Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim) These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. The War Against Idolatry (Melachim
Alef 18) Idolatry had entered a new phase. The people of Israel and their king Achav believed in the G-d of Israel as a universal G-d, the Creator - the first cause. But this G-d was far removed from the every day affairs of human beings. These affairs were believed to be regulated by the forces of Nature. Rain came because of physical laws, prosperity came because of hard work or luck, and peace came because they were stronger than the surrounding nations. However, now, in addition to the many gods and spirits that had been worshiped in Israel from the time of the Judges, there emerged two main deities; Baal and Ashtoret, the male and female deities of fertility that were the basis of the idol worship imported from Phonecia. It is against this form of idolatry that Eliyahu HaNavi battled on Har Carmel. The story begins in the last verses of Chapter 16, verse 34, of the Book of Kings. There we read that Hiel rebuilt the city of Jericho; the foundations thereof with the death of his firstborn son and the lintels of the city with that of his youngest, as foretold by Yehoshua. Yehoshua had, in the name of G-d, decreed that whoever rebuilt Jericho, or another city elsewhere with the same name, or one on the same site but with a different name, would lose his children in the process of building (Yehoshua 6:26-27). The sages tell us that Eliyahu and Achav went to comfort the mourners of the house of Hiel. On the way, there developed a theological discussion between them. For Achav, the fate of the children of Hiel was only an accident or a mere coincidence or natural causes, while for Eliyahu it was the fulfillment of a Divine prophecy. Said Achav. "Moses said, that if we worship idols there will be no rain and we will be punished by drought (Deut. 11:13-21). There isn't an idol in the world that I, and the Jewish People haven't worshiped, and yet the harvests are plentiful, the country is prosperous and rain comes in its season. If the Divine Reward and Punishment prophesied by Moses for our sins is not fulfilled, why should we accept that there could be such punishment for the sins of Hiel?" At that stage Eliyahu said, "By the God before Whom I stand, there shall not be rain until I command it" (Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 130a). Throughout the Tanach, rain is the reward for national observance of God's laws and His moral teachings, while drought is the punishment for the neglect of these laws. For Achav and his generation, however, rain is some- thing dependent on the pleasure of Baal and Ashtoret, to be won by bribing or placating them. Thereby they freed themselves from the moral responsibility that would flow from the understanding that natural phenomena were a reward or punishment for human behavior. With regard to fire we see exactly the same thought process. Ever since the dawn of history, men have worshiped fire. Darkness, cold and raw food, these are afflictions that strike terror into the very being of human beings. The sun disk as god of light and well being, darkness as evil and suffering and various forms of fire, figure very prominently throughout the whole gamut of pagan religions and folklore. Fire is one of the elements, which, like water, are both a blessing but can also be a curse. Therefore, it was natural for people to attribute both of these phenomena to natural causes. In contradistinction to this, Torah came to show that both of them are merely servants of the One Who created them. And therefore Eliyahu was going to demonstrate that there could not be any co-existence between Ba'al and Ashtoret, the god and goddess of fertility and of natural causes, and the God of Israel. He challenged their priests to a duel on the Carmel, to see who could bring down fire from heaven. There is the atmosphere of a carefully controlled scientific experiment to this duel, one that excluded completely any element of chance, fraud, or illusion. The two bullocks chosen for the sacrifice were to be identical in height, in beauty, in power and in age. The prophets of Ba'al and Ashtoret were given the first opportunity to bring down fire. They also had the advantage of numbers, since Eliyahu was alone compared to their 400. They were given the further advantage of having unlimited time to perform the miracle; even the period of midday, when the sun in the Land of Israel is at its highest. Very often, fires are caused by spontaneous combustion as a result of the reflection of its rays at this time of day. Now, late in the afternoon at the time of the offering of the Mincha Sacrifice, Eliyahu digs a trench around the altar. He fills the trench with water, which he poured over the stones, over the wood and over the sacrifice. There is no chance of either accident or trickery. Eliyahu's prayer that day on Carmel, is a simple one. There is simply an appeal to God's mercy that which will show the people that He is the Judge who rewards their national achievements with wealth and their failures with poverty. So too, on Yom Kippur at the end of the long fast, after there has been confession, when our physical and spiritual powers wane, the Neilah service is built solely around the Thirteen Principles of God's merit of mercy. All that remains is G-d's mercy. And therefore, like our fathers on Har HaCarmel, when we understand that only He is the real source of our wealth and successes - not Baal and Ashtoret, we cry out HaShem Hu HaElokim, HaShem is The G-d. This is the fifth installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
Parshat Ki-Tavo Homepage]
|
