-OLAM CHASDO, "Give thanks to HaShem for His kindness is forever", although they omitted the words KI TOV ("…for He is good…" Psalms 118:1 etc.) because "the Holy One blessed be He does not rejoice at the downfall of the wicked" (Megillah 10b). It was precisely when the Levites sang that God sent His salvation by turning the various peoples making up the invading armies against each other. First the people of Ammon and Moab thought that the people of Seir (=the Amalekites) were attacking them from the rear and proceeded to attack them, after which they fought with and slaughtered each other. All that was left for Yehoshaphat and his forces to do was to gather in the spoils of battle. After this great salvation, they did not forget HaShem and His kindness, but went straight back to Jerusalem to the Temple with harps, lyres and trumpets to give more thanks and praises. [It is interesting that the Biblical commentator MALBIM, R. Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Meir Weiser 1809-79, writes on Ezekiel 32:17 that in the war of Gog and Magog, Edom and Ishmael will join forces to go up together against Jerusalem but that in the course of this campaign they will become embroiled in conflict with one another since their faiths are different and they will make war against each other, and this is how God will judge them. The salvation of Judah from the combined forces of Ammon , Moab and Amalek in the time of Yehoshaphat as described in our present chapter appears to be the prototype of the future salvation as described by MALBIM, making the lessons of our present chapter about how Israel goes to war particularly timely.] The reign of Yehoshaphat was a golden age compared with the reigns of the kings who came before and after him. However, "As yet, the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers" (v 33) – the repair was far from complete, and the people would have to endure harsh times in order to bring it about. The close of Yehoshaphat's reign was marred by his alliance with Ahab's son Ahaziahu, with whom he embarked on a luckless joint trading venture (vv 35-7).

Chapter 21 One of the striking features of the story of the kings of Judah is how a saintly king was often succeeded by a very wicked king, and vice verse. The reign of Yehoshaphat's firstborn son and successor Yehoram was marred from the outset

when he killed all his brothers in order to eliminate any possible contenders to the throne. Yehoram was obviously following in the ways of the kings of Israel, being married to the wicked Athaliah, who was the daughter of King Ahab (verse 6 in our present chapter, and see next chapter v 3, where Athaliah is called the daughter of Omri, who was Ahab's father, and who in all probability raised her, see Metzudas David there). Yehoram himself led the people astray into idolatry (v 11). After Isaac gave his blessings to Jacob rather than Esau, he consoled the latter by saying that if Jacob's descendants would veer from the Torah, Esau would break their yoke from upon his neck (see Rashi on Gen. 27:40). Eight kings had ruled over Edom before there was a king in Israel (ibid. 36:31) but from the time when the Children of Israel became united under Saul, Edom lost its independence and was subject to an Israelite garrison in their territory. Edom remained subject to Israelite rule during the reigns of eight kings: Saul, Ish-Bosheth, David, Solomon, Rehav'am, Avi-yah, Asa and Yehoshaphat. However, when Yehoram led Judah away from the Torah, this opened the way for the Edomites to rebel, and they have not been subjugated until today (our chapter vv 8-10; see Rashi on Gen. 27:40; cf. I Kings 22:48 and Rashi there). "And there came to him a letter from Elijah the Prophet" (v 12). From the fact that Elijah's disciple Elisha was prophesying independently during the reign of Yehoshaphat (II Kings 3:11) we may learn that Elijah had already ascended to heaven prior to the reign of Yehoshaphat's son Yehoram. In the words of RaDaK on our present chapter v 12: "This letter came after Elijah's ascent to heaven. What happened is that Elijah was revealed through prophetic spirit to one of the prophets and he put in his mouth the words of this letter and told him to put them in writing and to bring the letter to Yehoram telling him that this letter was sent to him by Elijah in order that Yehoram would believe that it came to him from heaven in the hope that he would humble his heart and understand that he had done great evil." [The phrase in verse 12, "A letter from Elijah", MICHTAV MI-ELIAHU, was taken as the title of a major latter-day work on Torah "Hashkafa" – worldview and outlook – by the late saintly Rabbi Eliahu Dessler, 1892-1953.] The illness that had taken hold of Judah was because they had failed to eliminate idolatry from their midst, and this spiritual illness was reflected in the terrible physical disease that gripped King Yehoram in his very bowels, the organ of elimination, which became so morbid that they literally burst. Yehoram died just as he had lived – BE-LO CHEMDAH, without any joy and delight – and the legacy of turmoil he left after him almost brought the House of David to extinction.

Chapter 22 The alliance between the House of David and the house of the wicked Ahab king of Israel almost led to the extinction of the royal line of David after the death of King Yehoram of Judah, son of King Yehoshaphat, which we read about at the end of the previous chapter (II Chron. 21:19-20). In retribution for Yehoram's leading Judah into idolatry, an invading army of Philistines and Arabs had captured and apparently killed all his sons and wives, leaving only his smallest son Yeho-achaz (ibid. v 16-17). When Yehoram died at the age of forty, the people of Jerusalem chose Yeho-achaz (also called Ahaziahu and Azariahu) to succeed him. "Ahaziahu was FORTY-TWO years old when he reigned…" (verse 2). It is impossible to take this verse at face value since this would mean that Ahaziahu had been born before the birth of his father Yehoram, who died at the age of only FORTY (II Chron. 21:20). In II Kings 8:26 it says that Ahaziahu was TWENTY-TWO when he reigned. Rashi on verse 2 of our present chapter explains that when Ahaziahu came to the

throne, it was FORTY-TWO years since the decree of destruction that had been made against the House of David two years before the birth of Yehoram, when King Asa had married his son Yehoshaphat to the daughter of Omri, Ahab's father. This tradition is based on Midrash Seder Olam and Tosephta of Sotah, but the written Biblical text itself nowhere states that Yehoshaphat married the daughter of Omri, although it does say that Yehoshaphat "made a marriage alliance with Ahab" (II Chron.l 18:1). This may refer to his marrying Ahab's sister, although it is usually understood to refer to Yehoshaphat's marrying his son Yehoram to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, who plays a central role in our present chapter and the next. From the above-quoted comment by Rashi, we see how the text alludes to something that is not at all explicit: namely, that the association between the House of David and the family of Omri and Ahab had already begun in the latter years of the reign of Asa, when Omri rose to power as king of Israel. Perhaps this was intentionally obscured in our text in order not to impugn the honor of King Asa. Athaliah, who was the daughter of Ahab (despite her being called daughter of Omri in v 2, see RaDaK ad loc.) and a formidable woman in her own right, was the mother of the new twenty-two year old king Ahaziahu, and it was all but inevitable that he would fall prey to her insidious advice and follow the idolatrous path of Ahab that she and her late husband Yehoram had introduced in Judah. King Ahaziahu's alliance with Ahab's son and successor, Yehoram King of Israel, in the latter's military campaign against Aram in Ramoth Gil'ad, led to the death of both kings at the hands of Yehu ben Nimshi, who had been anointed by the prophet Jonah at the command of the prophet Elisha with the mission of destroying the house of Ahab. The entire story, which is given in brief in our present chapter (II Chron. 22:5-9), is told in greater detail in the parallel account in II Kings 8:28-9:28. When Athaliah saw that her son King Ahaziahu had been killed, she immediately set out to kill all male members of the Davidic royal line in Judah in order to destroy all possible opposition to the tyranny she now intended to impose there under herself. Rashi based on hints in the written text (II Kings 11:2) states that Athaliah used sorcery and poison to bring a protracted, painful death upon them. "It was of this generation that David said, 'LaMnatzeach Upon the Eighth' (Psalms 12:1). He saw with holy spirit that in the eighth generation all his seed would be killed by Athaliah, for from Solomon until now there were eight generations, and he prayed that his seed should be left as a memorial and said: 'Help, HaShem, for the godly man ceases…' (ibid. v 2)". It was only the courage of another woman – Yehoshav'ath, daughter of King Yehoram of Judah and sister of the slain King Ahaziahu – that saved the Davidic line from complete extinction when she took Ahaziahu's one-year old baby son Yo'ash and hid him in the "chamber of the beds" (verse 11). According to rabbinic tradition, this was in the Holy Temple, either in the priests' sleeping quarters in the Temple Courtyard where Yehoshav'ath lived with her husband Yeho-yada, who was the High Priest, or in the upper storey over the Holy of Holies (Rashi on v 11). The Holy of Holies is called the "chamber of the beds" because "He lays down between my breasts" (Song of Songs 1:13,) i.e. between the poles of the Ark (see KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on II Chron. 5:9). Of this moment of dire peril, when the survival of his entire line was in danger, King David had prayed, "For He will conceal me in His tabernacle on the day of evil" (Psalms 27:5). Evidence of the comprehensive tyranny that Athaliah wielded over Judah lies in the fact that Yo'ash had to be concealed in the Temple for six full years before Yehoyada the High Priest felt strong enough to reveal him to the people. During those

