Introduction to the Course The "Haggadah," the traditional narrative of the Exodus, that recounts the story of our liberation from Egypt, which we read at the "Seder" on the night of Pesach asks, in one of the traditional songs, "Echad Mi Yodea?" meaning "Who knows One?" We sing the answer, "One is our G-d in the Heavens and the Earth." The idea of the song is to go through a series of numbers from 1 through 13, linking them with something related to that number that has been important in the History of the Jewish People. For example, associated with the number 3 are the three "Avot," the Patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. Similarly, associated with the number 4 are the four "Imahot," the Matriarchs Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah. And associated with the number 12 are the "Shnaym Asar Shivtaya," the "Twelve Tribes," the Sons of Yaakov, who became known as "Bnei Yisrael," the "Children of Israel," the nucleus of the Jewish People. Later in Jewish History, another twelve individuals assumed great importance for the Jewish People. These were the group of Prophets known as the "Trei Asar," Aramaic for "The Twelve" Prophets, who with their words tried to shake their People out of their bad habits of idolatry and oppression, and reliance upon foreign nations for protection and security, instead of upon G-d, that threatened their remaining in the Land of Israel, and the existence of their Temple. It could also be said that they were the "children" of three "Avot," three giants in Prophecy, who shared their goals, Yeshayahu, Yirmiyahu and Yechezkel. "Avot" in this context meaning that each of these prophets spoke a large volume of material over a long period of time in a recognizable voice on basically one theme: Yeshayahu foresaw the Destruction, urged Repentance and prophesied Consolation; Yirmiyahu urged last-minute Repentance, saw the Destruction as an eye-witness, lamented it with a sea of tears and promised Consolation; Yechezkel was in Babylon with the Exiles offering Consolation, and promising infinitely greater Consolation in the future. The voices of the Trei Asar, taken as a group, were like a great symphony, of dramatic and powerful movements. Or, using a visual metaphor, they were like a rainbow; a most appropriate metaphor, because their prophecies encompassed all the colors of the rainbow, from darkest to lightest, from the most somber to the most serene: They encompassed early warning of a terrible storm, desperate last-minute urging to Repentance as the storm-clouds gathered, prophecies concerning the fate of the enemies of Israel in storms yet to come, a seemingly hopeless attempt by one of the twelve, the Prophet Yonah, to flee from the giving of prophecy, passages that have entered the daily and holiday prayer-books of Israel, such as "I will betrothe you unto Me forever,…" (Hoshea 2:21), as well as "And you will cast into the depths of the sea all their sins," from the "Tashlich" Prayer (Michah 7:19). They include Avraham-like challenges to the
Righteousness of G-d, An attempt is made to distill the essence
of the Torah, A prophet tries to raise the spirits of the
People after the violence of the storm, with an explicit promise, in the
Name of HaShem, of the Redemption, And a portrayal is spoken of a destiny more glorious and elevated than anything before experienced, at the time of the Mashiach (All). Who were the Trei Asar? The Trei Asar, or the "Holy Dozen," deserve to be called that because not everyone qualified to be a prophet. A great prophet had to be a great individual, and the foremost quality that qualified one for the job was "holiness;" and love of the Jewish People. Every prophet, including the "Master of the Prophets," Moshe, who spoke ill of the Jewish People (even once in a lifetime of provocations), and even if it was deserved, as it usually was, was punished by G-d. The twelve great and holy individuals we will deal with in this course are the following:
A Little Background Seeds of disunity within the Jewish People, that would ultimately ripen and become a major cause of their near-destruction, had already been sown in the time of Rechavam, the son of Shelomoh, the Great King Solomon. In his time, and for reasons discussed in the Bible ("Melachim"/Kings I), the Northern Kingdom, or the Kingdom of "Israel" that contained the "Ten Tribes," seceded from the central monarchy, that came to be known as the Kingdom of Yehudah, based in Jerusalem. The immediate cause was the harsh taxation policy foolishly adopted by Rechavam, but the basic cause, as HaShem reveals to the Prophet Achiah HaShiloni ("Melachim" I,11:33), was the spiritual deterioration of Solomon that, according to the Midrash, was reversed later in his life. That fate was brought about by his great wealth, that led him to indulge in pools, horses, thrones, gardens and orchards and too many women, as he himself describes in Megilat Kohelet ("And I became greater and I gathered more than anyone who preceded me in Jerusalem" (2:9)), and that ultimately caused him to allow the infiltration of idol-worship into the religious life of Israel. Thus, abandonment of the "One G-d" in favor of multiple so-called gods, had led to the break-up of the Jewish People, the "One People in the Land" (Afternoon Prayer Service of Shabbat), into the breakaway Kingdom of Israel and the greatly diminished Kingdom of Yehudah, and would lead ultimately to the Exile and near-destruction of both. The Kingdom of Israel was ruled initially by Yeravam ben Nevat ("Melachim" I, 12:20), an individual who is compared in his potential greatness to David ben Yishai but who in his arrogance, chose instead to become one of the most wicked men in the history of the Jewish People. Pirkei Avot says of him that because he was responsible for the sins of his entire Kingdom, blame for the sins of the community is attached to him (Avot 5:21), and the Mishnah in Masechet Sanhedrin (11:1) includes him among the individuals who are excluded from the World-to-Come.
