Jerusalem Anthology - Ezra

Esther Raba (Vilna) Petichtot 8 R’ Chanina bar Ada opened with “The words of a wise man's mouth find favor…” (Ecclesiastes 10:12) This refers to Cyrus, as it says “So said Cyrus, the king of Persia, 'All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of the heavens delivered to me, and He commanded me to build Him a House in Jerusalem, which is in Judea.” (Ezra 1:2) “…but a fool's lips will destroy him.” (Ecclesiastes 10:12) Because he said “…He is the God Who is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:3) “The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly…” (Ecclesiastes 10:13) What folly? “Who is among you of all His people, may his God be with him…” (Ezra 1:3) “…and the end of his speech is grievous madness.” (Ecclesiastes 10:13) For he decreed and said ‘those who have already crossed the river Perat are across, but those who have not crossed will not cross.’ Another explanation. ‘The beginning of the words’ refers to Ahasuerus, as it says “And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation…” (Ezra 4:6) ‘and the end of his speech’ Because he came up and brought the building of the Holy Temple to a halt. Since everyone saw that is was so, they began to cry – oy! “Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus…” (Esther 1:1)

Malbim Ezra 1:3 Who is among you – He said this to the nations: those whom there is found among you any of His people. Since the building of His house is only possible at the hands of His people, therefore you must send them there. may his God be with him – He made this all dependent upon Divine assistance and arousal from above, whether it be the going up to Jerusalem of which it says “and he may ascend to Jerusalem” or the building on which it says “and let him build the House of the Lord, God of Israel.” This is all to say that it is written of the future “…for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” It will not be said in an exclusive fashion that He is the God of Israel because all the nations will serve Him, but now this time has not arrived. On this it says “He is the God Who is in Jerusalem” exclusively, because the guidance of all the world outside of Jerusalem has been handed over to the system in his opinion. Here it says that anyone who arouses himself to go up and build, let him go.

Esther Raba (Vilna) Petichtot 5 Another explanation. “As if a man flees from the lion…” (Amos 5:19) This refers to Nevuchadnezzar. “…and the bear meets him…” (ibid.) This refers to Belshazzar. “…and he comes to the house and leans his hand on the wall, and a serpent bites him.” (ibid.) This refers to Haman, who stirred up passion like the snake. This is what is written “Rehum was the secretary, and Shimshai was the scribe…” (Ezra 4:8) This is Haman’s son. “…they wrote a letter…to Artaxerxes the king, as is stated.” (ibid.) And what was written in it? “Now issue an order to stop these men…” (Ezra 4:21)

Malbim Ezra 4:12 The question: how could they have said that they were building Jerusalem, which is a clear lie, because they only rebuilt the Temple as Let it be known to the king – From here begins the substance of the request. who ascended from you upon us - You sent them for no reason [this is a proof that the building was stopped in the days of Cyrus, because if this occurred after him one would have to make a forced reading that this means ‘from your country’]. have come to Jerusalem, the rebellious and sinful city they are building – In this we find the deceit and falsehood which the writers committed, because there are two possible interpretations to this statement. One could read ‘the rebellious city’ as referring to that which precedes it, that they came to Jerusalem which is a rebellious and sinful city. Then the words ‘they are building’ become a statement unto themselves, meaning that they are building a structure there. That is to say, that they are building the Holy Temple there and they have laid the foundations of the walls of the House. Meaning, they are preparing themselves to build its walls, they have already joined its foundations. If so, they wrote nothing false, because it was true that they had built the House of God there at the command of Cyrus. One could also read the words ‘they are building’ as attached to ‘the rebellious and sinful city,’ meaning that they have come to Jerusalem and are building and evil and rebellious city. They wrote that they were indeed building the city, and if it became known to the king that this was false they would receive no punishment because the contents of the letter bear this interpretation as we explained. So too, those who wrote could avoid punishment because they could claim that their interpretation was according to the first reading we suggested, that they were building the Holy Temple there: the king had permitted?