six years Athaliah raided the Temple treasures in order to pay for the construction of the idolatrous temples and altars she was busy building in order to entrench herself in Jerusalem and Judah.

Chapter 23 "And in the seventh year Yeho-yada strengthened himself…" Yeho-yada the High Priest had received the prophetic tradition from Elisha and was a key link in the transmission of the Torah tradition from Moses to the later prophets: Yeho-yada's son Zechariah (II Chron. 24:20ff) handed the tradition to the prophet Hosea (see Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Introduction). All the true prophets knew that God had promised never to cut off the seed of King David completely, while Elijah and Elisha had prophesied that the House of Ahab would be cut off. The time now came for Yeho-yada the High Priest, heir to the prophetic tradition, to take the initiative to overthrow Athaliah, who was the last surviving vestige of the House of Ahab after Yehu ben Nimshi had killed all the other members, and to re-establish the House of David through the public coronation of Yo'ash. The Cohanim and Levites, as guardians of the Temple and its services, were also direly threatened by Athaliah and her idolatrous ambitions, and now stood at the side of the royal line of David in an alliance that had begun with the marriage of Aharon the High Priest to Eli-sheva daughter of Aminadav, Prince of the tribe of Judah. Yeho-yada took what today would be called maximum security measures in the Temple to ensure that the coronation of the seven-year old King Yo'ash would proceed without any danger from Athaliah and her mafia. Only trustworthy Cohanim and Levites were to be admitted into the inner Temple precincts, and flanking the Temple building and the young king were heavily armed guards. Yehoyada's public display of Yo'ash after six years of concealment must have been a moment of consummate drama. "And they brought forth the son of the king and put upon him the CROWN…" (v 11). This was the crown that David had taken from the head of the king of Ammon (I Chronicles 20:2). David had it studded with a precious magnetic (charismatic?) stone engraved with the name of HaShem. The crown weighed a centenarium of gold, and was testimony for the House of David, for any king who was not from the seed of David was unable to fit the crown on his head and bear its weight. When the people saw that it fitted Yo'ash and that he was able to bear it, they immediately proclaimed him king (Targum on v 11, cf. Rashi ad loc.). On hearing the celebrations in the Temple, Athaliah rushed to find out what was happening, discovering to her dismay that a successful coup had already put an end to her regime. Yeho-yada had her killed, after which he struck a Covenant between himself, the people and the king returning the kingship to its true mission of making Israel the people devoted to HaShem (v 16). While the people cleansed Judah of the Baal worship instituted by Athaliah, Yeho-yada re-established the Temple services of the priests and Levites, which had perhaps fallen into partial disuse during her tyranny. The king was escorted to his palace to sit on his throne and the people rejoiced.

Chapter 24 "And Yo'ash did what was right in the eyes of HaShem all the days of Yeho-yada the Priest" (v 1). The wonder boy-king Yo'ash remained faithful to the way of the Torah as long as he was under the tutelage of Yeho-yada, who had saved his life and with it the entire royal line of David, as told in the previous chapter. However,

after Yeho-yada's death, Yo'ash went astray, as told later in our present chapter vv 17ff. "And Yo'ash's heart was stirred to renew the House of HaShem" (v 4). From the time of the completion of the Temple by King Solomon until the time of Yo'ash was a period of one hundred and twenty-five years (see Rashi's calculation in his comment on v 7). Solomon had built a mighty structure that was designed to last, and it would not have required refurbishing after only 125 years but for the fact that it had been pillaged and damaged during Athaliah's six year tyranny by sons she had from another marriage previous to that with King Yehoram (Metzudas David on v 7). As we have learned in our studies of I Chronicles from chapter 13 onwards, King David had seen his preparations for the building of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem as his main mission in life, and in Rambam's Laws of Kings 11:4 we learn that the main qualification for being accepted for certain as Mashiach is that the candidate rebuilds the Holy Temple. There was thus unquestionably a Messianic quality in King Yo'ash's initiative to refurbish the Temple and to establish a viable system for financing its future maintenance, in which he showed even more zeal than the priests (as we see from v 6 of our present chapter). After the wicked Athaliah's efforts to shift the focus from the Temple to her own idolatrous cults, Yo'ash – who had grown up and been revealed in the Temple itself – set himself to restore it to its true position as the very center of the national endeavor. The basic means of financing the Temple and its sacrifices was laid down in the Torah, which instituted the collection of one half shekel annually from every Israelite besides their other donations (Exodus 30:12-16). Yo'ash now reinstituted and reorganized the collection of the Temple funds from the people as described in our present chapter vv 5-14 and also with some additional details in the parallel account in II Kings 12:5-17. The latter is included in the Haftara read annually on Shabbos Shekalim, first of the four springtime Shabbosos on which special additional Torah selections are read in preparation for the coming festival of Pesach. Initially Yo'ash instituted that the Cohanim would collect the moneys for the Temple, but when this proved to be ineffective he established a special chest outside the main Temple gate where the people could deposit their contributions directly, much to their joy (II Kings 12:5-11 and II Chron. 24:5-11). The chest had a small hole that was large enough to insert a coin but not sufficiently large for a would-be thief to insert his fingers. The arrangements instituted by Yo'ash were accompanied by an ethos of financial integrity (II Kings 12:16) that should be a model for all our financial dealings. "But after the death of Yeho-yada, the princes of Judah came and prostrated themselves before the king" (v 17). This sad sequel to the story of Yo'ash does not appear in the parallel account of his reign in II Kings. According to the rabbis, the princes of Judah made Yo'ash into a god, reasoning that it states in the Torah that "the stranger who draws near [i.e. in the Holy of Holies] shall die" (Numbers 18:7) whereas Yo'ash had spent six years inside the Temple and he was still alive, so that it was only proper to offer him service as a god (Metzudas David on our present chapter verse 18). [Some may find it interesting to note that three of the four Hebrew letters of Yo'ash's name make up the name of another human being whose followers turned into a god.] The new ruler-cult led the people abandon the Temple in favor of other cults. When a wave of prophets failed to bring about a change of heart in the people, Yeho-yada's son Zechariah stood up in the Temple to rebuke them. According to