The Jewish People were governed by a King, with "checks and balances" to his power provided by the Sanhedrin, the "Supreme Court," and the Prophets (who provided spiritual and moral guidance) for many centuries. The system of government was ultimately a Theocracy, a government based on the rule of G-d, Who has no check on His power except the free-will of Man, with the Torah as the "Constitution". However, rare was the King who was up to that high a standard. Before the split into two Kingdoms, the following were Kings in Israel: The first was Shaul. His rule was followed, but only very briefly, by his son, Ish-Boshet. Then came the great King David, followed by his son, Shelomoh, or Solomon, Builder of the First Temple. Together, these ruled for 120 years. Then came Rechavam, who presided over the Split. Thereafter, nineteen Kings ruled in the Kingdom of Israel, for about 210 years, till Shalmaneser attacked Israel and took its last King, Hoshea ben Elah (not to be confused with the Prophet Hoshea ben Be'eri of the Trei Asar), captive. Three years later, Sargon, King of Ashur, destroyed the Kingdom and exiled the "Ten Tribes," in approximately the year 722 BCE. (It is a matter of dispute in the Talmud whether or not the "Ten Tribes" will return in the time of Mashiach.) In the Kingdom of Yehudah, twenty Kings ruled from Rechavam (including Rechavam) till Tzdikiyahu, the last King of Yehudah. When Tzidkiyahu rebelled against "Bavel"/Babylon, Nevuchadnezzar, King of Bavel attacked Jerusalem, besieged it, and broke through the walls of the City. His army captured Tzidkiyahu, who had attempted to flee through a "secret" passageway beneath the city. However, when he exited the tunnel, he was greeted by Babylonian forces. Nevuchadnezzar, a most gentle soul, killed all of Tzidkiyahu's sons while the father watched; then Tzidkiyahu was blinded and taken to "Bavel," where he died in prison. The City of Yerushalayim was destroyed, its population annihilated or exiled, and the Temple of Shelomoh was burned to the ground. So ended the Monarchy of the House of David temporarily, though later the "Nasi," or Prince, would still be taken from the House of David, in approximately 586 BCE. This temporary cessation of "Malchut Bait David," will last until the arrival of the Anointed King, the Mashiach, "may it occur soon and in our time." The Role of the Prophets According to RASHI, forty eight prophets and five prophetesses were sent by HaShem to convey His Messages to the Jewish People, after the conquest of the Land of Canaan. Ultimately, these Prophets, including the "Trei Asar," were unable to save the Kingdoms or the Temple. But they left words "l'dorot," for all future generations, through the time of the Second Temple, after the Period of Prophecy had ended, through our long Exile. During all this time, we have relied on the Torah, on our prayers and on the prophetic messages of Consolation, of future Redemption, to carry us through until the Day comes when, as Malachi prophesied (Malachi 3:1) "suddenly the Master whom you are seeking will return to His Palace!" Order in the Court! In discussing the "order" of the Prophets, we note that the order that was assigned to them by CHAZAL is the order in which they were listed above. We will discover that chronological factors as well as thematic issues determined that order. Let us begin with the statement in Masechet Pesachim (87a), "At one time period did the following four prophets prophecy… and they are Hoshea, Yeshayahu, Amos and Michah. Yeshayahu was not of the "Trei Asar," but he prophesied at the same time as three members of the "Holy Dozen." Let us attempt to determine the chronological order of these four, although we will ultimately drop the discussion of Yeshayahu for the reason cited above. Michah clearly goes to the end, because the Books of each of these Prophets opens with a statement placing the Prophet in historical context by linking him to the reigning years of Kings of Yehudah and, in two cases, a King of Israel, as follows: Hoshea - "…in the time of Uzziah, Yotam, Achaz, Yechizkiyahu, Kings of Judah , and in the time of Yeravam, ben Yoash, King of Israel…" Amos - "…in the time of of Uzziah, Yotam, Achaz, Yechizkiyahu, Kings of Judah, and in the time Yeravam, ben Yoash, King of Israel…" Yeshayahu - "…in the time of Uzziah, Yotam, Achaz, Yechizkiyahu, Kings of Judah…" Michah - "…in the time of Yotam, Achaz, Yechizkiyahu, Kings of Judah…" Since Michah did not prophecy in the time of Uzziah, he goes