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. "UNTO YOUR SEED WIIL
I GIVE THIS LAND" The promise of nation was made when Ahraham and Sarah were already old, and both childless; the promise of the land that was made at the same time was vague and nameless, only "The land that I will show you". Then when Lot, his nephew and presumptive spiritual and material heir, separated from him, a revelation came negating the possibility of Eliezer, Avraham's disciple, inheriting, but specifically promising a son. That revelation, while still leaving the actual borders vague, for the first time also specifically promised, "All the land that you see I will give to you and your children for ever. Walk through the land, in the length and breadth of it, for to you I have given it" (B'reishit 12: 14-15). For as long as Lot was with him, there was no such revelation since Hashem had commanded Avraham 'Lech Lecha', go alone without Lot" (B'reishit Rabba 41:8; also Rashi). Later, after the birth of Ishmael, came Brit Bein HaBitarim, the covenant that made the borders of the Promised Land clear, defined and unequivocal. Yet there was still something missing from the nation, land and religious equation, there were no mitzvot and Sarah, wife of Avraham was still barren, so then there came the first mitzva, that of circumcision, the promise to be the G-d of this nation as well as foretelling the birth of a son to Sarah and Avraham who alone would inherit Torah, Land and Abrahamic Nation. So these 3 elements - land, nation and faith - were intertwined right from the outset, to form something new and specific only to Judaism. All three possess an individual sanctity that was merged together and exquisitely balanced into an integral unity; nevertheless, they continue to be holy even when they are separated. All three did not originate from the desires, actions, experiences or thoughts of human beings but rather were the workings of Divine Wisdom. The Torah, Israel's Law, was revealed externally from on High, the Nation of Priests did not evolve but was chosen - "Has G-d proved Himself, to come to take a nation unto Himself from the midst of another nation, as G-d, your G-d did before your very eyes" (D'varim 4:34), and the Holy Land was not acquired by them but rather "When the Most High directed the nations to their inheritance, He set the boundaries of the nations, for G-d's portion is His people Yaakov, His inheritance (Dvarim 32:8-9)." (S. R. Hirsch). The founder of this Holy Nation is of a spiritual caliber different from the rest of the nations. "Avraham is called HaIvri; he is on one side and the nations on the other" (B'reishit Rabba 41) [- 'avar' being past or other side]. "Those who follow after righteousness, that seek the Lord, look to your father Avraham and to Sarah who bore you; for when he the only one [who would listen] I called him and blessed him" (Isaiah 51:2). "The children of Heth said to Avraham, You are a Prince of G-d in our midst" (B'reishit 23:5). "He will command his children and his household after him that they shall keep the way of G-d to do righteousness as a duty and justice" (B'reishit 18:19). So too, this Land is spiritually different from any other in that it has a religious and a G-d-orientated soul. "The earth is called 'eretz' because it runs after the Heavens. These in turn reject the materialism and earthiness of the earth. We know that the more intense the rejection is, the stronger is the desire of the rejected one to pursue the loved one. The power of this rejection and the equally powerful pursuit keeps the earth-heaven relationship in equilibrium. Now Eretz Yisrael is the closest point to the heavens and so its yearning is strongest" (Shem Mi Shmuel). It is, "the land which the Lord, your G-d cares for; His eyes are upon that land from the beginning of the year until the end of the year" (D'varim 11:12). "There are 10 levels of Holiness, each higher than the other, and Eretz Yisrael is the Holiest of all lands. Wherein lies its exceptional holiness? In that we bring from its produce the Omer, the Bikurim and the Two Loaves on Shavuot; these are all brought only from that land' (Mishna Keilim 1:6). Because of its heightened Kedusha, there is also a greater susceptibility to impurity and tum'ah. " You shall not take any ransom for the life of a murderer that is guilty of death so you shall not defile the Land, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the Children of Israel" (B'midbar 35:21-34). "So that the Land does not vomit you out as it did to the nations that dwelt there before you" (Vayikra 18:27-28). This is the 96th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
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