the Targum and other Midrashic sources, this took place on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which that year fell on a Shabbos. The people had set up a graven image in the Temple and were burning incense to it when Zechariah rose to protest, thinking that his prestige as son of the saintly Yeho-yada as well as being the present head of the Sanhedrin would save him from their ire. Displaying total ingratitude to Yeho-yada, who had saved his very life, Yo'ash gave instructions to kill Zechariah. Midrash Zuta Eichah #1 (cf. Gittin 57b) tells that the blood of Zechariah that was spilled on the Temple floor continued seething and boiling until the time when Nebuchadnezzar's henchman Nevuzaradan came to Jerusalem and slaughtered 2,210,000 outside the city and another 940,000 in Jerusalem itself. Their blood flowed all the way to the blood of Zechariah. When Nevuzaradan enquired whose blood this was, the priests initially tried to conceal the scandal until he threatened that he would comb their flesh with iron combs. After they admitted that it was the blood of a prophet to whom they had refused to listen, Nevuzaradan killed wave after wave of the people to avenge Zechariah until he almost killed everyone. He said, "Zechariah, Zechariah, I have killed all the good ones. If you rest, all the better! If not, I will kill them all!" Only then did the blood cease boiling. Nevuzaradan said, "If Israel killed a single soul and this is what it caused them, what will be of me after killing so many souls?" He fled and converted to become a GER TZEDEK. In the same year in which Zechariah was killed God's vengeance was already felt in Judah when an invading force of Arameans entered Jerusalem and destroyed the entire ruling class. (This was after an earlier advance by Chaza-el king of Aram against Judah and Jerusalem, in which Yo'ash bought him off using the Temple treasures, II Kings 12:18-19). Yo'ash himself was wounded in this attack and was subsequently killed in his bed by a conspiracy of his own attendants. The mothers of the two leading conspirators are specifically described as having been an Ammonite and a Moabitess respectively, because these two nations, whose father Lot had been saved by Abraham, showed the utmost ingratitude in their later persecutions of Israel just as Yo'ash showed the utmost ingratitude to his savior Yeho-yada in killing his son Zechariah (Rashi on v 26).

Chapter 25 King Yo'ash was succeeded by his son Amatziahu, the Hebrew root of whose name, EMATZ means to be strong or courageous. Like his father Yo'ash, Amatziahu showed initial promise, but although a righteous king (as shown by his killing only the murderers of his father but not their children), he was not whole-hearted in his devotion to God (v 2). Amatziahu wanted to quell the Edomites, who had been in rebellion against Judah since the time of his great grandfather King Yehoram (II Chron. 21:10). Thinking that victory would depend on the deployment of sufficient manpower, Amatziahu supplemented his 300,000-strong army with a hundred thousand Israelite mercenaries that he hired for the colossal price of a hundred talents of silver, but he had the good sense to defer to God's prophet, who told him not to bring the idolatrous Israelites on his campaign against Edom because victory depends upon God's help and not on numbers. It seems that Amatziahu found it easier to defer to the prophet when he told him God would reimburse him for all the silver he had paid out for nothing. Amatziahu's campaign against the Edomites was highly successful, and he took hold of one of their great fortresses at Sela ("the rock"), which is identified with the

site of Sela (=Petra) in the mountains south east of the Dead Sea about 8 km south of the modern Jordanian town of Tafila. His massacre of 10,000 Edomites on this site brings to mind the curse in Psalms 137:9. Tragically, Amatziahu showed the same kind of fickleness that had brought his father to ruin, because after his great victory over the Edomites, he proceeded to adopt the idolatry of the defeated nation (v 14 of our present chapter). This time Amatziahu would not listen at all to the rebuke of God's prophet, who left him to find out for himself where his folly would lead him. The Israelite mercenaries that Amatziahu had initially hired for his war were furious that they had been sent away before having the opportunity of taking part in the conquest and plunder of the Edomites, and they turned this affront into a causus belli, invading and ravaging Judea (v 13). The dare-devil Amatziahu, swelled with pride at his recent victory, decided to take on the mighty warrior king of Israel, King Yo'ash, challenging him to stop his people's cowardly depredations and fight a fully-fledged battle instead. Yo'ash replied that a "cedar" like himself would find a cooperative alliance ("marriage") with the puny "thistle" Amatziahu demeaning, let alone a fully-fledged battle, and he threatened to trample him underfoot. Amatziahu, puffed up with a self-confidence that was sent by God in order to destroy him because of his idolatry, refused to back down, and Yo'ash invaded Judah and beat him on his own territory in Beit Shemesh, going on to tear down a sizeable section of the fortifications of Jerusalem in order to ensure that Judah would not rebel in the future. Amatziahu's defeat put him in danger from Judean conspirators, and he was forced to flee Jerusalem and live in the town of Lachish in the maritime plain of Philistia, which had been fortified by King Rehav'am. It appears that Amatziahu reigned as king in Lachish for fifteen years while his wife Yecholiah, guardian of their son Uzziah (=Azariah), ruled in Jerusalem (see Rashi on v 27). But the hand of God's vengeance reached Amatziahu even in Lachish , where he lost his life to assassins.

Chapter 26 The sixteen year old King Uzziah (="God is my strength") became king after Jerusalem had been dealt a harsh blow in the reign of his father Amatziahu with the tearing down of a sizeable section of its fortifications by Yo'ash king of Israel. Uzziah came to the throne during the reign of Yo'ash of Israel's son Yerav'am II, who "restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath (i.e. northern Syria) to the sea of the Aravah (=the Dead Sea)" (II Kings 14:25). I.e. Yo'ash succeeded in restoring the sovereignty of Israel over all the territories over which David and Solomon had ruled. Likewise, Uzziah restored Judah as a major regional power, beginning his career with the recapture and rebuilding of the Red Sea port of Eilat . Our present account of Uzziah's reign here in Chronicles is considerably more detailed than the parallel account in II Kings 15:1-7. "And he did what was right in the eyes of HaShem according to all that his father Amatziah had done" (v 4) – "But he did not do according to his wickedness" (Rashi). "And he set himself to search out God in the days of Zechariahu, who had understanding in the visions of God, and as long as he sought Hashem, God gave him success" (v 5). According to Rashi, Zechariahu was another of the names of Uzziah, who was also called Azariah. He was clearly devout in the extreme – to the

point that in later life he thought himself worthy of taking over the role of the Cohen in the Temple (see vv 16ff). Vv 6-10 describe how Uzziah expanded and strengthened his kingdom, conquering the major Philistine centers in the coastal plain and protecting his southern flank by overcoming the "Arvim" and "Me-unim" (cf. our commentary on II Chron. 20:1), who were Edomite tribes. Thus "his fame reached until the entrance of Egypt " (v 8): he enjoyed international prestige. Uzziah also rebuilt the fortifications of Jerusalem, which had been destroyed in the reign of his father by Yo'ash of Israel (v 9). Not only did Uzziah expand and fortify his kingdom. He also invested heavily in "infrastructure", digging wells for his many cattle and developing agriculture (v 10). Vv 11-14 describe Uzziah's military command structure and army, while v 15 tells of the ingenious military engines he had positioned on the towers and ramparts of Jerusalem to fight off would-be attackers with showers of arrows and boulders. Tragically, Uzziah's very success led to his downfall when he decided he was on a level to enter the Temple sanctuary to offer incense, "because he said it is fitting for a king to minister to the King of Glory" (Rashi on v 16). No matter how pious his intentions, what he wanted to do was strictly forbidden by the Torah, which says that "no stranger who is not from the seed of Aaron shall draw close to burn incense before HaShem, so that he shall not be like Korach and his assembly as HaShem spoke by the HAND of Moses" (Numbers 17:5). The wording of this prohibition alludes to the fact that the penalty for its violation is to be struck with leprosy, because Moses' HAND had become leprous at the Burning Bush (Ex. 4:6; see RaDaK on II Kings 15:5). As soon as Uzziah tried to offer incense in the Temple, leprosy burst forth on his forehead and spread to his whole body, a cataclysmic event that precipitated an "earthquake". The Midrash Avos d'Rabbi Nathan 22a states that "at that hour the Sanctuary was split and the two halves moved twelve miles in each direction." This day marked the beginning of the prophetic ministry of Isaiah, whose book we will study after we conclude Chronicles. The first chapter of the book of Isaiah was not his first prophecy: this is recorded in Isaiah ch 6: "In the year of the DEATH of King Uzziah I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and exalted…" (Is. 6:1; see Rashi ad loc.). Uzziah's "death" alludes to his plague of leprosy. As a leper for life, Uzziah had to spend the rest of his days isolated from the community (Lev. 13:46) and therefore lived in BEIS HA-CHOPHSHEES, literally the "house of FREEDOM", i.e. the cemetery (cf. Psalms 88:6, "free, CHOPHSHI, among the dead"; see Rashi on v 21 of our present chapter).

