Spiritual and Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach; JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim)
by Dr. Meir Tamari

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.

On Being a Jewish Prophet part 2
At the creation of Adam, Hashem said, "Let us make Man in Our Image". To whom were these words addressed? The Chassidic Master of Izbitza taught that they were addressed to everything that had been created during the Six Days of Creation. They had approached Hashem complaining that now that they had been created they no longer had anything to connect them with Him. So Hashem said that Adam, created in His Image, would serve to connect the whole of the Creation to G-d.

The Aramaic translator-commentator Onkelos, translates "And Man became a living being" (B'reishit 2:7), as a speaking being; speech being the godlike quality that distinguishes humanity from the rest of creation. That gave us the power to unite the whole of creation to G-d. Mankind has used that power to communicate, not only with other people but also with G-d.

Whether it has been in paganism as vain communication with idols or truly in monotheism with the One G-d, people have since time immemorial used the power of speech to praise or to beseech the Deity. Judaism has added a further perspective to this, namely that there exists a two-way communication between Mankind and Hashem. In addition to our praying to Him, He gave the gift of prophecy whereby He reveals Himself and His words to people, to His Prophets.

A prophet conjures up visions of a fortune teller, witchdoctor, soothsayer, astrologer, or a reader of omens and auguries. In truth, prophecy is none of these; it is simply the revelation to Mankind of the word of G-d. Such revelation could never contradict the Torah given to Moshe or be a new religion, so a Navi did not have the power to create new halakhot; at most the prophet, just like a Beit Din in all the ages, had the right to temporarily extend or withhold certain halakhot in order to improve the religious behaviour of the people. This is what Eliyahu did when he built an altar and sacrificed outside the Temple. When future events such as drought, pestilence, war or exile are foretold, they are merely warnings of Hashem's impending punishment or telling the behaviour that Hashem desired as Isaiah's message to Hezkiyau not to fear Sancheriv when he besieged Yerushalayim (Melachim bet 19) or the prophet's telling Ahab not to spare Ben Hadad (Melachim alef 29). So too, when He wishes to deliver His people from suffering or danger, He shows His will through His prophets.

Sometimes these messages require the temporary changing of the course of nature or suspending them; Divine intervention or miracles brought about in order to save the nation or to help individuals. The Chassidic Master, Shmuel of Sochochow, taught that these miracles did not come to teach that G-d was stronger or more powerful than the natural forces, rather that they have no power other than what He gives them. Such miracles were brought either as commanded by G-d, as the splitting of the Red Sea and the crumbling of the walls of Jericho or at the request of a prophet as "Sun stand still upon Giveon and Moon in the valley of Ayalon", at Joshua's command, so that Israel could complete its war with the kings of Canaan (Yehoshua 10:12-13). Irrespective of their purpose, they were never intended to prove that the truth of the prophecy. (Rambam, introduction to the Mishna).

Maimonides, arguing for a perfectly rational G-d and the fixed laws of His Creation, sees such miracles as divinely planned and built into the affairs of Creation. Ramban, Abarbanel, and the mystics see this concept as making Hashem the servant of His Creation and therefore teach miraculous changing the course of nature is manifesting His freedom from the laws of nature without contradicting the idea of the Rational G-d.

In the days of the Patriarchs in the book of B'reishit there are no public miracles, but salvation, miraculous no less, is brought about in ways hidden from human sight. With the creation of Am Yisrael there was a radical change and open and public miracles were possible because this is a nation whose birth and existence is miraculous and beyond the natural. So from the Exodus onwards, the Tanach is replete with miracles. However, only when Am Yisrael lives in the Holy Land that is the natural habitat for fulfilling its purpose of being a Holy Nation, does it have prophecy and open miracles. When Israel lives an unnatural life outside the Land, both of these cease; there are public miracles on Chanuka and only hidden salvation on Purim.

With Eliyahu and Elisha we have the prophets of miracles. While there are no spiritual or ethical writings, there are the moral and religious teachings of both of them demonstrated not by parables and not by stories but rather by their changing the order of natural laws. For instance, idolatry in Eliyahu's day claimed that wealth, prosperity, victory in war did not originate from G-d and were not the reward and punishment for human actions but rather the gods of fertility, Baal and Ashtoret, or mere accident. So Eliyahu (Melachim alef 17-18) brings a drought to prove that only Hashem sends the rain that is the source of wealth and He withholds it when Mankind does not deserve it, as foretold in the Torah (D'varim 11:13-17 - the second passage of the Sh'ma). Then. when the prophets of Baal and Ashtoret are unable to bring rain, Eliyahu shows that in answer to prayer Hashem sends rain; and the people on Har HaCarmel acclaim, "The Lord He is G-d", as we do at the end of Neilah.

This is the 32nd installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times”

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