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. Justice or Mercy? - On
being a Jewish Prophet, part 6 Apart from owing his life to Eliyahu, he is also his disciple, continuing the battle for justice that should not give way to mercy. When commanded to go to Nineveh, capital of Assyria in Mesopotamia, and prophesy its impending destruction, Jonah flees. This reaction to prophecy is common to many of our prophets; Moshe repeatedly tried to avoid his mission while Yermiyahu claimed that he was too young to be a prophet. However, Yonah’s evasion is radically different from all the others. They all claimed their inadequacy and shortcomings, not objections to the task, whereas Yona couldn’t accept the very mission. Not only did he reject his mission, but when the storm threatened the ship that he hired to take him to Tarshish [Spain or North Africa?], he went to sleep; “Sleep frees a person from the enslavement of the external world” (Harav Kook, Orot Hakodesh pp304). What made Yonah flee from his prophetic mission and why did Hashem pursue him relentlessly to force him to execute it? There are two major trends of thought amongst Chazal and our commentators. Throughout the book of Yonah, we must realize, there is no mention of Israel, only of a gentile nation, something unparalleled in the Neviim, so, all saw the whole purpose of the mission as revolving around the subject of Teshuva. This is to show that Hashem has mercy on all his creatures, even on idolators, especially on penitents (Radak). The first school concerns itself with Nineveh. They were Israel’s enemy, the ones who destroyed the Northern Kingdom and carried off the Ten Tribes into captivity. Yonah, knowing Hashem’s mercy feared that they would repent and thus be saved. This would be a mark of shame for Israel. Hashem had sent many prophets to them, calling on them to repent but to no avail. Here, these idolators received only one warning and immediately they did teshuva. Furthermore, perhaps these idolators have only a limited capacity for doing teshuva? Where is the justice in forgiving idolators, rapists and murderers? Where is the mercy for the widows and orphans, and all those who suffered at the hands of the Assyrians? According to the second school, Yonah
queried substituting mercy for justice, the chesed of G-d’s that led Him
to forgive them, despite their sins. There is a discussion in the Talmud
concerning this Teshuva. Some held that they did complete teshuva.
However, perhaps, out of fear of the punishment foretold by Yonah,
theywere quick to do teshuva and then when the danger had passed, just as
easily they would return to their old ways? In either case, Yonah, like Eliyahu before him, insisted that Justice should cleave the mountain, so that people should always pay the penalty for their wrongdoing. Mercy without Emet would be a travesty. Eliyahu, when asked twice what he was doing in the cave where Moshe had asked for forgiveness and had been taught the13 attributes of G-d’s mercy, replied with a litany of Israel’s sins. So too, Yonah, who fled in order not to bring Nineveh to teshuva, was deeply pained by G-d’s acceptance of the teshuva of Nineveh. To which G-d replied, “ You had mercy at the destruction of the gourd for which you did not labor, and I should not have mercy on a great city” (Yonah 4:11). Furthermore, he had to witness the moral behavior of the gentile sailors. These, when looking for ways to save the ship, cast lots to find out who was to blame. When it was obvious that it was Yonah, they did not kill him but acting on his words, that G-d was angry only with him, and on his advice, cast him overboard. However, first they tried to make their way to the shore, then caste off their property and cargo, and only after pleading for Divine forgiveness for their deed, did they throw him off the ship. Chazal add that when seeing the miracles that Hashem did, they cast aside their idols, circumcised themselves, and together with their wives made pilgrimages to Jerusalem (Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 10). Even though it is quite clear that Judaism insists on preserving the balance between justice and mercy; people bear the consequences of their actions, nevertheless Hashem is long suffering, slow to anger, merciful and always welcomes the penitent; although this teshuva does not necessarily bring escape from punishment. "They asked of Wisdom [Ketuvim], ‘What
should be the punishment of one who sins? Wisdom answered ‘evil will
pursue sinners’ (Proverbs 13:21). Then they asked the prophets who
answered, ‘The soul that sins will die’ (Yechezkel 18:4). However, when
they asked Hashem, the answer was,‘Let the sinner do teshuva and he will
be forgiven’" (Yerushalmi Makot 2:6). [The
Parshat B'har-B'chukotai Homepage]
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