Chapter 27 Uzziah's son Yotham took over the kingship during his father's lifetime, "and he did what was right in the eyes of HaShem according to all that Uzziah his father did except that he did not come into HaShem's sanctuary" (v 2). Out of all the kings of Judah, Yotham is the only one about whom not a single hint of anything negative appears in any of our texts. (David sinned by taking Bathsheva; Solomon's wives turned his heart astray; Rehav'am abandoned the Torah; Avi-yah followed all his father's sins; Asa took money from the Temple treasuries to send to the king of Aram, and he imprisoned a prophet; Yehoshaphat

allied himself with the wicked Ahab; Yehoram killed his brothers; Ahaziahu followed his mother's evil advice; Yo'ash killed Zechariah the Priest and allowed himself to be worshiped as a god; Amatziah bowed down to the idols of Seir; Uzziah entered the Sanctuary to burn incense; Ahaz went in the ways of the king of Israel and promoted Baal worship; Hezekiah's heart became swelled and the rabbis challenged three of his rulings; Menasheh did evil in the eyes of Hashem; Yosiah did not heed prophecy, and Tzedekiah did evil in God's eyes and did not submit to Jeremiah; see Rashi on 27:2). King Yotham's exceptional purity helps explain the saying of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Succah 45b): "If only Abraham our father would take on himself to atone for all the sins of the generations until his time, I would take on myself to atone for the sins of all the generations from Abraham until myself. And if YOTHAM son of Uzziah was with me, we would take on ourselves everything from the time of Abraham until the end of all the generations!" From this we see that merely because our present text devotes only nine verses to Yotham while the parallel text in II Kings 15:32-38 deals with his reign in only eight verses, this in no way detracts from his greatness. From the fact that the king of Ammon – who previously had been under the sway of the kings of Israel – now sent Yotham tribute for three years running (v 5), we may infer that as a result of the latter's diligent efforts to build and consolidate his kingdom, the center of influence was beginning to swing back from the trouble-stricken regime in Shomron to Judah.

Chapter 28 The story of the later kings of Judah is one in which, paradoxically, a saintly king fathers a wicked king who then fathers a saintly king and so on. The saintly Yotham's son and successor, Ahaz, went in the idolatrous pathway of the kings of Israel and even practiced Molech-worship at a cult-center in the valley of Ben Hinnom south of Mt Zion, passing his sons through the fire in contravention of the explicit prohibition against Molech worship in Leviticus 18:21. According to Targum on verse 3 in our present chapter, Ahaz also passed his son and successor Hezekaiah through the fire, but God saved Hezekiah from being killed in the furnace of the priests of Molech because he saw that three Tzaddikim were destined to come forth from him who would be willing to sacrifice their very lives to sanctify God's name by being thrown into Nebuchadnezzar's furnace: Hananiyah, Misha'el and Azariah (Daniel ch 3). Just as the devotion to God shown by Ahaz' predecessors, Uzziah and Yotham, had brought them great success in building the kingdom, so Ahaz' backsliding caused him disaster after disaster. His reign fell at a time when Assyria was developing from being merely an aggressive predatory nation into an expanding world empire that was changing the entire balance of power in the region. Ahaz' policy was not to try to challenge Assyria. However, Isaiah's prophecies dating from the reign of Ahaz (Isaiah ch 7) detail the efforts of the kings of Israel and Aram to coerce Ahaz into joining them in campaigns intended to "contain" Assyria . The attacks on Judah by the king of Aram and by Pekah ben Remaliah king of Israel as described in vv 5ff in our present chapter were part of this policy of coercion. The attack by Pekah in particular was a colossal blow to Judah in which, according to our text, one hundred and twenty thousand men were killed in one day (v 6). The account of the capture of two hundred thousand Judean women and children by the armies of Israel and their subsequent release at the behest of the prophet Oded on "humanitarian" grounds (which does not appear in the parallel account in I Kings

ch 16) gives us a fascinating insight into the psychology of the Ten Tribes, who were to be exiled for their sins only one generation later yet still exhibited a basic fear of God as well as the RAHMONUS, "compassion", that is one of the three distinguishing features of true members of the people of Israel, the other two being bashfulness and kindness (Yevamos 79a). Before Israelite armies went out to war, the priest who addressed the troops would remind them that they should fight with all their strength against their enemies from other nations, because if they fell into their hands they could never expect the same kindness that the tribes of Israel would show to each other even when they made war against one another (Sotah 42a). The Philistines and Edomites were wresting huge swathes of territory from Judah, yet even as his kingdom was being torn to pieces, Ahaz was not chastened. He thought he could save himself from Israel and the Arameans by bribing the kings of Assyria to help him (vv 16ff). They took his bribes but gave him little help, treating Judah as no more than a subject nation. When Tiglath-Pelessar of Assyria did attack and exile the Arameans, Ahaz went to visit Damascus and was so impressed with the idolatrous altar he found there that he sent detailed plans and diagrams to Uriah the priest in Jerusalem with orders to build a copy in the Temple (see II Kings 16:10ff). Ahaz' policies and pathways brought disaster on Judah, which is why Isaiah in the opening prophecy of his book tells the people: Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, as for your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate as though overthrown by strangers" (Isaiah 1:7). This was the dire state of Judah when Ahaz died and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah, who was fit to be Mashiach.

Chapter 29 We can only speculate what caused the twenty-five year old Hezekiah to go in the diametrically opposite direction to that of his father Ahaz from the moment he succeeded him on the throne. Hezekiah's miraculous delivery from the furnace of the priests of Molech must surely have left a lifelong mark on his very soul. Perhaps this made him particularly open to the preaching the great prophets of his time – Hosea, Amos and Micah – and particularly that of Isaiah, whose mission had begun on the very the day on which Hezekiah's great grandfather Uzziah tried to burn incense in the Temple, and who remained the steadfast champion of the true Torah pathway during the reigns of Yotham, Ahaz and that of Hezekiah himself. Our texts refer to Isaiah's active involvement in the events of Hezekiah's reign only later in the story (II Kings 19:2 & II Chron 32:20 etc.), whereas the purification of Judah and the Temple from the idolatry of Ahaz on which Hezekiah embarked in the very first month of the first year of his reign is described as having been his own initiative (v 3). He showed his boldly independent spirit even before this, when – according to rabbinic tradition – instead of giving his father an honorable funeral, with the approval of the sages of the time he had his bones dragged on a bed of rope in order to bring him atonement (Pesachim 56a). "HE in the first year of his reign in the first month OPENED the doors of the House of HaShem…" (v 3) – whereas a few verses earlier, at the end of the previous chapter (II Chron 28:24) we read that "Ahaz… CLOSED the doors of the House of HaShem." We may better appreciate the drama of Hezekiah's address to the Levites and Cohanim whom he immediately assembled in the Temple (vv 4-11, cf. v 36, "suddenly") by referring to some comments of Rashi later in our present chapter and the next. In the course of his comment on v 34 of our present chapter, Rashi

