THE LEARNING OF YERUSHALMI IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
Dora Bas Rivka Silver O'H
Dora Bas Rivka Silver O'H
II Kings - Chapter 23
Rabbi Dr. Gidon Rothstein
At Long Last, A Prophecy Fulfilled
By Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
King Yoshiyahu gathered the elders of the nation and headed for the Temple. He read the rebuke from the Torah to the assembled people of his nation. He and the people committed to uphold the words of the Torah.
The king had the Kohanim remove all vestiges of idolatry from the Temple. He had them (the idols) burned and the ashes carried away. He fired the priests who served those idols and burned the asheira tree that was planted on Temple grounds. He trashed the rooms used for immorality for these idols and desecrated the altars of the idols. Yoshiyahu wrecked the place where children would be passed through fire for Molech and abolished the practice of dawn chariot racing for sun worshippers.
Yoshiyahu destroyed a lot more places of idolatry, including the altar of Yaravam, first king of the Ten Tribes. He exhumed the bones of the idolaters buried nearby and burned them on the altar, as was prophesized back in I Kings chapter 13, more than three hundred years earlier!
Spying a nearby tomb, Yoshiyahu asked who was buried there. When he was informed that it was the prophet of G-d who had foretold these things, he left that grave undisturbed.
Not only did Yoshiyahu purge Judah of idols, he also removed them from territories that had previously been part of the now-exiled Northern Kingdom.
Yoshiyahu's campaign against idolatry culminated in the spring, in time for Pesach (Passover). A Passover such as this had not been celebrated since the time of the Judges, since Yoshiyahu removed all taints of idolatry and sorcery.
The Navi tells us that no king returned to G-d with the zeal and enthusiasm that Yoshiyahu did. (This suggests that he wasn't always righteous, but repented because of what was read to him from the Torah.) However, G-d's decree was not swayed, as Menashe's evil influence was too deeply ingrained in the people.
Yoshiyahu died in battle against the army of Egypt. He had reigned for 31 years and was succeeded by his son Yehoachaz.
Yehoachaz was an evil king and he reigned for only three months. He was imprisoned by the Pharaoh, who imposed a fine on the people of Judah and installed Yehoachaz' brother Elyakim as king. (Really, Elyakim was the true heir; Yehoachaz had been installed by the masses.) Pharaoh changed Elyakim's name to Yehoyakim, then took Yehoachaz back to Egypt with him. (Yehoachaz died there.)
Yehoyakim taxed the people to pay the fine imposed by Pharaoh, but he did so fairly; every person was charged according to his means. Despite this, Yehoyakim was another evil king, taking after Menashe and Amon rather than Yoshiyahu.
A short Insight into II Kings, Chapter 23
In our chapter, we see that Yoshiyahu took measures in order to rid Yehuda of idol worship and bring them a state of complete teshuva. He removed all of the vessels used for the worship of the Baal and Asheirah and had them burned outside of Yerushalayim. He dismissed the priests of the idol worship. He demolished the rooms of the idolators that were in the temple of Hashem. In addition, Yoshiyahu defiled the places that were used to burn offerings throughout the land. He also smashed the alters.Then, verse ten relates, “He also defiled Tophes, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinom, so that no man could pass his son or daughter through the fire for the Molech..”
The Abarbenel and Radak bring the following comments of the Yalkut Shimoni regarding the avodah zara called Molech.
Chazal say that this place, called Tophes, earned its name through the beat of the drum (tof) that was sounded during the offering of children to the avodah zara. During the offering of the child, there was dancing and drum playing in order to drown out the screams of the child being offered so that the father would not hear these cries and have second thoughts. Though the actual worship of other types of avodah zara was practiced in Yerushalyaim itself, the Molech was practiced outside the city, in a valley (gai) that belonged to Ben Hinnom. In this valley was an image of a calf with outstretched arms ready to receive its offering. They would light a fire near it and the priests would take a child and place the child in the hands of the Molech until its soul was taken. King Yoshiyahu designated this place as a garbage dump for all items of impurity.