to the bottom of the chronological list. Yeshayahu will go into the third slot because in his prophecies, he alone refers to a King of Israel, Pekach ben Remalyahu, who arose approximately thirteen years after Yeravam ben Yoash, the King of Israel mentioned by both Hoshea and Amos. Between and Amos and Hoshea, it is impossible to prove which of them prophesied first, except that CHAZAL apparently had a tradition that Hoshea was the first. So we now have, as the first three Prophets in the "Trei Asar," Hoshea, Amos and Michah. And similarly, the final three members of "Trei Asar," are arranged chronologically. The accepted order is Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Chaggai prophesied as work on the "Bayit Sheni," the Second Temple was just getting started. Zechariah prophesied during the construction, to keep the morale of the builders up, despite the difficulties thrown in the way by the Shomronim, and Malachi prophesied after the construction of the "Bayit," which was both physically and spiritually inferior to its predecessor, so that the Jewish People should not therefore be discouraged. Thematic Issues Now thematic issues; that is, factors based
on the theme, or idea, that the Prophets are dealing with, enter to modify
the beginning order of the "Twelve." We find that Yoel is
inserted between Hoshea and Amos, and Ovadiah and Yonah
are inserted between Amos and Michah. "I will be as the dew unto Israel; In the Book of Yoel, we find the following somewhat similar verses: "… Behold, I will send you corn, and
wine and oil, "Be not afraid, you beasts of the
field; The Book of Ovadiah is placed after Sefer Amos because both prophecy concerning the fate of Edom. The Sages identify Ovadiah as the Prophet who served as overseer of the royal household in the time of King Achav (875-853 BCE), the Prophet who was able to save one hundred other prophets from persecution at the hands of Izevel, the Queen, wife of Achav. According to tradition, he was a convert, descended from Eliphaz, son of Esav. If this dating is correct, Ovadiah is the earliest of the Trei Asar, by some seventy five years, but he is located after Amos, because he too prophesied concerning his ancestral nation (Ovadiah 1:10,11,18), "For the violence done to your brother
Yaakov, "In the day that you stood aloof, "And the House of Yaakov shall be a
fire, The Book of Yonah is placed before the Book of Michah because both prophesied concerning the Nation of Ashur. The Prophet Yonah, who tried to flee to Tarshish from before HaShem, saved Nineveh, by delivering the message from HaShem that (Yonah 3:4), "…In another forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown." The King of Nineveh reacted appropriately to this message, and he led his people in doing "Teshuvah," Repentance. But the repentant feelings didn't last long because Michah was commanded to prophecy (Michah 5:5), "And they shall lay waste the Land of
Assyria with the sword, For the last six Books of the Trei Asar, we return basically to chronological sequencing. For Nachum and Chavakuk both testified in the days of the terribly wicked King Menashe. Tzephaniah prophesied in the days of the righteous King Yoshiahu, son of Menashe. How ironic! That Menashe, one of the most evil of the Kings of Yehudah, should be the connector between his righteous father, Chizkiyahu, and his righteous son, Yoshiyahu! And, as mentioned above, Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the last of the Prophets, were arranged in chronological order. Malachi sat on the "Anshei K'nesset HaGedolah," "Men of the Great Assembly," a group of 120 members that met for about 200 years at the beginning of the Second Temple period, and provided critical leadership for the Jewish People at that time. They were the ones who defined the contents of the Hebrew Bible, as well as organized the public prayers, and enacted important decrees. When Malachi realized that the Divine Presence was about to depart from the Jewish People for a long period, he ordained that the twelve "Minor Prophets" ("minor" only in the sense of quantity, not quality, for their meaning and value were truly "l'dorot," for all generations), be collected, and considered for inclusion in the "Sacred Canon;" that is, the Hebrew Bible. The Talmud says that the Divine Presence has not totally abandoned the Jewish People in its long Exile. Rather, the gift of Prophecy was left in the province of (holy) fools and madmen!
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