writes that "the Cohanim and Levites and all those who feared HaShem had to disguise themselves and make themselves into strangers and even go into hiding all through the days of the wicked kings, and when Hezekiah, who was righteous, came to the throne, they could not immediately sanctify and purify themselves for the Temple service". In further explanation, Rashi writes in his comment on v 15 of the following chapter: "The reason why the Cohanim and Levites delayed coming until now was that they could not prior to that give credibility to the matter [of the reopening of the Temple] because Ahaz had despised and rejected them from serving as priests, and now they said, 'Is it possible that yesterday Ahaz worshipped idols and his son Hezekiah immediately in his first year in the very first month already tells the Cohanim and Levites to serve the One God alone, telling us he needs us?' This was why they were apathetic and delayed coming, and the same was true in the case of the rest of Judah whom Ahaz had despised. However, when they investigated and ascertained that everything was for the sake of Heaven, they all came and sanctified themselves for service" (Rashi on II Chron. 30:15). Hezekiah's address to the Cohanim and Levites shows the devastation he and Judah faced as a result of Ahaz' idolatry and its disastrous consequences (vv 8-9). To repair the damage, Hezekiah wanted to renew the original Covenant between God and Israel. Our text relates how representatives of all the Levitical families stood up and volunteered to embark on the work of cleansing the Temple. It was not simply a matter of removing idols. The reason why it took them eight whole days to sanctify the Temple building was because Ahaz had had idolatrous images carved into all the walls (Rashi on v 17). Although a simple reading of verse 19 leaves the impression that they now purified the Temple vessels that in the time of Ahaz had been used for idolatrous rituals, the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 52b) states that those vessels were put in GENIZAH ("hiding", never to be used again) and new vessels were brought in their place, because a vessel used for idolatry is unfit to be used for holy service. "And they brought seven oxen and seven rams and seven sheep and seven goats for a sin offering" (v 21). The sacrifices brought by Hezekiah to atone for the people's idolatry do not correspond exactly to the sacrifices prescribed in the Torah for this sin (Lev. 4:14; Numbers 15:24) – this was HORO'AS SHA'AH, a "one-time ruling". It is significant that for Hezekiah, an integral part of the restoration of the Temple was the restoration of the Temple music as established by King David and the prophets of his time (v 25). It is the Temple music that elevates the entire Temple service, as we see clearly from our narrative (vv 27-30).

Chapter 30 When Hezekiah decided to hold a spectacular Passover celebration in the Temple, the like of which had not been seen since the days of Solomon, he did not summon only the people of Judah. In the true Davidic tradition, he took responsibility for all Israel and sent messengers with letters to the members of the other tribes. This was just six years before the Ten Tribes were taken into exile by the Assyrians (see Rashi on verse 1 of our present chapter; cf. II Kings 18:10). The reason for their exile becomes more understandable when we read that many of them simply laughed at and mocked Hezekiah's messengers (v 10). "For the king took counsel… to hold the Pesach in the second month" (v 2). There were a number of halachic irregularities in the holding of Hezekiah's first Pesach

which were forced upon him by the exigencies of the moment. The first is that Pesach is supposed to be held in Nissan, the first month of the Torah year, whereas our verse states that Hezekiah held it in the second month. This was because the work of cleansing the Temple of idolatry lasted until the sixteenth day of the first month whereas the Pesach sacrifice must be brought on the fourteenth, and in any case, the majority of the priests and the people had not yet had time to purify themselves ritually for Pesach because of the suddenness of Hezekiah's initiative. The Torah itself provides that people who are unable to offer the Pesach sacrifice because of being ritually impure at the requisite time may celebrate PESACH SHENI, the "Second Pesach" on the fourteenth day of the second month, i.e. Iyar (Numbers 9:9-11). There is an opinion in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 12a-b) that Hezekiah had the entire people celebrate Pesach Sheni even though according to the halachah, under normal circumstances only if a minority of the people were impure would those particular people celebrate Pesach Sheni, whereas if the majority of the community is impure they are permitted to bring the Pesach sacrifice in a state of ritual impurity on 14 Nissan. However, the more accepted opinion in the Talmud is that Hezekiah did not literally hold his Pesach in the month of Iyar but rather that he decided to declare that year a leap year, turning what should have been the month of Nissan into Adar II, thereby gaining an extra month before "Nissan", which came in what would have been the second month were it not for the insertion of the leap month. In the times of the Great Sanhedrin prior to the introduction of the fixed calendar, it was indeed at the discretion of the leading sages of the Sanhedrin to decide which year should be a leap year. The reason why Hezekiah was criticized by the sages for adding the extra month (Pesachim 56a) was because he waited to do so until the first of Nissan, suddenly declaring that the new month was not Nissan at all but Adar II and that the following month would be Nissan, whereas he should have made his declaration a day earlier, prior to the consecration of the New Moon (see also RaDaK on verse 2 of our present chapter). The second irregularity of Hezekiah's Pesach was that "a multitude of the people… had not cleansed themselves, so that they ate of the Passover sacrifice otherwise than was written" (v 18) – i.e. in a state of ritual impurity (Rashi ad loc.). The halachah provides that if the majority of the people are ritually impure on the first Pesach, they still bring the sacrifice on 14 Nissan – only if a minority are impure are they pushed off to Pesach Sheni on 14 Iyar (Rambam, Hilchos Korban Pesach 7:1). It would appear that on Hezekiah's Pesach more people were ritually pure than impure, yet the ritually impure still joined in the sacrifice. This was what was against the halachah, and this is why Hezekiah had to pray to God to grant them atonement (v 18f). It takes a giant of the stature of Hezekiah to imaginatively transcend the halachah when the circumstances absolutely require it. The fact that he did what he did proves that there are times when this may be done. [However, it is dangerous in the extreme when halachic midgets take Hezekiah's initiative as license to change the halachah any time they want.] Again we see that the Temple music was a most important part of the Pesach celebration (vv 21f). Rashi (on v 26) writes that the unique great joy that accompanied Hezekiah's Pesach was not because there were more people present than in earlier times but rather because throughout the days of Ahaz and the other wicked kings of Judah, the people had simply not come to Jerusalem for the pilgrim festivals, which made this Pesach a tremendous novelty. Having not celebrated the festivals for many years, the seven days of Pesach were too few for them and they therefore added another seven days of celebrations (v 23).