Agadatah Bereshit (Buber) ch.68 “In the second year of King Darius…” (Haggai 1:1) “…the word of the Lord came to Haggai, the prophet…” (ibid.) This is what is written “A voice calls, ‘In the wilderness … Every valley shall be raised… And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…” (Isaiah 40:3-5) ‘A voice calls, In the desert…’ R’ Levi said: why in the wilderness? According to the way of the world, one who had a gem and lost it – doesn’t he seek it where it was lost? So too, the Holy One lost Israel in the wilderness, as it says “…in this wilderness they will end, and there they will die,” (Numbers 14:35) and there He goes to seek them “A voice calls, ‘In the wilderness clear the way of the Lord…” (Isaiah 40:3) And what do we need to clear away? He said to them: clear out the idolatry from your homes. So Lavan said to Eliezer: are you afraid to enter here because of the idolatry? I already uprooted it from here for you, as it says “…I have cleared the house, and a place for the camels?”(Genesis 24:31) What does ‘a place for the camels’ refer to? Lavan said to him: Rivka would never steal idols. ‘I have cleared the house.’ Who does steal? Rachel who would come in the future will steal them and hide them in the place of the camels, as it says “But Rachel had taken the teraphim and placed them into the camel saddle…” (Genesis 31:34) Another explanation. ‘I have cleared the house,’ of the idol of Menashe. And when? When Nebuchadnezzar, who is compared to a camel, went out to destroy it, as it says “…one riding a donkey and one riding a camel…” (Isaiah 21:7) ‘Riding a donkey’ refers to the messiah, ‘riding a camel’ refers to Nebuchadnezzar because on the day that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the House the messiah was born, as it says “…and the Lebanon shall fall through a mighty one.” (Isaiah 10:34) “And a shoot shall spring forth…” (Isaiah 11:1) Therefore “…clear the way of the Lord, straighten out in the wilderness…” (Isaiah 40:3) Straighten yourselves out like I straightened those who were in the pitted wilderness, “straighten out in the wilderness” for whom? “…a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised…” (Isaiah 40:3-4) You shall no more fear from sin, as it says “See your way in the valley…” (Jeremiah 2:23) Another explanation. ‘Every valley shall be raised’ I will lift up Moshe, the one who was buried in the valley, as it says “And He buried him in the valley…” (Deuteronomy 34:6) This is like a wise man who handed his son over to a scribe to learn Torah, law and parables. They came to appoint him as a wise man and he say: I swear that my son will not be appointed as a wise man until his teacher comes and sanctifies him. So the Holy One handed Israel over to Moshe and he taught them everything, as it says “Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances…” (Deuteronomy 4:5) The messiah comes to redeem them and the Holy One says to him: I swear that my children will not be redeemed until Moshe their teacher comes, as it says “He saw the first portion for himself…” (Deuteronomy 33:21) Why? Because I will lift him up. “Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall be lowered…” (Isaiah 40:4) This refers to the kingdoms, as it says “And I returned and lifted my eyes and saw-and behold!- four chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains…” (Zechariah 6:1) “…and the crooked terrain shall become a plain…” (Isaiah 40:4) This refers to the evil inclination, as it says “The heart is deceitful above all things…” (Jeremiah 17:9) “…and the close mountains a valley.” (Isaiah 40:4) This refers to the wicked men. So David said “You shall hide them in the secrecy of Your countenance, from bands of men…” (Psalms 31:21) And afterwards “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…” (Isaiah 40:5) Because in this world the prophets prophesy, this one saying: I saw the Lord by the altar, as it says “I saw the Lord standing beside the altar…” (Amos 9:1) Ezekiel says “The word of the Lord was [revealed] to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar…” (Ezekiel 1:3) Amos says by the wall, as it says “and behold the Lord was standing on a wall made by a plumb line…” (Amos 7:7) “Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judea and Jerusalem…” (Ezra 5:1) But in the time to come everyone will see Him, as it says “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of the Lord spoke.” (Isaiah 40:5)