Chapter 31 The exuberant joy of Hezekiah's Pesach gave all those assembled in Jerusalem the impetus to go out to the towns of Judah and Benjamin and even further afield into the territories of Ephraim and Menasheh in order to destroy all the idolatrous cult centers and altars. With the kingdom of Israel on the very threshold of its final collapse, the House of David was calling to all the Twelve Tribes to return to the way of the Torah. Not only did Hezekiah re-establish the orders of the Cohanim and the Levites to serve in the Temple as instituted by King David (v 2), providing the sacrificial animals for the daily, Shabbat and festival services out of his own pocket (v 3). He also grasped that "If there is no flour [food], there is no Torah" (Avot 3:17), and he revived and reorganized the system of collecting the Torah-ordained Terumah gifts for the Cohanim and Maaser tithes for the Levites so that, with their livelihood guaranteed, they would be able to devote themselves not only to their Temple duties but even more importantly, to the crucial task of teaching the people Torah. Apparently the giving of Terumah and Maaser had fallen into abeyance in the days of Hezekiah's father King Ahaz. The sages credited Hezekiah with having made enormous efforts to spread knowledge of the Torah throughout the land, saying that "he stuck a sword over the entrance to the study hall announcing that anyone who did not occupy himself with the Torah would be speared with the sword. They checked from Dan to Beersheba and could not find a single AM HA'ARETZ (Torah ignoramus), nor did they find a single young boy or girl who was not expert in the laws of ritual impurity and purification (Sanhedrin 94b). The general population were not paid to study the Torah – Torah study was the national leisure-time activity before and after work – but in order to bring the people to the highest levels of Torah knowledge, it was necessary for the Cohanim and Levites to be freed from the burden of earning a living in order to devote themselves entirely to this task. "And as soon as the matter BURST FORTH, the children of Israel brought in abundance…" (v 5). The simple meaning of this verse is that as soon as news of Hezekiah's instructions to bring the Terumah and Maaser gifts "broke out" among the people, they responded open-heartedly. However the rabbis learned from here that while the obligation to bring Terumah and Maaser applies only to corn, wine and oil MID'ORAISO (according to the written Torah, Numbers 18:12), the people "burst forth" beyond the letter of the law and also brought these tithes from other kinds of produce as well even though they were technically exempt (Nedarim 55a). This shows the enthusiastic devotion of the people. V 9: "Then Hezekiah questioned the Cohanim and the Levites concerning the heaps" (v 9). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that when the king saw such enormous piles of produce, he thought that the Cohanim and Levites must not have touched them or eaten from them so far, but Azariah the High Priest (who had served since the days of Uzziah, II Chron. 26:20) assured him that they had already benefited, and that all this abundance was because of God's blessing to the people in the merit of their renewed devotion to His commandments. Vv 11-19 describe the administrative apparatus which Hezekiah established in the Temple and in all the towns of the Cohanim and the Levites in order to supervise the orderly collection, storage and distribution of their Terumah and Maaser gifts so as to provide them with their livelihood and that of their wives and little children

both when they came to fulfill their rota duty in the Temple and when they went about their work – teaching Torah – in and around their towns. From v 16 Metzudas David (ad loc.) learns that the Cohanim and Levites used to bring their small male children with them to the Temple FROM THE AGE OF THREE YEARS OLD in order to familiarize them with the services. The fact that even the little children and other family members of the Cohanim and Levites received shares of Terumah and Maaser testifies to the enormous blessing and abundance in the harvests as soon as the people separated their tithes properly (cf. Rashi on v 19).

Chapter 32 At first sight it is hard to understand why it was that precisely when Hezekiah and his generation repented so whole-heartedly and sought out HaShem, He immediately sent Sennacherib and his hosts to lay siege to Jerusalem (v 1). Our sages addressed this question in their comment on the somewhat unusual phrase in this verse, "After these words and this truth…" – "After what??? Ravina said, After the Holy One blessed-be-He jumped and swore, saying, If I tell Hezekiah I am going to bring Sennacherib and deliver him into your hand, he will say 'I don't want either him or his terror' [i.e. I will forego the whole miracle]. Therefore the Holy One immediately jumped and swore: 'HaShem of hosts has sworn… I will break Assyria in My land and upon My mountains tread him under foot; then shall his yoke depart from them and his burden depart from off their shoulders' (Isaiah 14:24-25). Rabbi Yohanan said: The Holy One blessed be He said, Let Sennacherib and his supporters come and provide fodder for Hezekiah and his supporters" (Sanhedrin 94b). In other words, Sennacherib's advance on Jerusalem, terrifying as it was to a kingdom that was tiny in comparison with his world empire, was not a punishment but rather was intended to enrich Judah with the booty they would take after the miraculous overthrow of his army. Indeed, the rabbis taught that Sennacherib and his army had the potential to be Gog and Magog and Hezekiah had the potential to be Melech HaMashiach and to bring about the final repair immediately – except that Hezekiah failed to sing a song of praise to God after all the miracles and thereby lost the opportunity (Sanhedrin 94a). Sennacherib's advance against Jerusalem and the intense psychological warfare he employed are described in great detail in II Kings 18:13-19:37 as well as in Isaiah 36:1-37:38. Prior to the arrival of the Assyrian armies, Hezekiah took sensible defensive precautions and mobilized the people in preparation for a lengthy siege (vv 3-6 in our present chapter). For the rest, he relied entirely on faith (vv 7-8) and prayer (v 20). Sennacherib's arrogant boasting about the powerlessness of all the gods of the nations he had conquered to save them and his denigration of Hezekiah's efforts to bring Judah to worship God at only one altar instead of many (which Sennacherib mocked as a sleight to His honor, v 12 and Rashi ad loc.) were enough to cause HaShem to overthrow him in order to sanctify His Name. The conclusion of the Talmudic discussion about how He struck his army is that He opened the ears of all the soldiers so that they heard the song of the angelic Chayoth, and out of sheer rapture at such beauty, their souls flew out of them and they simply expired (Sanhedrin 95b). "And in those days Hezekiah fell mortally sick…" (v 24). The story of Hezekiah's sudden illness and the heights of repentance to which it brought him, which secured him another fifteen years' lease of life, is told in detail in II Kings 20:1-11 and Isaiah 38:1-22. What is not directly apparent from our texts is that Hezekiah

was struck down by this illness just three days before the overthrow of Sennacherib's army (see Rashi on II Kings 20:1) – i.e. at a time when Jerusalem was under total siege surrounded by hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers. Bearing this in mind we can better appreciate the magnitude of the crisis and the subsequent miracle. "But Hezekiah did not pay back according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud, therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem" (v 25). Hezekiah's pride came to the fore when envoys from the far-off, innocuous-seeming kingdom of Babylon came to congratulate him on his miraculous delivery from mortal illness, and instead of heeding the rabbinic warning that "blessing is found only in something hidden from the eye" (Taanis 8b), he wanted to flaunt his wealth and glory, and showed them all his treasure-houses and his most precious possessions. Tragically, Hezekiah, for all his saintliness, was unable to stand up to this subtle test (v 31 of our present chapter), and it was decreed that the Babylonians would capture all the treasures of Judah and take them to Babylon (see II Kings 20:12-19 and Isaiah 39:1-8). Yet Hezekiah was spared seeing this decree in his days and died peacefully, being buried with the utmost honor side by side with King David and King Solomon (Bava Kama 16b).

Chapter 33 It is hard to understand how immediately after the tremendous Torah revival in the time of King Hezekiah, his own son Menasheh could have simply undone all his work and filled Jerusalem and the Holy Temple with every kind of idol and altar. According to tradition, when Hezekiah was mortally ill, he asked Isaiah why he had said: "You shall die [in this world] and you shall not live [in the world to come]" (II Kings 20:1). The prophet told him it was because Hezekiah had failed to marry and fulfill the commandment to "be fruitful and multiply". Hezekiah told Isaiah that the reason he did not want to have children was because he had seen with holy spirit that his son was destined to be a terrible sinner. The prophet told him that this was not his business, after which Hezekiah asked Isaiah for his daughter's hand in marriage, and out of this union Menasheh was born. It is unimaginable that Hezekiah taught Torah to all Judah but did not teach his own son. In fact, Menasheh was an outstanding Torah scholar, who was able to expound on the book of Leviticus in 55 completely different ways corresponding to the number of years of his reign (Sanhedrin 103b; compare the story about the lesson Menasheh taught Rav Ashi, redactor of the Babylonian Talmud, when he appeared to him in a dream, KNOW YOUR BIBLE II Kings ch 21). Nevertheless, the rabbis (Sanhedrin 90a) listed Menasheh together with Jeraboam son of Nevat and Ahab as among those who have no share in the world to come, although Rabbi Yehudah (ibid.) dissents, arguing that Menasheh did gain a share in the world to come in the merit of his repentance, which is described in our present chapter. It was not the castigation of the prophets of the time that brought Menasheh to repent. On the contrary, he killed his own grandfather Isaiah, alleging that his prophecies contravened the Torah, as when he said, "And I SAW the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne", Isaiah 6:1, whereas the Torah says "For no man can SEE Me and live" (Ex. 33:20; Yevamos 49b). Menasheh kept on refining his idolatry – starting off by making a one-faced statue in the Temple and ending up by carving four faces on it in order that the Shechinah should see and become enraged (Sanhedrin 103b).

The only thing that brought Menasheh to repent was the suffering he endured when the Assyrians captured him and took him in chains to Babylon, where "they closed him inside a perforated copper pot and lit fires all around it. And when he was in agonizing pain, he begged all the idols he had worshipped but they did not help him. Finally he prayed to HaShem his God and was very greatly humbled before the God of his fathers. But when he prayed to Him, all the angels appointed over the gates of prayer in heaven immediately closed all the gates and windows in heaven in order that his prayer should not be accepted. But the compassion of the Creator of the World was aroused, because His right arm is outstretched to receive those sinners who return and break the evil inclination in their hearts through repentance, and He created a lattice and a channel in heaven beneath the throne of His glory and heard his prayer and accepted his request, and He shook the world with His mighty word and shattered the pot. A spirit went forth from between the wings of the cherubs and brought him back, and he returned to his kingdom to Jerusalem, and Menasheh knew that HaShem is God" (Targum on vv 11-13 of our present chapter). "And he removed the strange gods… and cast them outside the city" (v 15). Rashi comments that Menasheh failed to smash these idols to bits or hide them away out of sight, and this was why his son and successor King Ammon stumbled, as we find later in this chapter (v 22): "And Ammon sacrificed to all the idols that Menasheh his father had made". He simply took them from the place where Menasheh had cast them out (Rashi on v 15). The rabbis said that Ammon burned the Torah scroll and had relations with his own mother. When she asked him what benefit he could possibly have from the place from which he came forth, he retorted: "I am doing it for no other reason than to enrage my Creator" (Sanhedrin 103b). Punk culture???

Chapter 34 The same swing from idolatry and degeneracy to repentance and national restoration that had been occurred time after time in the earlier history of the House of David – as when Yo'ash was installed instead of Athaliah and when Hezekiah succeeded Ahaz – took place when the eight year old Josiah was chosen by the people to succeed his murdered father Ammon. Unlike Hezekiah, who initiated his radical turnabout from the ways of Ahaz as soon as he ascended to the throne, the young Josiah implemented his change in direction in stages. He was sixteen when he seriously began to "search out the God of David his father" and twenty when he started purifying Judah and Jerusalem of private altars and idolatrous cult-centers and images (v 3). He took responsibility to do the same throughout the Land of Israel, traveling to the territory of Naftali in the far north east of the country in order to supervise the work personally (v 6). It was at the age of twenty-six that Josiah initiated much-needed repairs to the Temple, which had been damaged during the ravages in the reigns of Menasheh and Ammon. Our chapter lists the Levitical officers who supervised the Temple restoration work, including Levites who were chosen purely because of their deep understanding of music (verse 12), because "everyone who had a masterly understanding of music and song stood by with musical instruments in order to play during the time of the building work" (Metzudas David ad loc.). Once again we see the central role of music in the Temple, which even had to be built and repaired to the sounds of song. It was when going to an inner Temple chamber to take money to pay for the work that "Hilkiah the High Priest found a scroll of the Torah of HaShem by the hand of Moses" (v 14). Metzudas David (ad loc.) says: "It is likely that when King Ahaz

burned the Torah scroll, the Cohanim feared that he would try to get at the Torah scroll that was placed at the side of the Ark of the Covenant, which had been written by Moses from the mouth of HaShem, and they therefore took it and hid it away. After Ahaz' death they searched for it but could not find it until the High Priest was searching for the money when the Temple was restored." The rabbis had a tradition that the scroll was found rolled in such a way that it fell open at the verse in the curses: "HaShem will lead you and your king that you shall establish over yourself to a nation that you have not known" (Deut. 28:36; Yoma 52b). When this verse was read to King Josiah, he tore his garments, fearing that it applied to him, since he himself had been put on the throne by the people and not by a prophet (Rashi on v 19; cf. II Chron. 33:25). Our rabbis taught that the reason why Josiah sent to enquire of the prophetess Huldah in preference to Jeremiah, who was also prophesying at that time, was "because a woman is more compassionate than a man" (Megillah 14b; Rashi on v 22). Huldah had her own chamber in the Temple, adjacent to the seat of the Sanhedrin in the Chamber of the Hewn Stones, though it was screened off for reasons of modesty (Maseches Middos; Rashi on v 22). Huldah's grim message that the fate of Jerusalem was already sealed was softened for Josiah only by the news that the disaster would not strike in his lifetime. He immediately summoned all the elders of Judah to the Temple, where he renewed the Torah Covenant and brought the entire Israelite population to serve HaShem loyally for the rest of his life.

Chapter 35 In the eighteenth year of his reign – the same year as the discovery of the Torah scroll in the Temple and the subsequent prophecy of doom by Huldah the Prophetess, as described in the previous chapter – King Josiah held a Pesach celebration in the Temple "the like of which had not been celebrated in Israel since the days of Samuel the Prophet" (verse 18). Yet even as Josiah celebrated the Pesach, he knew that it was impossible to avert the decree hanging over Jerusalem. "And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel , who were holy to HaShem: Put the holy Ark in the House which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built…" (verse 3). According to the simple meaning of the verse, it would appear that King Menasheh may have taken the Ark out of the Holy of Holies when he placed an idol in the Temple (or if Menasheh returned it after his repentance, his successor King Ammon may have removed it again), and that would be the reason why Josiah now gave instructions to put the Ark back in its place (Rashi, RaDaK ad loc.). However, the Talmudic rabbis interpreted this verse as hinting that on the advice of the prophet Jeremiah, Josiah had the Ark hidden away in a secret underground chamber that King Solomon had constructed at the time of the building of the Temple, knowing that it was destined to be destroyed. The Foundation Stone at the western end of the Temple in the Holy of Holies covered over the entrance to the narrow, winding passages leading down into this chamber. Josiah had the Ark put away there together with the Two Tablets of the Ten Commandments, the Flask of the Manna, the Flask of the Anointing Oil, Aaron's Rod and the chest which the Philistines sent as a gift when they returned the Ark, in order that they should not be taken into exile with the destruction of the Temple (Yoma 52b). For Josiah knew that if they would be taken into exile, they would never be brought back (Shekalim 16a).

Despite the threat of doom hanging over Jerusalem, Josiah and the people celebrated the Pesach wholeheartedly. Josiah himself provided 30,000 paschal lambs and goats for the people – which indicates that many more than that number of people ate of them, because a HAVURAH of up to a hundred people could all be registered to eat an olive-size quantity each of the meat of a single lamb. Leading officers of the people and the Levites provided the Cohanim and Levites with their paschal animals. The oxen mentioned in vv 7, 8 and 9 were for SHALMEY CHAGIGAH, the festive peace-offerings consumed prior to the Pesach offering so that its meat may be eaten in a state of satisfaction and not out of hunger (Rashi & Metzudas David on v 6; Rambam, Hilchos Korban Pesach 8:3). All the details of the Pesach celebration – eating the sacrifice roasted, accompanying the offering with the chanting of the Hallel by the Levites, etc. – were observed in strict accordance with all the relevant Torah laws. Rashi on v 18 offers an explanation as to why "the like of this Passover had not been celebrated in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet, nor did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept…" – "As long as the people were split into two kingdoms, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin used to celebrate Pesach in Jerusalem in the name of HaShem, while the other tribes celebrated in the name of idols in Beth El and Dan. However, in the days of the judges it had never happened that Israel was split into two families, for in each generation they never had more than one judge, and that judge made them all go in the way of Hashem. Thus in the times of the judges, all the Ten Tribes used to go to Shilo to celebrate Pesach in the name of HaShem, but throughout the period of the kings of Israel there was never a Pesach in which Israel and Judah were together. However, by the time of Josiah the kingdom of the Ten Tribes was already defunct, and when Jeremiah brought members of the Ten Tribes back from their exile, he did not establish a separate king over them, but Josiah ruled over them and they all celebrated Pesach together in Jerusalem in the name of HaShem. After this Pesach Josiah lived on for thirteen more years before his tragic end at the hands of Pharaoh Necho, who was marching his armies through the Land of Israel on his way to Karkemish on the River Euphrates in order to strike a blow against Assyria. The king of Egypt had no hostile intentions against Judah, but Josiah still went out to intercept him because he darshened the verse, "No sword shall pass through your land" (Lev. 26:6) to mean that in times of blessing, even the sword of a nation who is at peace with Israel should not pass through their land, let alone the sword of their enemies (Ta'anis 22b). Josiah thought he was sufficiently worthy to have this blessing fulfilled in his time. What he did not know was that the people still worshiped idols in the privacy of their own homes. He used to have inspectors visit each house to check for idols, but the people craftily had the idols carved on the insides of the two doors that opened up into their homes. When the inspectors threw open the doors in order to enter, the carvings were concealed from them, but as soon as they left, the people in the house would shut the two doors, thereby bringing the two carvings together to make one image, which they then proceeded to worship (Midrash Eichah Rabbah 1:53). Josiah failed to consult the prophet Jeremiah as to whether he should go out against Pharaoh Necho, and he was shot with three hundred arrows that left his body full of holes like a sieve. As the king lay dying, Jeremiah noticed his lips moving and stooped down to try to hear what he was saying. What he heard was, "HaShem is righteous for I have rebelled against His mouth" (Lamentations 1:18; Ta'anis 22b). With the death of Josiah the sun went down on the House of David, and Jeremiah instituted the mourning elegy that he composed in honor of the slain king to be recited by all Israel (v 25). This is contained in Chapter 4 of the Book of

Lamentations (Eichah), which is recited on the Fast of Tisha B'Av commemorating the destruction of the Temple.

Chapter 36 V 1: "And the people of the land took Yeho-ahaz son of Josiah and made him king…" It appears that Yeho-ahaz was two years younger than Yeho-yakim, yet the people preferred him as king (RaDaK on II Kings 23:30). It seems that Yeho-ahaz invaded Egypt and struck a heavy blow there in order to avenge the death of his father at the hands of Pharaoh Necho, but when the latter returned from his campaign against Assyria, he captured and exiled Yeho-ahaz and replaced him with Yeho-yakim (RaDaK on II: Kings 23:33). It was Pharaoh Necho who changed the new king's name to Yeho-yakim, just as Pharaoh had changed Joseph's name to the Egyptian name of Tzophnas Pa'neah and Nebuchadnezzar gave Babylonian names to Daniel, Hananiyah, Mishael and Azariah. The purpose was to show the ruler's supremacy over his officers, whose names he changed at will (see Rashi on v 4 of our present chapter). Yeho-yakim was the object of many rebukes and prophecies by Jeremiah, whom he tried to kill and eventually put in prison, while killing the prophet Uriah son of Shemayah (Jeremiah 26:23). It was in the fourth year of Yeho-yakim's reign that Baruch ben Neriyah wrote the Book of Lamentations at the dictation of Jeremiah. After he read it to the people, it was brought to King Yeho-yakim, who on hearing what was written in it, tore the scroll to shreds with a razor and threw the pieces into the fire (Jeremiah 36:23). "…and his abominations that he did and WHAT WAS FOUND UPON HIM…" (v 8). The rabbis stated that Yeho-yakim had the name of an idol (or, according to another opinion, the Name of HaShem) inscribed on his member (Sanhedrin 103b). Jeremiah had prophesied that Yeho-yakim would receive the burial of a donkey (Jer. 22:19) – i.e. his flesh would be eaten by the dogs. After the rise of Nebuchadnezzar, Yeho-yakim served him for three years but then rebelled, after which the Babylonian king laid siege to Jerusalem and captured him. Yeho-yakim died as he was being dragged off into exile and his corpse was thrown into an open field where he suffered his prophesied end. Yeho-yakim's son Yeho-yachin ruled for only three months before Nebuchadnezzar demanded that the Sanhedrin deliver him over to be taken into exile to Babylon. Before leaving Jerusalem, Yeho-yachin took all the keys of the Temple and went up to the roof of the House, saying: "Master of the World: Since we are not worthy to be the guardians of Your treasures, here are Your keys before You." Yeho-yachin threw the keys upwards, and a hand of fire came down to receive them (Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 19:6). Together with Yeho-yachin, Nebuchadnezzar took all the leading royal officers, warriors, sages and elders of Jerusalem into exile in Babylon, including Ezekiel the prophet, Mordechai, Daniel, Hananiah, Misha'el and Azariah, so that only the poor and lowly people were left in Jerusalem. Thus when Nebuchadnezzar installed Yehoyachin's uncle Tzedekiah as king of Judah (and governor of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon as well), the population of Jerusalem over whom he ruled were on a low moral level. Tzedekiah himself was considered by the rabbis to have been exceptionally saintly: he was counted (together with Jesse, Saul, Samuel, Amos, Zephaniah, Elijah and Mashiach) among eight "princes among men" (Succah 52b), and his original name of Shaloom (I Chron. 3:15, see RaDaK ad loc.) indicated that he was perfect (SHALEM) in his deeds (Horayos 11b). The reason why it is written

of Tzedekiah that "he did evil in the eyes of Hashem" (II Kings 24:19) was because he failed to protest against the deeds of his contemporaries, as when they freed their slaves only to re-enslave them immediately afterwards. "And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God…" (v 13 of our present chapter). According to tradition, once Tzedekiah had chanced upon Nebuchadnezzar precisely while the latter was ravenously devouring a rabbit when it was still alive. Nebuchadnezzar made Tzedekiah swear an oath that he would never reveal what he had seen, but eventually Tzedekiah asked the Sanhedrin to annul his oath and told what he had seen (Nedarim 65a). It was in vengeance for this that on capturing Tzedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar had his eyes put out for revealing what he had seen, while the members of the Sanhedrin who annulled his oath were tied to horses tails and dragged from Jerusalem to Lod (Eichah Rabbah 2:18). With the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple and the exile of all the people to Babylon, it might have seemed as if the Royal House of David – in whose honor Ezra the Scribe wrote DIVREY HAYAMIM, the Book of Chronicles – would soon become extinct. However, God's watchful eye was on the seed of David, and even as Yechoniah rotted away in solitary confinement in his narrow cell in Babylon, God opened a way to facilitate a visit to him by his wife. She conceived and gave birth to She'altiel, who was the father of Zerubavel (see KNOW YOUR BIBLE, Ezra ch 2). It was Zerubavel, scion of the House of David, who went up to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple after Cyrus of Persia gave the signal for Judah to return there, as described in the closing verses of Chronicles and as told in detail in the Book of Ezra. The whole of DIVREY HAYAMIM was written to explain where Zerubavel came from and why it was his mission to build the Temple. And just as Zerubavel went up to Jerusalem to build the Second Temple, so may our Righteous Mashiach quickly reveal himself and lead all Israel up to Jerusalem to build the Temple very soon in our times. Amen.